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Netflix just added more Black excellence to its roster!
As recently reported by Variety, “Black-ish” and “Grown-ish” creator, Kenya Barris, has signed a three-year overall deal with the streaming giant “that carries an option for an additional two years… valued at roughly $100 million.”
The news comes a few months after ABC decided to “indefinitely shelve” Barris’ “Black-ish” episode called “Please, Baby, Please,” which addressed current events such as athletes kneeling during the singing of the national anthem. Although Barris officially parted ways with ABC last month, he will remain an executive producer on “Black-ish.” His new deal with Netflix will also not affect his current show “Grown-ish” nor his upcoming Freeform comedy series “Besties.”
“Kenya Barris is one of our great modern storytellers,” said Cindy Holland, VP, Original Content at Netflix. “Kenya uses his voice to make audiences more aware of the world around them, while simultaneously making them laugh. His honesty, comedic brilliance and singular point of view, combined with the creative freedom he will enjoy at Netflix, promises to create powerful new stories for all our members around the world.”
Barris shared, “When my agents reached out to me about this little garage start-up called Netflix, I wasn’t sure what to think. But after I talked to Ted and Cindy, I started to believe that maybe this mom-and-pop shop with only 130 million subscribers might just be something… so I decided to take a swing… a leap of faith if you will, and take a chance with the new kids on the block.”
As he joins fellow television powerhouse Shonda Rhimes at Netflix, Barris will create new projects exclusively for the streaming giant that will “reflect culture through an urban, youth and female-focused lens.
Congratulations, Kenya! And cheers to creative freedom.