With that fame and success, however, came backlash—but it was nothing she wasn’t ready for. “Every time one of these blokes comes in and says something that they believe is devastating, what confounds me is that they think they’re original,” Gadsby told The Guardian. “That it’s going to be the first time I’ve heard this. You know? I’ve lived a life. I’ve heard it all before. You don’t do a show like Nanette without a tough shell. I’m fairly robust when it comes to stuff like that.” She added, “I’m a student of art history. It seems like part and parcel of any shift in form necessarily comes with a resistance. It’s kind of cool to be part of that in comedy. I expect other people to take what I’ve done and bend it out of shape and create something new. And for me that’s exciting.” In 2021, Gadsby found herself in the headlines once more after both Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos and legendary comedian Dave Chappellename-dropped her—for totally different reasons and in totally different ways. Get to know the outspoken Aussie.
How did Hannah Gadsby become famous?
Gadsby is a comedian and writer who got started when she entered a standup comedy contest in 2006, performing for the very first time—and winning. “I’d never held a microphone before. I’d never even been to a comedy show—but all of a sudden, I kind of knew what I was doing,” she told NPR. “As soon as I told my first joke… it really made people engage with me, and I held the audience in my hand.” She had been doing standup for more than 10 years when her Netflix special, Nanette, debuted in 2018, catapulting her into a new level of fame—even though she “quit” comedy in the special. “Yeah, Nanette was not the end it claimed to be. It was a point of exasperation,” she explained to The Guardian. “I was expecting Nanette to put me in a position where I would have to scale back what I did with my comedy. I thought it would alienate my audience. And that was the surprise of Nanette—what I thought would push me into a corner did the opposite… I thought, ‘I don’t have to jump, I can do what I want.’”
What is Hannah Gadsby doing now?
In 2020, Gadsby released a second special, Douglas, that focused more on just jokes and less on processing trauma; she also discusses her autism diagnosis in the special. “I did all the heavy lifting with Nanette, so I thought it would defeat the purpose—you know, dwelling. It felt like a time to be more playful, show a breadth of form. I wanted to show that there’s life after trauma, and more than one way to skin a cat,” she told The Guardian. As for her worldwide fame, she admitted, “I’m focusing on the inevitable fall. What I figure is that—what goes up must come down. I want to be able to negotiate that as gracefully as possible.” She described the attention she’s received as “addictive,” but knows that it’s likely fleeting. “The only way you get that level of attention is you do something that has an impact. I managed to do that once but I don’t expect that every time,” she noted. “Unless I try to stay shocking and that’s not what I want to do. I made a choice—that not everything I do will make that kind of impact—and that’s good.”
Is Hannah Gadsby still on Netflix?
As of this writing, both Nanette and Douglas are still streaming on Netflix.
What did Hannah Gadsby say about Netflix and Dave Chappelle?
When Sarandos faced backlash for allegedly transphobic comments Chappelle made in his latest Netflix special The Closer, the Netflix CEO said in a memo to staff obtained by The Daily Beast, “We are working hard to ensure marginalized communities aren’t defined by a single story. So we have Sex Education, Orange Is the New Black, Control Z, Hannah Gadsby and Dave Chappelle all on Netflix. Key to this is increasing diversity on the content team itself.” Upon learning that her name was dropped in the memo, Gadsby wrote on Instagram, “Hey Ted Sarandos! Just a quick note to let you know that I would prefer if you didn’t drag my name into your mess. Now I have to deal with even more of the hate and anger that Dave Chappelle’s fans like to unleash on me every time Dave gets $20 million to process his emotionally stunted partial worldview. You didn’t pay me nearly enough to deal with the real-world consequences of the hate speech dog-whistling you refuse to acknowledge, Ted. Fk you and your amoral algorithm cult… I do sts with more backbone than you. That’s just a joke! I definitely didn’t cross a line because you just told the world there isn’t one.”
What did Dave Chappelle say about Hannah Gadsby?
After Gadsby slammed Netflix for defending Chappelle—and after media reports circulated that he allegedly refused to meet with members of the trans community—he stated his conditions for meeting up with members the LGBTQIA+ community during a live performance. “To the transgender community, I am more than willing to give you an audience, but you will not summon me,” he said. “I am not bending to anyone’s demands, and if you want to meet with me, I am more than willing to, but I have some conditions.” He continued, “First of all, you cannot come if you have not watched my special from beginning to end. You must come to a place of my choosing at a time of my choosing, and thirdly, you must admit that Hannah Gadsby is not funny.” Since then, Gadsby has received public support from other comedians who thought Chappelle’s diss was out of line. Stand-up comic Sean Kenttweeted about Chappelle’s quip, “Chappelle seems super drunk and self-pitying. Totallly unnecessary to take a shot at Hannah Gadsby and sick his internet trolls on her.”
Is Hannah Gadsby in a relationship?
Gadsby revealed in April 2021 that she secretly married Jenney Shamash. “I would like to introduce all y’all to Jenney Shamash,” Gadsby wrote on Instagram. “She is a producer extraordinaire. She is very funny and is really talented at reciting facts. It is a joy to behold. We got married in January and we are very chuffed about it. For the record: this is me gushing. I am full of very positive feelings. This is a nice story. My heartfelt thanks to everybody who voted for marriage equality. #married #really? #yeahtotally.”
Why is Hannah Gadsby’s Netflix special called Nanette?
Gadsby revealed that she titled her Netflix special Nanette after a barista who was once rude to her. “I’ve never seen her since, I assume she’s still kicking about somewhere. She was just an older lady who I would normally love to talk to, but because of what I represented, we didn’t,” she explained to Variety. “You know when someone looks at you like you’re scum of the earth.” She explained that she had a bit in her live taping of her special describing the incident, but it was actually cut for time constraints. “No offense to Nanette, she might have just had a tough day. I was purely projecting,” she said. “I feel pretty bad because she was just getting on with her life. It’s one thing for me to open up this viral sensation upon myself but she’s just doing her thing.”
Does Hannah Gadsby have ADHD?
Gadsby is open about her ADHD diagnosis. She was also diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder in 2017, which she said was a relief. “I was getting a lot of things wrong, and the most difficult was my interpersonal life, because on stage, in interviews, the boundaries and the rules of engagement are very clear. But once you step out of these things and you’re talking to people, you’re building relationships with people, there’s so much more uncertainty, and I don’t read the room nearly as well,” she explained to NPR. “I’ve spent my whole life really trying to study the room—that is one of my special subjects. So in many ways, I appear very good at being social. But it’s an incredibly exhausting process for me.” “So when I was diagnosed, it just gave me permission to be kinder to myself, to not always take responsibility for being a bit clumsy around other people, and allow me to start to tell people, ‘I’m clumsy, but I [don ’t] mean to be,’” she recalled. “And being more open about, ‘I need you to tell me what I did wrong, and then we can move on from there.’ Whereas, I would just get in a lot of trouble from my friends and whatnot for being insensitive. And it was kind of a double bind because I’m very sensitive and I’m very thoughtful, but I miss things that other people sort of go, ‘You should just know that.’”
Where was Hannah Gadsby born?
Gadsby was born in Smithton, a small town in Tasmania, Australia.
What age is Hannah Gadsby?
Born on Jan. 12, 1978, at the time of this writing, Gadsby is 43 years old.
Where was Douglas filmed?
Gadsby’s special Douglas was filmed in Los Angeles.
What are Hannah Gadsby’s pronouns?
Gadsby’s pronouns are she/her, but she joked in her special, Douglas, that she wanted to adopt the pronoun “y’all.” “I’m taking ‘y’all.’ I love ‘y’all,’ because ‘y’all’ is the best, most inclusive, second-person plural pronoun in the English-speaking world,” she cracked. “Thank you, the South! What an ally.” Next, check out the 31 best Netflix standup comedy specials ever.
