Tina Fey told Donald Glover he was hired at NBC because of ‘diversity’ initiative
Julia Johnson
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Donald Glover, who also goes by Childish Gambino, claimed that he was a diversity hire at NBC when he was brought onto the writing team at 30 Rock.
According to a recent interview with the writer, actor, musician, comedian, producer, and director, he was hired due to a diversity initiative at NBC. The initiative reportedly allowed shows to hire black writers without it counting against their budget.
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“There is no animosity between us or anything like that, but [Tina Fey] said it herself. … It was a diversity thing,” Glover explained.
NBC Universal did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
“The last two people who were fighting for the job were me and Kenya Barris,” Glover added. “I didn’t know it was between me and him until later. He hit me one day and he was like, ‘I hated you for years!’”
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Barris was reported last year to be directing a reimagining of the classic movie The Wizard of Oz for Warner Bros. The new version is going to have an LGBT theme, rather than the traditional Dust Bowl theme. “Now we’re going to turn a mirror on where we’re at right now and take disparate characters from the LGBTQ community, from different cultural communities and socioeconomic communities, and tell a story that reflects the world. I think this is the best time to do that,” he said of the project.
Glover is known for several projects, including his role on the NBC show Community, which ran for six seasons. On the show, he starred alongside actors Joel McHale and Alison Brie, among others.