Here's What We Know About The Controversy Surrounding Netflix's 'Grand Army'
Grand Army is the latest drama series to drop on Netflix, but you may have been hearing buzz about it weeks before its Oct. 16 premiere. That's because Netflix's Grand Army has a bit of controversy surrounding it, specifically in regard to how the writers of the show may have been treated. Here's everything you need to know about this complicated situation:
After Netflix released the first trailer for Grand Army — which is based on the 2013 production Slut: The Play by Katie Cappiello — on Sept. 2, a writer on the show named Ming Peiffer tweeted some strong allegations against Cappiello and Netflix, citing racism and exploitation as chief complaints. Netflix declined to comment on these claims, and Cappiello did not respond to Elite Daily's request for comment in time for publication. It doesn't seem that the other two writers Peiffer referenced in her tweets have publicly spoken about the show.
In her initial tweet, Peiffer wrote:
Me and the 3 writers of color who worked on the show quit due to racist exploitation and abuse. The show runner and creator went full Karen and called Netflix hr on the Black writer in the room for getting a haircut. Yes you read that correctly. Who wants to interview us?
Peiffer elaborated on her allegations in subsequent tweets, writing: "Netflix was fully aware of it all and did nothing except hire more writers of color to lend their names to the show. Then had the audacity to reach out 2 years later in anticipation of the release to 'hear our concerns' bih we told you what happened 2 years ago!"
She also quoted a line from the trailer to highlight the alleged hypocrisy of the show: "'It matters who hears you, who says I understand' this sh*t just writes itself. Really heard & understood us when we told you how exploitative the show was. Tried to underpay the LatinX writer who just won an Emmy meanwhile creator had never worked in tv b4 but the 3 of us had."
When the trailer for Grand Army was released, a Twitter user said it seemed Grand Army was using the popular trope of Black girls experiencing pain and hardship rather than of joy. Peiffer responded:
Because the show runner wouldn’t listen to the 3 writers of color, of which I am one, including the Black writer who kept asking to not make her storyline poverty porn. When we tried to change the story we were psychologically abused and all quit.
Neither Netflix nor Cappiello has publicly addressed these allegations.
Season 1 of Grand Army is streaming on Netflix now.
