Mindy Kaling: Emmys Organizers Singled Me Out

Television Academy insists it did not
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 10, 2019 1:16 PM CDT
Mindy Kaling in Spat With Emmys Organizers
Mindy Kaling attends the premiere of "Late Night" at the Orpheum Theatre on Thursday, May 30, 2019, in Los Angeles.   (Photo by Mark Von Holden/Invision/AP)

In a new interview with Elle, Mindy Kaling revealed that in her early days on The Office, the Television Academy wanted to cut her (the only woman of color on the production team) from the list of producers when the show was nominated for an Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy, because the list was too long. "They made me, not any of the other producers, fill out a whole form and write an essay about all my contributions as a writer and a producer. I had to get letters from all the other male, white producers saying that I had contributed, when my actual record stood for itself," she said; her name was ultimately included. Now the Academy has responded—and Kaling has hit back at its response. In a statement to the Los Angeles Times, the Academy said "every performer producer and writer producer was asked to justify their producer credit."

It said the Academy had worked with the Producers Guild to "vet producer eligibility," and "no one person was singled out." "Respectfully," Kaling said in an initial tweet, "the Academy’s statement doesn’t make any sense. I *was* singled out. There were other Office writer-performer-producers who were NOT cut from the list. Just me. The most junior person, and woman of color. Easiest to dismiss. Just sayin'." She then issued several more explaining how "humiliating" the incident was and noting that though her fellow producers ultimately made sure her name was included, "we shouldn’t have (to) be bailed out because of the kindness our more powerful white male colleagues." In a final tweet, she wondered, "Why not say 'years ago we prevented a deserving woman of color from getting credit for her accomplishments. We’re sorry and it would never happen now.'?" (More Mindy Kaling stories.)

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