Comedian Nicole Byer, the host of the beloved and hilarious Netflix baking show Nailed It!, has spoken out about the daily indignities and struggles that she faces as a woman of colour, in a heartbreaking series of Tweets headed “being black in America.”
In the first of her Tweets, the comedian spoke about an experience on a closed set when a production assistant refused to believe she belonged there. She recalled:
“Going to work at a secure closed set where I had to show my ID to get in, and having a PA refuse to look at a call sheet and him saying “I don’t know if you belong here” while we stand in front of a trailer with my name on the door.”
She also mentioned being “mistaken for another black female comic while the person is looking at a picture of the other comic”, and being confronted by security at the taping of her own comedy special while “holding a badge with my name and picture on it.”
Speaking about her experiences behind the scenes, she recalled incidences when makeup artists and hairdressers did not have the necessary tools or colours to work on her, meaning that she was forced to sit in corners and do her own styling while others were attended to.
Being black in America:
1. Going to work at a secure closed set where I had to show my ID to get in, and having a PA refuse to look at a call sheet and him saying “I don’t know if you belong here” while we stand in front of a trailer with my name on the door.— Nicole Byer aka peppa pig slut (@nicolebyer) August 3, 2018
3. A hair dresser who didn’t even have a brush or any real tools for my slightly textured wig. So while the other girls get their hair done. I do my own.
— Nicole Byer aka peppa pig slut (@nicolebyer) August 3, 2018
5. Showed up the taping of my special and the security asked me if I belonged while standing in front of a trailer with my name on it holding a badge with my name and picture on it.
— Nicole Byer aka peppa pig slut (@nicolebyer) August 3, 2018
A lil chunk of white privilege is people assuming you belong and not having to worrying about if hair and makeup ppl have all the things you need for your skin and hair, because they do. You are the norm.
— Nicole Byer aka peppa pig slut (@nicolebyer) August 3, 2018
She also called out some negative interactions with the public, saying people are known to be “rude” to her until they see her name or recognise her voice. “[They then apologise] with some bullshit ‘oh I didn’t recognize you with that hat!’ Fuck you just be nice to black people.”
“A lil chunk of white privilege is people assuming you belong and not having to worrying about if hair and makeup ppl have all the things you need for your skin and hair, because they do,” she said in conclusion. “You are the norm.”
Nicole Byer has previously spoken out about the “typecasting” she faces when auditioning for parts as an actress, saying in an essay for The Hollywood Reporter that there are a “comically small amount” of roles available for women like her.
She wrote that, when she was making a name for herself before her MTV series Loosely Exactly Nicole premiered, she was typically asked to audition for characters called “fat black waitress”, “hooker” and “black bus driver”, adding:
“A lot of under-five-line characters I would audition for don’t even have names. Instead, they’re named by their race, body type and/or profession, which to me means they’re not viewed as real people.”
Since Byer made her tweets yesterday, she has been inundated with message of support from fans, with many encouraging her to keep fighting for her place in the entertainment industry, and calling on hair and makeup departments who don’t yet have their shit together to please do so.
If you haven’t yet seen it, the second season of Nailed It! arrived on Netflix a month ago, and serves as further proof that iconic queen Nicole Byer should host every show:
