Aaron Sorkin is just now discovering there's a diversity problem in Hollywood
Despite working in the industry for over 20 years, Aaron Sorkin apparently didn't realize white men had an easier time in Hollywood. The Academy Award-winning screenwriter and executive producer of “The West Wing” and “The Newsroom” was at the Writers Guild Festival on Saturday, and was reportedly fixated on the issue of diversity in Hollywood—a topic he shockingly didn't seem to have ever mulled over before. SEE ALSO: Vogue promises diversity and delivers Karlie Kloss as a geisha instead “Are you saying that women and minorities have a more difficult time getting their stuff read than white men and you’re also saying that [white men] get to make mediocre movies and can continue on?," Sorkin asked audience members, reported to Variety . According to Variety, Sorkin was in "disbelief" and persistent in discussing the issue, circling back to the issue of diversity despite other conversation topics. “You’re saying that if you are a woman or a person of color, you have to hit it out of the park in order to get another chance?” he asked—again. For anyone curious, due to a lack of opportunity, the majority of people behind the scenes of your favorite flicks and television shows are white‚ and the answer to Sorkin's question is a resounding yes. During the discussion, Sorkin suggested that Hollywood was an industry that awarded folks based on merit, and listed the likes of Lena Dunham, Jordan Peele and Ava Duvernay before asking if he could support people of color and women. “What can I do [to help]?” Sorkin said. “I do want to understand what someone like me can do … but my thing has always been: ‘If you write it, they will come,'" which unfortunately, isn't necessarily the case. Sorkin's remarks didn't surprised folks, according to a variety of Twitter reactions. Aaron Sorkin: clueless white man should truly be no surprise at all to anyone who’s watched any of his shows. https://t.co/UEvisixZTY — Amadi (@amaditalks) March 26, 2017 Aaron Sorkin: Wait, it's harder to be a minority in Hollywood? Educate me. *every audience hand goes up*#WGFestival — Coreena Boothroyd (@caboothroyd) March 25, 2017 who here is surprised that Aaron Sorkin is surprised https://t.co/fG5gM6z23Z — Angie J. Han (@ajhan) March 26, 2017 Not sure how Sorkin missed the #OscarsSoWhite memo, but at least it's on his radar now. WATCH: I am so unreasonably jealous of this view of the southern lights