Aziah “Zola” King — the woman who single-handedly wrote the epic Twitter thread that eventually became A24’s hit film ‘Zola’ — took to Twitter on Sunday to express her frustrations with A24 for not inviting her to this year’s Independent Spirt Awards, where the film has scored numerous nominations.
via People:
Retweeting a post on Twitter from Film Independent, the organization behind the Independent Spirit Awards, King wrote, “I think it’s hilarious ZOLA is up for 7 awards and no one thought to invite me nor include me IN the writers award category. As if there would’ve been a film or a script to write if I didn’t um… write it?”
King also noted that Zola received “the most [nominations] of any film this year & any film @A24 has EVER made btw.”
Continuing her thread on Twitter, King tagged A24 and said, “y’all full of s—. Honestly,” before she tweeted, “I think its HILARIOUS everyone else is on my Television promoting & speaking on my experience as if it’s their moment & not a moment I created for us all. I think its [sic] hilarious my intellect, trauma & talent is being overshadowed & hijaked [sic].”
Added King: “I AM the moment! Excuse me while I laugh.”
In a follow-up statement, King then clarified that her “beef is with A24 exclusively,” explaining it was not with “the creators not the award shows. a24 is the OP rn. Nobody else.”
“I HAVE been credited & I am VERY content with my EP credit! I am in awe of Janicza & Jeremy’s writing & directing. They deserve & have fought for me for YEARS,” she continued, referring to Zola’s director Janicza Bravo and writer Jeremy O. Harris.
“However not receiving a invite or even being thought of is the issue,” King added.
Not long after, King concluded her Twitter thread, stating that she received an invite to the award show event after the online blog site The Shade Room posted about her ordeal.
“The shade room post a tweet & suddenly I have 2 tickets coming,” she tweeted alongside a laughing emoji. “I bet I do …. I’ll see y’all there.”
In the A24 film, Taylour Paige plays Zola, a Detroit waitress who strikes up a friendship with a customer, Stefani (Riley Keough), who convinces Zola to join her in Florida for a weekend of fun, dancing and partying.
The film, based on the real Twitter thread that went viral after King chronicled her experiences on the social media platform, is also based on a November 2015 Rolling Stone article that went more in-depth about the series of events with King.
The film also stars Nicholas Braun, Colman Domingo, Ari’el Stachel, Jason Mitchell and Ts Madison.
At the Independent Spirit Awards, Zola is up for a number of awards, including best feature, best director and best screenplay.
Hit the thread below for Zola’s rant.
I think it’s hilarious ZOLA is up for 7 awards & no one thought to invite me nor include me IN the writers award category..
As if there would’ve been a film or a script to write if I didn’t um…write it?
The most of any film this year & any film @A24 has EVER made btw. A ki https://t.co/37cUCy45yq— AyeCha Monae (@_zolarmoon) January 30, 2022
