Brett Gelman Says He's Leaving Adult Swim Over Alleged Misogyny

Comedian Brett Gelman, star and creator of Adult Swim’s Dinner in America specials, is leaving the network, citing the mistreatment and lack of female writers for its original programming.

He first made the announcement on Twitter, then explained his rationale in an exclusive interview with Splitsider. Gelman took into account a series of articles on Splitsider and BuzzFeed News that looked into the network’s absence of female creators, as well as its continued promotion of Million Dollar Extreme, which has been criticized as a troll haven for the alt-right.

“I had already decided to do that, and once I’d read those articles, I just couldn’t see how I could continue to work with the company when those were their policies,” Gelman told Splitsider. “And how it was defended — that is what I had a real problem with, but also the greenlight of Million Dollar Extreme and allowing that on their network.”

A BuzzFeedreport quoted a former Adult Swim employee who squared the non-inclusive atmosphere on the shoulders of programming chief Mike Lazzo:

One source placed much of the blame for Adult Swim’s lack of female creatives on Lazzo. The person recalled that, for example, during a meeting of Adult Swim and Cartoon Network employees in 2011, the network head was asked if any shows with female comedians were in the works; one source’s recollection of Lazzo’s response was when you have women in the writers room, you don’t get comedy, you get conflict.

The source recalled Lazzo apologizing to women in the office the next day, but noted that it felt as though the damage was already done: “You can’t take that back, and he didn’t really even try.”

Lazzo attempted to walk back his comments on Reddit: “What I actually said was-women don’t tend to like conflict, comedy often comes from conflict, so that’s probably why we (or others) have so few female projects. Nonetheless this was a dumb answer to a good question as Lucille Ball and Gilda Rather to Amy Poelher and Amy Schumer prove my statement a load of generalized nonsense.”

Gelman was a staple on Adult Swim. He had a series regular role on Eagleheart, has made guest appearances on Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Hot Package, NTSF:SD:SUV::, and has a close working relationship with Tim Heidecker, who tweeted out his support for Gelman’s decision.

Adult Swim is known for taking creative risks on its eclectic late-night programming, but over the last year it has become apparent that the writing talent on the network leans heavily male. The public pressure on the network grew louder after Megh Wright of Splitsiderwrote an article back in June criticizing the network after noticing that all 47 returning or new shows on Adult Swim’s programming roster were created by men. The reporting from that site and BuzzFeed, and the aftershock of the presidential election, ultimately convinced Gelman that leaving the network was the right thing to do.

The lack of female-led projects has been a consistent theme for the network since its inception in 2001. In 2016, about 42 percent of the network’s viewership is female, according to Nielsen.

“There are a lot of women who are comedic minds who are absurdist or surrealist who would do great things on there,” Gelman told Splitsider. “So when you’re not greenlighting and you’re not hiring female directors… I don’t really track what other shows do, so I don’t know the full extent of all of it. But I saw that article and it was heartbreaking to see.”