Variety Schedules TV Panel with 11 Men and 1 Woman, Issues Apology
I guess what you’ll find in the writers’ room is over 90% men! Cool! I’ll be over at The Jessica Hotel just menstruating with my sisters! pic.twitter.com/5tUB7D0LGx
- Wendy Molyneux (@WendyMolyneux) June 5, 2018
This morning, Variety sent out invites to an event it is hosting on June 14th called "A Night in The Writers Room", featuring showrunners and writers from both comedy and drama shows. Jenny Bicks (producer and writer, Sex and the City) and Wendy Molyneux (executive producer of Bob's Burgers) both posted to Twitter within minutes of each other about the event, pointing out the most notable aspect of the panelists listed: only one of the twelve is a woman.
Hey @Variety , just got invited to a show runner panel with 12 show runners. ONE WOMAN. ONE WOMAN OUT OF 12. Shame on you. We exist. Not very hard to find us.
- Jenny Bicks (@JennyBicks) June 5, 2018
(2) @Variety I am now noticing it isn't even all show runners. Which means, YOU COULDN'T EVEN FIND MORE THAN ONE FEMALE WRITER to be on your panel of 12. I was one of 2 women in a room of 15 men on the first show I worked on. That was 25 years ago. Those stats were better.
- Jenny Bicks (@JennyBicks) June 5, 2018
(3) Hey @Variety sorry I can't do your panel but I am busy that night on a panel celebrating 20 years of Sex and The City. A show I Executive Produced that celebrated women and had 7 writers in the room for the last 3 seasons, 6 of them female. Thanks, tho!
- Jenny Bicks (@JennyBicks) June 6, 2018
Actress and writer Busy Phillipps chimed in with some suggestions for female panelists:
Hey @Variety! Here are some ideas for you! *Jenni Konner&Lena Dunham*Melissa Rosenberg* *Tina Fey*Marti Noxon&Sarah Gertude Shapiro*Liz Flahive&Carly Mensch*Nahnatchka Khan*Maurissa Tancharoen*Jessica Queller*Shonda Rhimes*Jenji Kohan*Rachel Bloom&Aliene Brosh McKenna pic.twitter.com/CbzL9Fppom
- Busy Philipps (@BusyPhilipps) June 5, 2018
MORE IDEAS OF FEMALE TV SHOWRUNNERS @Variety THIS TOOK ME THREE MINUTES: *Jill Soloway*Ava DuVernay*Lisa Joy*Courtney Kemp*Jennie Snyder Urman*I.Marlene King*Erica Messer*Ilene Chaiken*Issa Rae*Sarah Treem*Frankie Shaw
- Busy Philipps (@BusyPhilipps) June 5, 2018
Mike Schur (The Good Place), one of the panelists for the comedy portion, explained that he didn't know who else was participating when he agreed to do the panel, and would happily step down for equal representation.
Oof. No reason for this not to be 50/50. Can't speak for anyone else, but I didn't know who else was scheduled to appear. Will happily and appropriately be replaced by any one of the dozens of women who should be part of any event like this. https://t.co/cm1WUfgkGh
- Ken Tremendous (@KenTremendous) June 5, 2018
David Shore (The Good Doctor), another one of the panelists, echoed his sentiments:
Just notified them that I am happy to be replaced. And statistically and morally should be replaced.
- David Shore (@shorez) June 5, 2018
Wendy agreed that the participating panelists weren't at fault, but is surprised that the organizers didn't think it through:
I totally believe this. @LizzieMolyneux & I have done panels where we didn’t know who would be on the panel (for real, not sarcasm). I’m pretty stunned organizers don’t think these things through. Hopefully, they’ll just add on, not replace. There’s room for everyone. https://t.co/BUH16Ri4Po
- Wendy Molyneux (@WendyMolyneux) June 5, 2018
Variety got the message and issued an apology:
On behalf of Variety, we apologize for the egregious oversight regarding the lack of female writers participating in our upcoming A Night in the Writers' Room event. We hear you loud and clear, and are currently working on rectifying our mistake.
- Variety (@Variety) June 5, 2018
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How does a magazine not consider the optics of an event like this? Smh.