Priyanka Chopra and Ava Du Vernay jump to defend 'The White Tiger' director post racist slur incident

Iranian-American director-writer Ramin Bahrani was subjected to racial discrimination on the streets of Atlanta and Priyanka Chopra and Ava DuVernay are not having any of it.

Nominated for the upcoming Academy Awards for the Best Adapted Screenplay for his Netflix's film — The White Tiger, Ramin Bahrani was on a zoom Q/A session with Academy members and executive producer Ava DuVernay when a car of a bystander came to hurl racial insults at Ramin, who was keeping to himself.

Ramin tried to continue the interview after the disturbance but Ava urged him to recount what had happened.

"You all think you run the world. You all don't run [expletive]. His friend told him to calm down and leave it alone. As the driver pulled away, he shouted, 'Go back to your own country!'" disclosed Ramin about the incident and what the racist driver had said.

Ava was devastated to have virtually witnessed this moment of racial discrimination. Angered by what had happened, she shared that, "Ramin was very calm. Very matter of fact. Which saddened me. It was as if he was used to that type of treatment. Being the ultimate professional, he suggested we proceed with the interview."

The filmmaker said that the non-indigenous artists who are working tirelessly simply cannot “make and focus” on their work when they have to constantly "endure and negotiate" racism, xenophobia and sexism among other things in America.

The White Tiger executive producer Priyanka Chopra also gave her two cents on the ordeal.

“This is about how common it is for many communities to live with incidents like this happening all the time,” she went on. “Content by Hollywood is embraced by the world, but the world is not always embraced by Hollywood."

When the actress was asked about her thoughts on the issue, she asked a question in return to pave way for a much-needed discourse.

The question was, "Who belongs here, and who doesn't? Isn't America a melting pot of all people from all backgrounds?"