To go or not to go? Agata Popęda here, having mixed feelings. Comedian Aziz Ansari is coming to Monterey’s Golden State Theatre this Sunday, Nov. 9. While it’s flattering to have a Golden Globe winner for comedy in town, let’s not kid ourselves about the controversy surrounding Ansari.
In 2018, Ansari won a Golden Globe for his work on Netflix’s Master of None, a smart, off-beat comedy show about a young Indian-American comedian—basically Ansari himself. I was among the fans. I also bought and read the book Ansari co-wrote with professor Eric Klinenberg in 2015, titled Modern Romance, in which Ansari declared many American men as creeps in their interactions with women and described himself as a feminist.
A week after the Golden Globe win, the website Babe.net published an account from an anonymous young woman about a date with Ansari in 2017, during which he reportedly ignored her discomfort and the concerns she raised, and apparently tried to pressure her into sex.
It linked Ansari’s name to the #MeToo movement, and definitely impacted his career, painting him a hypocrite. Ansari apologized and also addressed the issue in his new stand-up comedy material. But that was hardly the end of his troubles.
Ansari is back, not only with a stand-up comedy tour, but also with a directorial debut: Good Fortune, a movie that can be seen now in theaters.
This October, Jimmy Kimmel called out Ansari on his recent appearance at the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia, questioning this decision to participate in the event sponsored by a government that is condemned for its human rights record. (Condemning Saudi politics at a time when the U.S. government jails and deports its own citizens seems like just another hypocrisy to me.)
I’m curious what you think. I understand that the answer may be different depending on our own gender and how we experience it. Beloved actors, musicians and writers have certain power; it is also human nature to use the powers and advantages we have.