Comedienne Amy Poehler is in serious trouble over a joke that was included on an episode of her new Hulu show, “Difficult People.” She didn’t utter the joke herself, but since she is executive producer on the show and is said to be involved in the writing of all material, she’s about to take the fall for it.
The joke involved R&B singer R. Kelly and Blue Ivy Carter, the 3-year-old daughter of Beyonce and husband Jay Z. To understand it, we should note that, in 2002, R. Kelly was accused of urinating on an underage girl, of which he was eventually found not guilty.
Amy Poehler put her foot in it
The Root has video of the joke. It shows Julie Klausner in character, checking her phone and becoming increasingly upset to see that the Internet is lashing out at her over some Blue Ivy joke she made. Asked what that joke was, she says it was “I can’t wait for Blue Ivy to grow up for R. Kelly to [urinate] on her.”
As you can imagine, the moment the episode aired, outrage had erupted on social media. It wasn’t just the BeyHive speaking out (Beyonce’s fans are notoriously protective of her, and often went up against talk show personalities daring to say bad things about Blue Ivy), but also people who justly found the joke in very, very bad taste.
You can see some samples of the things they’re saying on Twitter below. There’s also a racial aspect to the debate, in that some commenters believed Amy would have never written such a joke about a 3-year-old white girl. Somehow, they say, because Blue Ivy is black, she thought it would be ok.
And make no mistake about it, if Amy didn’t write the joke, she must certainly greenlit it.
Amy Poehler is very hands-on
At the beginning of the month, Julie Klausner sat down with Entertainment Weekly to discuss the new show and how much executive producer Amy Poehler was involved in it. At the time, there was some talk online that she wouldn’t be as involved as she’d claimed she would be, so the answer was meant to set the record straight.
According to Klausner, Poehler was overseeing every aspect of the new show, from the script to the casting and the editing.
“Amy could not have been more hands-on,” she said. “She did not only give notes on every script, she gave notes on every draft of every outline. She weighed in on casting videos, cast roles. She weighed in on production matters. She came up with the title. She would give notes on every single edit, not only of the shows but of the promos, the trailers. She would be involved in every stage of the process in a way that she would go above and beyond.”
The emphasis is ours. It would be unrealistic to imagine Poehler writing all the jokes on the show or not relying on an entire team to help her out when she was stuck. However, this quote basically lays all the blame at her doorstep, for giving the offensive Blue Ivy joke the green light.
A joke about R. Kelly assaulting Blue Ivy is not a joke targeting him. It's making light of what he did and punching down at his victims
— .black (@JamilahLemieux) August 17, 2015
"Is Blue Ivy old enough for R. Kelly?" @smrtgrls, how do you have a site dedicated to girls, and OK that line?
— Cynthia F. (@cynfinite) August 17, 2015
Amy Poehler would've never let this joke fly about a three year old White girl. NEVER
— Miss Ann Dri (@OHTheMaryD) August 17, 2015
I really love Amy Poehler. Like truly with my whole Grinch heart, but that joke she ok'd for her show about Blue Ivy is just tasteless
— Nola Darling (@WESTCOASTSUMA) August 17, 2015
RT @CerromeRussell Amy Poehler act like the Beyhive won't show up to the set and Ieave it covered in glitter and blood
— crissle (@crissles) August 17, 2015
Blue Ivy is 3 years old. If this "joke" was being made about my 3 year old? I'd be catching a case. This isn't a hard concept.
— Mikki Kendall (@Karnythia) August 17, 2015
I don't see enough outrage over amy poehler basically saying she's waiting for a toddler to be peed on.
— Devoncé (@liteskinfriend) August 19, 2015
Amy Poelher thinks its funny to produce a show speculating the molestation and rape of a minor how sick! As a mother you should be ashamed!
— Kate (@Mrsthirdwrd) August 17, 2015