Malala Yousafzai lambasts Hollywood's lack of Muslim representation

Campaigner tells US women's event in Los Angeles that minority creatives feel they 'don't belong here'

Ms Yousafzai was one of those honoured at 'Variety' magazine's Power of Women event. AP

Malala Yousafzai has used her speech at a celebratory US women's event to address the lack of Muslim representation in Hollywood films.

The campaigner and activist, 25, said the response of industry executives towards commissioning projects by minority creatives felt like being told “we just don't belong here”.

Ms Yousafzai was one of those honoured at Variety magazine's Power of Women event in Los Angeles on Wednesday just over a week before the 10-year anniversary of the assassination attempt on her by a Pakistani branch of the Taliban when she was 15.

Other women honoured at the Variety awards included Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, actress Elizabeth Olsen, Oprah Winfrey and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.

“In the last year I have learnt a lot, and much of it was not surprising,” Ms Yousafzai told audiences at the event.

“I learned that Asian people like me make up less than 4 per cent of leads in Hollywood films.

“Muslims are 25 per cent of the population, but only 1 per cent of characters in popular TV series.

“Behind the camera, the statistics for black and brown creators are even worse.”

She went on to say: “I know that the executives have passed on dozens of quality, equally amazing projects because they thought that the characters or their creators were too young, too brown, too foreign, too poor.

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  Malala Yousafzai opens the new Library of Birmingham at Centenary Square on September 3, 2013, in Birmingham, England. Malala was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman two years ago for insisting that girls as well as boys have the right to an education. Christopher Furlong / Getty Images

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  On October 9, 2012, Pakistani hospital workers carry injured Malala Yousafzai, then 14, on a stretcher after her assassination attempt by gunmen in Mingora. Mohammed Rehman / AFP Photo

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  News of her shooting led to protests in Pakistan and other countries on October 10, 2012. Aamir Qureshi / AFP Photo

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  Pakistani soldiers carry Malala from a helicopter to a military hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan. She whould be later transferred from Pakistan to the UK via Abu Dhabi for life-saving treatment. Inter Services Public Relations Department / AP Photo

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  Malala Yousafzai recovers in Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England, on October 12, 2012. University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust / AP Photo

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  Malala with her family on October 26, 2012, her brothers Khushal Khan, third right, and Apal Kha, right, and father Ziauddin Yousufzai, at the hospital in Birmingham. Queen Elizabeth Hospital / University Hospitals Birmingham / AFP Photo

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  On July 13, 2013, Malala Yousafzai speaks before the United Nations Youth Assembly at UN headquarters in New York as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, left, and Vuk Jeremic, right, President of the UN General Assembly listen. Stan Honda / AFP Photo

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  On March 19, 2013, Malala Yousafzai is pictured holding a backpack in Birmingham as she returns to school for the first time. Liz Cave / Malala Press office / AFP Photo

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  Former classmates at Malala Yousafzai’s hometown of Mingora in Pakistan in September 2013. It was thought she was going to win the Peace Prize in 2013. Aamir Quereshi / AFP Photo

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  Malala Yousafzai won other awards, pictured here on October 7, 2013, by the Daily Mirror newspaper, David Beckham presents a Mirror Pride of Britain Teenager of Courage Award to Malala. Philip Coburn, Daily Mirror / AP Photo

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  Malala Yousafzai gives a copy of her book, I Am Malala, to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II during a reception at Buckingham Palace on October 18, 2013. Yui Mok / AP Photo

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  Malala Yousafzai receives the Sakharov Prize at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on November 20, 2013. Patrick Seeger / EPA

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  Malala Yousafzai visits Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi on January 2, 2014. WAM

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  Malala Yousafzai giving a press conference after meeting with the Nigerian president in Abuja on July 14,2014. The Malala Fund focuses on improving education in Pakistan, Nigeria, Syria among others. Wole Emmanuel / AFP Photo

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  Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai meets UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon at United Nations headquarters. Stan Honda / AFP Photo / August 18, 2014

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  Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Thorbjorn Jagland holds photos of children’s rights activists Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan, right, and Kailash Satyarthi of India, winners of the Nobel Peace Prize 2014. Vegard Wivestad Grott, Scanpix / AP Photo

“Sometimes it feels like they're saying we just don't belong here.”

All of those honoured, Ms Yousafzai included, will feature on the magazine cover of Variety's Power of Women special edition.

In the cover interview for the magazine, she previously told Variety that change was needed.

“You're often told in Hollywood, implicitly or explicitly, that the characters are too young, too brown or too Muslim, or that if one show about a person of colour is made, then that's it — you don't need to make another one,” she said.

“That needs to change.”