The Italian Distributor Of '12 Years A Slave' Has Pulled Its Posters Highlighting White Actors Like Brad Pitt

Earlier this week, the world became aware of an Italian promotional poster for the film "12 Years A Slave" that highlighted actor Brad Pitt, even though he has only a minor role in the film. Meanwhile, the movie's star, black actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, was reduced to a small image below Pitt's profile.

Now, the film's international distributor, Summit Entertainment, has announced it will pull the posters, which went viral after a Tumblr user uploaded this photo of one on Sunday:

The posters came as no surprise to those familiar with the movie industry, since films about African-Americans often perform poorly overseas, but upset some people on the internet for minimizing a black actor's role in a movie about his character's experience as a slave.

Another prominently featured supporting actor Michael Fassbender, also white.

In a statement, Summit said it did not approve the posters before they were placed in theaters by the film's Italian distributor, BIM Distribuzione.

Here's the full statement, via The Hollywood Reporter:

BIM Distribuzione, the company charged with promoting the film in Italy, responded on Thursday. Here's its statement, via Variety:

The main American theatrical poster focuses solely on Ejiofor: