Carl Jones, one of the writers, producers, and actors responsible for bringing The Boondocks to life, is no stranger to breaking the mold. Beloved as any animated project ever made, The Boondocks has always been a fantastically absurd look at contemporary culture — and has never been afraid to shoot its shot.
In a recent interview at VladTV, Jones detailed some of the more risky moves the series has made over the years, and one in particular that caused a bit of backlash.
First, a bit of context. In the show, Winston Jerome is a playwright, performer, screenwriter, and cult leader who uses his power to sexually manipulate other men. To put things nicely. Jones and Co. decided to make a shakily vague comparison to Tyler Perry, and that is what started it all. Starting to get the picture?
Talking about Winston Jerome, Jones describes how the character came about and why it made Tyler Perry so darn mad. Carl was even close to meeting Tyler Perry in person but got shot down after an entertainer friend of his remembered his unspoken beef with the Madea creator.
“One time I was in Atlanta, and Michael Jai White (Spawn, Blood and Bone) who I worked with on Black Dynamite was shooting something for Tyler and he was like, ‘You’re in Atlanta you should come by the set.’ And I was like, ‘Alright, cool.’ Then we got off the phone and he called me back and he says, ‘On second thought, I forgot about that. No, don’t come by the set.’
Ouch. Nothing quite like getting the rug pulled out from underneath you. Jones goes on to talk about how they were able to convince Adult Swim to air the episode in the first place, and how the original script included a much more direct depiction of Tyler Perry — by actually giving his name to the gay cult leader who eventually ends up being called Winston Jerome.
“What was funny about that episode is, originally the character’s name was Tyler Perry, and he looked exactly like Tyler Perry. That was a rare moment where Adult Swim was like, ‘You can’t do that.’ You know what I mean? They were being the responsible adult, and said, ‘You can’t use Tyler Perry’s name. You can’t make it look like Tyler Perry.’ So we found another name, which was actually his real name, and we got it under the radar.”
Born Emmitt Perry Jr., Tyler Perry’s birth name was discovered by creators over at The Boondocks and they swapped it into their story. Which, surprisingly, worked …at first.
“So it got under the radar, and then about two weeks later they caught it. That’s when they called us kind of screaming at us, like, ‘For real, you can’t do that. Don’t try to play games. You can’t.'”
Jones seemed to back down after that, changing the name and look of Winston Jerome to separate the fictional character from the very real Tyler Perry. Still, that didn’t stop Perry from connecting the dots, and eventually, the Hollywood heavyweight gave Adult Swim a call. Personally.
“At least the way this was told to us from the network, Tyler himself called and said, ‘You guys better not ever air that again.’ And at the time, he had a lot of shows at TBS. We were just the little, small Black cartoon. Tyler Perry was God. Shoutout to Tyler Perry by the way, because I’ve got love for Tyler Perry too.
Hell hath no fury like a Tyler Perry scorned, and I get it. Sort of. You would think that someone with a sense of humor like Perry would be a good sport about the whole ordeal — but sometimes certain things trigger people. Comedy is a strange thing and what one person finds funny another won’t. Even Tyler Perry has his limits, and that’s okay. Give the guy a break.
As for Jones, it’s clear that he never meant Perry any ill will and seems to respect the guy regardless despite all the ire directed at him.
Here’s hoping the two can get together someday and have a laugh about it, although from the story we’ve just heard, I sort of doubt that’s going to happen. Sorry, Carl.
Published: Aug 31, 2023 05:51 pm