If you needed any more proof that late-night TV is still a man’s world, look no further than Vanity Fair. Ten men in suits (8 of whom are white) sit sipping whiskey for a recent story, under the headline “Why Late-Night Television Is Better Than Ever.” The answer certainly is not diversity of any kind.
We talked to all the titans of late-night television, and found out why it’s better than ever http://t.co/pIG1c7wSs1 pic.twitter.com/p8EgyB5jva
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) September 14, 2015
It’s common knowledge that late-night is something of a boys’ club. After all, there are exactly zero women hosting late-night shows on major networks right now. And women who are involved with late-night, like Grace Helbig, who replaced Chelsea Handler on E!, are nowhere to be found on Vanity Fair’s cover.
And it’s not just the hosting gigs that primarily go to men. The majority of staff writers on late-night TV shows are — you guessed it — of the dude (and pale) persuasion. Even Stephen Colbert — who wrote an essay for Glamour which acknowledged that late-night is “a bit of a sausagefest” and detailed how he hopes to celebrate women’s voices — only has 2 women on his writing staff of 19.
The 100 percent male, 80 percent white Vanity Fair image didn’t go unnoticed by women and men on Twitter, who began calling out how tone-deaf it was:
It’s not called late-night television, I believe it’s called a sausage fest.
— Elizabeth Plank (@feministabulous) September 14, 2015
So it’s better than ever in late-night according to @VanityFair … But where are the women!?
— Joseph Taylor (@jmtaychi) September 14, 2015
Quick fix on that headline: *samer than ever. #menmenmen https://t.co/Ic4k0t0pT3
— Teghan Beaudette (@cbcteghan) September 14, 2015
dudes 4 days https://t.co/7GsVyjeQ0i
— rachel syme (@rachsyme) September 14, 2015
@VanityFair it’s great to see so much diversity. It’s inspiring that so many different white men get a chance to be represented for once!
— Becca MacDonald (@BeccaMacDonald8) September 14, 2015
lol it’s like a white rainbow
a glorious white rainbow of dads https://t.co/vQ51sB11Gf— Erin Gloria Ryan (@morninggloria) September 14, 2015
Even comedian Samantha Bee, who is getting her own show on TBS in 2016, took notice of the image and kindly improved it.
.@VanityFair BETTER pic.twitter.com/EfPbTQ3qZ8
— Samantha Bee (@iamsambee) September 14, 2015
The men featured in the Vanity Fair story are generally excellent comedians. It’s great to celebrate the accomplishments of men like Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart and Larry Wilmore, while looking forward to seeing what newcomers like Trevor Noah might do. But the Vanity Fair piece doesn’t even acknowledge the staggering gender gap until its final two paragraphs.
“What’s conspicuously missing from late-night, still, is women,” writes David Kamp. “How gobsmackingly insane is it that no TV network has had the common sense — and that’s all we’re talking about in 2015, not courage, bravery, or even decency — to hand over the reins of an existing late-night comedy program to a female person?”
It’s heartening to see this called out, and to see Bee and Handler, who are getting their own 2016 shows on TBS and Netflix respectively, receive shout-outs. But it’s not quite enough. Here’s hoping next time a major publication does a story like this one, diversity will be more than a kicker.
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