Despite her many recent successes, actress and comedian Tina Fey argues in a recent interview that now is a “terrible time” for women in comedy.
During a conversation with Town & Country magazine, Fey complained about the questions she and her friend/co-star Amy Poehler were asked by reporters while they promoted their 2015 comedy Sisters.
“Every single interviewer asked, ‘Isn’t this an amazing time for women in comedy?’ People really wanted us to be openly grateful – ‘Thank you so much!’” Fey said.
She concluded: “… and we were like, ‘No, it’s a terrible time.’”
Added the Whiskey Tango Foxtrot star: “If you were to really look at it, the boys are still getting more money for a lot of garbage, while the ladies are hustling and doing amazing work for less.”
Fey further complained of being told by reporters, “People say women aren’t funny.”
“The next time I’m at a press junket and someone says that, I have to remember to say, ‘We need to stop talking about whether women are funny. And we need to acknowledge that black people are funnier than white people,” she said. “Let’s discuss that.”
Fey also grumbled that her and Poehler were once asked if they ever fought, and if so, what did they fight about.
“We fight about the same things Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg fight about,” she said. “Do you ask them that question?”
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, which stars Fey as Chicago Tribune South Asia bureau chief Kim Barker during her time in Afghanistan and Pakistan, will debut on Friday, Mar. 4.
Watch the trailer below:
Read Tina Fey’s full Town & Country interview here.