LOS ANGELES (AP) – Leslie Jones ain’t afraid of no ghost – or playing a transit worker.
The co-star of the upcoming all-female version of “Ghostbusters” took to Twitter to defend her role as a member of the paranormal-fighting group who appears in footage released Thursday to be an employee of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
The portrayal of the team’s only non-white member as a transit worker in filmmaker Paul Feig’s new “Ghostbusters” came under fire on social media after the trailer debuted.
Jones’ character Patty teams up to fight ghosts in the film with Melissa McCarthy’s paranormal researcher Abby, Kristen Wiig’s particle physicist Erin and Kate McKinnon’s nuclear engineer Jillian.
In the original “Ghostbusters” movies, Ernie Hudson portrayed the team’s only non-white member, Winston.
“Ghostbusters” is scheduled for release July 15.