“Grey’s Anatomy” Alum Jesse Williams Says Harry Belafonte ‘Made Me Feel Held’ While Losing Jobs Over His Black Activism

Jeremy HelligarWed, October 14, 2026 at 12:45 PM UTC

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Jesse Williams in 2020 (left); Harry Belafonte in 2017.Credit: Taylor Hill/FilmMagic; Taylor Hill/WireImageThe new documentary ‘Following Harry’ covers the last 12 years of Belafonte’s life and the towering influence of his lifelong activism on the Black community -

The late Harry Belafonte was as esteemed for his tireless work as a civil rights activist as he was for films and recordings like CarmenJones and Calypso

Grey’s Anatomy actor Jesse Williams, who was heavily influenced by Belafonte, was able to forge a meaningful friendship with the legend, who died in 2023 at age 96

The new documentary Following Harry, which focuses on the last 12 years of Belafonte’s life, is available to stream on VOD platforms

Frank Sinatra. Doris Day. Judy Garland. Harry Belafonte. No list of Hollywood’s top Golden Age singing and acting multi-hyphenates would be complete without the last one. But Belafonte, who died in 2023 at age 96, had another ace up his sleeve. By the time of his death, he was as renown for his accomplishments and influence as a civil rights activist as for his considerable creative contributions as a singer and actor.

As an actor, his credits ranged from 1954’s Carmen Jones, the film that made Dorothy Dandridge the first Black best actress Oscar nominee, to 2018 BlacKkKlansman, the film that earned Spike Lee his first (and to date, only) best director Oscar nomination. As a singer, he gave the world the landmark 1956 album Calypso, which remains one of the defining blockbusters of its era — the first LP to sell a million copies and a Billboard chart-topper for a staggering 31 weeks.

From left: Martin Luther King Jr., Harry Belafonte, Asa Philip Randolph and Sidney Poitier circa 1960.Credit: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty

But as the new documentary Following Harry demonstrates, Belafonte’s most enduring work has perhaps been the civil rights work he did alongside Martin Luther King Jr., Jesse Jackson and his Hollywood contemporary and lifelong friend Sidney Poitier. Following Harry, directed by Susanne Rostock, beautifully demonstrates the influence Belafonte had on civil rights activism in the U.S., from the ’50s and ’60s right up to the modern-day Black Lives Matter movement.

Following Harry covers the final 12 years of Belafonte’s life, when activism was his primary focus, and intersperses interviews with the legend and commentary from Black activists who, like Belafonte, gained renewed purpose after the 2012 murder of Trayvon Martin.

Jesse Williams (left) and Harry Belafonte in 2016.Credit: Paras Griffin/Getty

One of the most potent segments of the documentary focuses on Grey’s Anatomy actor Jesse Williams, who was not only heavily influenced by Belafonte, but also got to spend quality time with him while shooting the cover of Ebony magazine’s December 2015/January 2016 70th anniversary issue with Belafonte and Zendaya. In the documentary, Williams, 45, says he was initially “reticent” about shooting the cover.

“I remember, honestly, being somewhat reticent about it. I wanted a little bit more diversity of complexion in the representation. It’s all light-skinned people, which is not ideal for the work that’s really being done on the ground,” he explained. “It’s certainly not representative.”

Jesse Williams, Harry Belafonte and Zendaya on the December 2015/January 2016 cover of Ebony.Credit: EBONY Magazine

A turning point in Williams’ life, career and activism came in 2016 when he received the BET Humanitarian Award and delivered a fiery, unforgettable speech that’s shown, in part, in the documentary.

“This is not for me,” Williams said. “This is for the real organizers all over the country, the activists, the civil rights attorneys, the struggling parents, the families, the teachers, the students that are realizing that a system built to divide and impoverish and destroy us cannot stand if we do.”

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The clip is briefly interrupted by commentary from Belafonte: “I think to put on the line your career in articulating opposition to racism, segregation and inequality takes a lot of courage. Takes a lot of thought,” he says.

Back to Williams. “There has been no war that we have not fought and died on the front lines of,” he continues. “There has been no job we haven’t done. There’s no tax they haven’t levied against us, and we’ve paid all of them. But freedom is somehow always conditional here? ‘You’re free,’ they keep telling us. ‘But she would have been alive if she hadn’t acted so free.’ Freedom is always coming in the hereafter, but you know what, though? The hereafter is a hustle. We want it now.”

The applause from luminaries in the audience like Samuel L. Jackson, Jamie Foxx and Lee was thunderous, but in some corners, the backlash was swift. “Right after I gave the Humanitarian Award speech, Mr. Belafonte left me a message which was essentially predicting a backlash that I hadn’t even really considered,” Williams says in the doc.

“Threats on my life and my family’s life, which were not a joke, which were very specific and delivered to my home at the time,” he continues. “And over the course of years, I lost jobs with studios. I was earned movies and was told I had the role. And then a top-level executive said, ‘No, I don’t like his politics.’ ”

Harry Belafonte and Jesse Williams in 2016.Credit: Paras Griffin/Getty

“Weeks later, I was there at his doorstep,” he adds, referring to Belafonte. “I’ll just never, I’ll never forget that feeling and how it made me feel held in a very chaotic time in my life, and it meant the world to me. And I think everything I’ve done ever since has been a response to that in some way.”

Williams’ career, of course, would continue to thrive. He remained on Grey’s Anatomy through 2025, while continuing to amass a string of movie and TV credits, including roles on Only Murders in the Building and The Morning Show. He also branched out to Broadway, earning a Tony nomination for his work in Take Me Out.

Belafonte, meanwhile, remains as towering in death as he was in life, with a legacy that’s as sturdy and indelible as his signature song “(Day-O) Banana Boat Song.” “All I can do is leave behind the crumbs of my experience,” he says in Following Harry. “I have a trail that you can follow. If you find value in it, pick it up, and if you don’t, bring something better.”

Following Harry is available to stream on VOD platforms, including Apple TV and Prime Video.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”