Zoë Kravitz Criticizes Hulu for Lack of Representation in Original Shows

Earlier this week, Zoë Kravitz's Hulu show 'High Fidelity' was canceled after one season. She later criticized the streaming platform for its lack of diversity.

August 8, 2020

zoe high fidelity — Image via Getty/Slaven Vlasic
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Many have been lamenting the cancellation of the Zoë Kravitz-starring Hulu show High Fidelity, including Kravitz herself.

The actress took to Instagram earlier this week where she posted some BTS shots of the show and thanked the cast, crew, and fans. “I wanna give a shout out to my #highfidelity family,” she wrote in the caption. “thank you for all the love and heart you put into this show. i'm in awe of all of you. and thank you to everyone who watched, loved and supported us. #breakupssuck”

Tessa Thompson commented on the post, writing, “I will miss you alllllllllllll so much,” to which Kravitz responded, “It’s cool. At least Hulu has a ton of other shows starring women of color we can watch. Oh wait.”

Kravitz indeed has a point. The only other original scripted series on Hulu is Little Fires Everywhere, starring Kerry Washington. The streaming platform does have a Black Stories page devoted to Black content, but not many of the titles are Hulu originals with Black women leads.

On an episode of Variety’s podcast The Big Ticket from earlier this year, Kravitz touched on how fans have positively reacted to the show’s inclusive cast. “The amount of comments, DMs, things on Twitter, articles written about Brown women who love music, were afraid of commitment, who’ve never seen a person like them on television— they feel seen for the first time,” she said.

“Just breaking away from the stereotypes, I feel like people need that. So I feel very lucky to have been able to deliver that, because one of the most important things for me was authenticity and bringing a real world to life. I’ve lived in New York for a long time, and in a lot of ways this was a love letter to New York with all its messiness and diversity.”

High Fidelity was canceled on Aug. 5 after only one season. The series was a gender-remix on John Cusack’s film adaptation of Nick Hornby’s 1995 novel of the same name. In Kravitz’s version, she plays Rob who owns a struggling record store in Brooklyn with her friends Simon (David Holmes) and Cherise (Da’Vine Joy Randolph).