Ali Wong is in serious demand. The stand-up comedian and “Always Be My Maybe” star and co-writer has inked “a rich deal” with Netflix to do two new stand-up specials for the streamer following a bidding war, The Hollywood Reporter confirms. According to sources, the deal is “worth in the eight figures for both specials.”
The multi-hyphenate has a long history with Netflix, the home of her two previous stand-up specials, 2016’s “Baby Cobra” and 2018’s “Hard Knock Wife.” The streamer dropped her hit rom-com, “Always Be My Maybe,” earlier this year. Wong also voiced the character of Bertie in “Tuca & Bertie,” a Netflix animated series about BFF birds that ran for one season, and had a guest spot on its animated puberty comedy “Big Mouth.”
“Ali is electric,” said Robbie Praw, director of original stand-up comedy programming at Netflix. “She offers a completely distinct voice in the culture, and audiences all over the world have responded to her raw, unfiltered humor. We’re so proud to make Netflix the home of her comedy specials for years to come.”
When THR asked if she’s seen “any real changes since the culture’s recent sexual harassment awakening” in 2018, Wong said, “No, and with #MeToo and Time’s Up, I’m shocked that treating women like garbage still persists. But they think, ‘Oh, well, I didn’t rape you, so I’m one of the good guys.’ I’m actually doing [material] all about #MeToo right now. Men have been confessing to me their true feelings about it and this whole idea of how it’s such a scary time to be a man, which is the most absurd thing I have ever heard,” she emphasized. “So there’s a lot to cover.”
“American Housewife,” “Inside Amy Schumer,” and “Fresh Off the Boat” are among Wong’s other credits.