In early January, Hulu canceled comedian Sarah Silverman’s critically acclaimed program I Love You, America after two seasons. Aside from plenty of praise and social media goodness, the series also accrued several nominations from the Writer’s Guild of America and the Emmys. Even so, it likely wasn’t as popular or as profitable as Hulu would have hoped. At least, that’s what Silverman implied in a recent interview, in which she also criticized the streamer for its general treatment of the show.
“I know that they did love the show,” the comedian said in the first episode of The Daily Beast’s new comedy podcast The Last Laugh. “But I think what it cost compared to its popularity or the eyes that they had on it didn’t — you know, the people that make the decisions there don’t have any connection to the show.” Yet it’s what Silverman said about Hulu’s treatment of the show, even when it was earning them awards recognition, that really cuts the deepest.
“You know, it’s one of their only shows nominated for Emmys besides Handmaid’s Tale,” she starts, before revealing that the streamer wasn’t willing to cover the hair and makeup costs for her Emmys appearance on the show’s (and the network’s) behalf:
“Even Comedy Central, like 15 years ago, paid for that shit when I was nominated,” she says. “I was just flummoxed. Wouldn’t it be worth them paying $1,500 to not have me on Matt Wilstein’s podcast saying Hulu wouldn’t pay $1,500 for an Emmy for their network?”
Meanwhile, Netflix, the company that distributed Silverman’s 2017 comedy special A Speck of Dust, sent her roses when she got her name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last year. “That stuff doesn’t mean anything to me — it really doesn’t,” she continues. “But it’s just such a bad look for [Hulu]. I don’t want to say ‘appalling.’ Separating children at the border is appalling. I keep my overhead very low, but Hulu doesn’t. So they should probably pay for shit.”
(Via The Daily Beast)
