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\"I would never consider diversity in matters of art. Only quality,\" the tweet said. The single post quickly racked up over 11.8K replies, most of which criticized King's \"bad take\" and far outnumbered any show of support.

...I would never consider diversity in matters of art. Only quality. It seems to me that to do otherwise would be wrong.

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) January 14, 2020

The \"Rage\" author immediately drew the ire from an array of celebrities, including award-winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay.

When you wake up, meditate, stretch, reach for your phone to check on the world and see a tweet from someone you admire that is so backward and ignorant you want to go back to bed. https://t.co/nPXOeAebkb

— Ava DuVernay (@ava) January 14, 2020

Followed by famed author Roxane Gay, who questioned why diversity and quality couldn't be synonymous.

As a fan, this is painful to read from you. It implies that diversity and quality cannot be synonymous. They are not separate things. Quality is everywhere but most industries only believe in quality from one demographic. And now, here you are.

— roxane gay (@rgay) January 14, 2020

Latinx Disney star Dani Fernandez challenged King's tweet with her own response about a lack of diversity among voters.

Is it possible that if the majority of voters look a certain way they are going to resonate more with stories and actors and films that reflect them? They are of “quality” to them. And while we have some outliers, the majority of nominees throughout history remains the same.

— Dani Fernandez (@msdanifernandez) January 14, 2020

With all due respect, I'm afraid that a meritocracy could work only if the game weren't rigged.

— Laura Lippman (@LauraMLippman) January 14, 2020

We Have Stories founder and author Frederick Joseph also weighed in and said, \"The interesting thing is that diversity generally leads to more interesting, relatable, and higher quality art.\"

The interesting thing is that diversity generally leads to more interesting, relatable, and higher quality art...

— Frederick Joseph (@FredTJoseph) January 14, 2020

Many others stated that while they \"respect\" and are fans of King's works, they could not support that notion.

Even more users replied with GIFs including a hypocrisy meter, people cringing or appearing to be completely shocked, while some kept their replies short and simple.

What if I told you...you could do both?

— Ashley C. Ford (@iSmashFizzle) January 14, 2020

While commenters who agreed with King were sparse, some users did find ways to side with the famed author.

I don't often agree with Stephen King. But on this point, he's 💯% correct. Imposing diversity tests on art is absurd. Art is either good or bad in accordance with the standards of the art form, and unrelated to the skin color or gender of its creator.

— 𝕁𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕒𝕟'𝕤 𝕍𝕚𝕖𝕨 (@alexmjordan) January 14, 2020

King followed up the first two tweets a couple hours later expanding on his initial thought, but has not apologized in the wake of the backlash.

The most important thing we can do as artists and creative people is make sure everyone has the same fair shot, regardless of sex, color, or orientation. Right now such people are badly under-represented, and not only in the arts.

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) January 14, 2020

You can't win awards if you're shut out of the game.

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) January 14, 2020
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