Netflix says it wants Aziz Ansari to start making shows again, 6 months after he was controversially accused of sexual misconduct
- Aziz Ansari has been laying low since he was accused of sexual misconduct by a woman he went on a date with.
- A long, first-person piece published by Babe.net described a date in which had sex with her despite ignoring what she called "cues" that she wanted him to stop.
- The article sparked intense debate, with many people defending Ansari after he defended himself to call the encounter "consensual."
- A senior Netflix executive has since said that Ansari is welcome to resume his show - "Master of None" - whenever he is ready.
Netflix has said that it is "ready" for Aziz Ansari to go back to making shows for it, after the comedian has spent months laying low after being accused of sexual misconduct.
Ansari has not produced any new content for his award-winning show "Master of None" since an anonymous woman who went on a date with Ansari said he forced himself on her during despite numerous "cues" that she "wasn't interested."
The article, published on millennial women's site Babe.net, sparked an online firestorm, with many people questioning whether the situation the woman described really amounted to anything abusive.
Ansari has largely laid low since the article, which he responded to with a statement that everything between the two of them had been "consensual."
On Sunday, Netflix programming executive Cindy Holland said: "We would be happy to make another season of Master of None when Aziz is ready."
She made comment during the Television Critics Association's press tour in Beverly Hills.
An interview with "Master of None" co-creator Lena Waithe in UK newspaper The Independent in March 2018 suggested that Ansari is the reluctant party when it comes to producing more seasons of the show.
"I mean, I talk to Aziz…but it's the last thing that ever comes up in our conversations," Waithe said.
Netflix did not cancel the show or remove Ansari from the project in response to the article.
Ansari is a creator of the show as well as playing its main character. He won a Golden Globe in 2018 for the role in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy category. He also won an Emmy for the show in 2016 for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.
Ansari previously released a statement about the accusation. Ansari said that sexual activity had occurred but that he thought it was "completely consensual." He said the broader #MeToo movement, in which people share their experience with sexual assault, was "long overdue," but did not consider this encounter an example of it.
Ansari used the statement to outline what he thought had happened on the date: "The next day, I got a text from her saying that although 'it may have seemed okay,' upon further reflection, she felt uncomfortable.
"It was true that everything did seem okay to me, so when I heard that it was not the case for her, I was surprised and concerned.
"I took her words to heart and responded privately after taking the time to process what she had said," he said.