“Sound of Hope” director Josh Weigel and producer Rebekah Weigel of Peacetree Productions apologized Friday to their film’s executive producer, “Black Panther” star Letitia Wright, after she publicly decried the Angel Studios film for aligning itself with conservative news site the Daily Wire during its distribution.
But as they apologized to Wright, they also defended their relationship with the Daily Wire, saying they “are deeply grateful for the tireless support” from the outlet and its hosts, including cofounder Ben Shapiro and prominent contributor Matt Walsh.
“Letitia Wright has championed this project with us, even choosing not to accept compensation for the sake of the cause. We are grateful for all she has done, and regret she wasn’t informed about the partnership with The Daily Wire. That was not handled well, and we apologize for putting her in this position,” the statement read.
“We are deeply grateful for the tireless support of The Daily Wire and its hosts,” it continued. “In the Tweet that started this firestorm, Matt Walsh was standing up for the right of Christians to foster and adopt kids from the foster care system. There are—in fact—real efforts to prevent families of faith from adopting, and this is a pivotal part of the conversation around helping kids who are suffering in a broken system. It’s not about left and right, it’s about right and wrong. Like the community in this film, we want to see many more churches courageously step forward and adopt children, and we’re going to continue to stand with everyone who takes that position.”
Peachtree Productions said at the start of its statement Friday that they “created this film in the hope it would ignite a movement to end the foster crisis.” Inspired by the true story of Possum Trot, “Sound of Hope” comes from Angel Studios (also behind surprise faith-based blockbuster “Sound of Freedom”) and follows Donna and Rev. Martin as they “ignite a fire in the hearts of their rural church to embrace kids in the foster system that nobody else would take,” according to the official synopsis. “By doing the impossible–adopting 77 children–this East Texas community proved that, with real, determined love, the battle for America’s most vulnerable can be won.”
Wright distanced herself from the project earlier this week when the Daily Wire’s involvement came into question, writing on Instagram Sunday, “To be clear, we completed production of this film, Angel Studios were brought on board to handle its distribution and they later partnered with the Daily Wire. That was not my decision, and I was not given an update or made aware of this decision. I am in no way aligned or affiliated with the Daily Wire. I do not condone using this beautiful film for divisive political purposes. That is not why I joined the project.”
Her comments came after the Daily Wire’s Walsh, ostensibly promoting the film, would write on X, “Leftists are trying to stop Christians from saving more children.”
In a Wednesday statement, Angel Studios president Jordan Harmon said, “This powerful film takes a stand for vulnerable kids, and we’re pursuing partners who are passionate about this fight. Angel Studios is grateful for both Letitia and Daily Wire’s partnership on getting this story out into the world, and we encourage everyone concerned about the foster care and adoption crisis to get involved and see ‘Sound of Hope.’”
“Sound of Hope” is in theaters now.
