Netflix’s New Comedy Special Blasted for Jokes Linking Asians to Pandemic
By Bryan Ke
Netflix’s new comedy special “Schulz Saves America” is facing backlash for running “dangerous” and “racist” jokes targeting Asian people and for calling the coronavirus the “Asian parasite.”
Offensive jokes: The show sees YouTuber and stand-up comedian Andrew Schulz recap the chaos that happened in 2020. In the first episode, the 37-year-old online personality accused China of spreading the virus, according to Seth Simons’ newsletter post, Humorism.
- “Don’t tell America what to wear. Tell China not to infect,” Schulz said in the episode. “I mean, let’s be honest: next to squatting to smoke a cigarette, slinging viruses is their favorite thing to do. They make everything over there: bubonic plague, SARS, bird flu, corona, 15-second dance videos. I mean, Chinese viruses have killed almost as many people as Chinese dictators.”
- Schulz continued to defend his joke by claiming he was not referring to the Chinese people, but the Chinese government.
- “I love the Chinese,” the Netflix comedy special star said. “I love Asians in general… Asians are the best. I mean, Jeremy Lin, Jet Li, Squirtle, Mickey Rooney, the list is oolong. These are the people I wonton my team. But the Chinese government, though? F**k ‘em.”
- Simons stated that Schulz continued to blame China, lump it together with the rest of Asia, and when he got to the second episode, he likened Woody Allen’s Korea-born wife, Soon-Yi Previn, to a virus carrier.
- “Maybe that Woody is a pedophile,” Schulz said. “But to be fair to him, he married her and they’re still together. So that begs the question: is she the cure? Asia, you might’ve given us one virus, but you solved another.”
Trump’s same sentiment: Schulz’s comments in his Netflix special reflects the same anti-Asian sentiment Donald Trump expressed in the past few months amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Schulz refers to the virus as the “Asian parasite” and the “Wuhanic Plague” in the Netflix special.
- In comparison, Trump called the pandemic the “Chinese virus,” “Kung Flu” and various others throughout his campaign.
- In September, the national coalition Stop AAPI Hate published a report stating as many as 2,583 Asian Americans experienced anti-Asian discrimination amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Online backlash: Many social media users called out the Netflix special for allowing the jokes to pass through, including author Jessica Valenti who also slammed the streaming platform for Schulz’s show.
Here’s what other people are saying:
There have also been users who support Schulz’s special:
Featured Image Screenshot via Netflix Is A Joke
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