‘Master of None’ chosen to compete in category of directorial achievement
Comedian Aziz Ansari picked up two nominations for the 70th annual Directors Guild of America Awards in the outstanding directorial achievement in a comedy series category with his Netflix series “Master of None.”While Ansari is nominated for the episode”The Thief,” which he directed, Melina Matsoukas has also made it into the category for the “Thanksgiving” episode of the same series. Other nominees include Mike Judge of the Kumail Nanjiani-starrer “Silicon Valley,” Beth McCarthy-Miller of “Veep,” and Amy Sherman-Palladino, for an episode of Amazon’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”
The “Master of None” creator and actor has been caught in a sexual harassment scandal since an expose on the feminist website Babe.net broke out last week, where a 23-year-old New York woman, identified in the report as Grace, accuses him of sexually exploiting her. Ansari, 34, who became the first Indian-American to win best actor at the Golden Globes, is the latest in a long line of powerful men in Hollywood to be recently accused of sexual misconduct, triggering a debate about what constitutes an awkward sexual encounter versus sexual misconduct.
The standup comedian was conspicuously absent at the Screen Actors Guild awards held Jan. 21 in Los Angeles, California. A notable lack of applause after Ansari’s name was announced reminded audience of the severity of the accusations. He was nominated for his role in the Netflix series “Master of None” and was pitted against Anthony Anderson, Larry David, Sean Hayes, William H. Macy and Marc Maron. The award ultimately went to Macy for his role in “Shameless.”
However it is not all downhill for Ansari. He once again made his way into The Hollywood Reporter’s Top Comedians chart dated Jan. 24. The Top Comedians chart is a ranking of the most popular comedians on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Google Plus with global data provided by social media analytics company MVPindex. The chart’s methodology blends social engagement on the platforms along with weekly additions of followers/subscribers. The latest tracking week ended Jan. 16. Ansari re-entered the chart at number 9. Ansari also got support from actor and fellow comedian Joel McHale, who said he felt like the episode was consensual, the Daily Mail reported.