Yvette Nicole Brown Responds To ‘Good Times’ Reboot Backlash: “Coming For Me Is A Fool’s Errand”
Last month, a trailer for the all-new, animated Good Times reboot was met with much backlash over its stereotypical depiction of a Black family. Now, cast member Yvette Nicole Brown has now found herself defending the forthcoming series.
In the adaptation of the 1974 sitcom, Brown voices Beverly Evans, the wife and matriarch of the family. The series’ teaser shows the family joking about collecting disability checks, a child repeating the 10th grade for the third time, and even a toddler taking on the role of a “drug-dealing baby.”
In an X post, Brown backed her Netflix show justifying it as “edgier and more irreverent than the Good Times of our childhood.” She explained the series as “still a show about family, fighting the system and working to make things better despite where you start out in the world.”
Brown’s disclaimer came after one fan inquired why she would be a part of a project like this, which “Looks nothing like the show we grew up on.” The Ohio-native asserted that the series “100% lines up with my values.”
Brown then listed reasons why she chose to pursue the project.
“I’ve spent my whole life shining a light on the things that matter & calling out the systems that keep a boot on our necks,” she wrote. “At times, I take parts in projects that do the same — even if they are irreverent or risky. Coming for me as if that’s wrong is a fool’s errand.”
In another post, she added, “You don’t have to like the projects I choose, agree with my decision to do them or support me now or going forward. But your displeasure will not stop me from doing the projects I think have merit despite them being tough to swallow for some, at first.
“Now get out there & write your screeds about a show you’ve seen just a two-minute trailer for. Go off as if you know the fullness of the journey or the message we’re trying to share about the systemic barriers WE still face no matter our station in life.”
The Good Times reboot stars the voices of Brown, J.B. Smoove, Marsai Martin, Jay Pharoah, Slink Johnson, and Rashida “Sheedz” Olayiwola, and is produced by Stephen Curry, Norman Lear, and Seth McFarlane. The original ’70s sitcom starred Esther Rolle, John Amos, Ja’Net DuBois, Ralph Carter Ber Nadette Stanis, Jimmie Walker, Johnny Brown, Janet Jackson, and Ben Powers.
Of the controversial trailer, John Amos told The Hollywood Reporter, “I really can’t form an opinion, as I’ve not seen any of the episodes yet. Norman [Lear]— and the entire cast and company — set the bar pretty high. They’ll have a hard time reaching that level of entertainment [and] education.”
He added, “I wish them the best. I see people aspiring to that, but I don’t see anybody reaching that goal, especially in an animated version.”
The show premieres on Netflix on April 12. Check out the trailer above.
