Comedian Aziz Ansari is taking his comeback to Netflix later this month with a new stand-up special directed by Oscar winner Spike Jonze.
The ‘Master of None’ star, who was accused of misconduct in a controversial first-person account headlined, “I went on a date with Aziz Ansari. It turned into the worst night of my life” at the height of the #MeToo movement, will return to streaming next week with ‘Aziz Ansari Right Now’, launching July 9.
The special is based on Ansari’s sold-out ‘Road to Nowhere’ tour, during which he’s addressed the fallout from the Babe.net article about the date gone wrong. After the story was published, Ansari publicly apologised for the incident.
In the accompanying teaser trailer, set to Ofege’s ‘It’s Not Easy’, Ansari appears mostly contemplative as he waits to begin the performance — breaking into a smile only as he applies deodorant — before raising his arms to accept the live audience’s standing ovation as he steps onstage.
Though Ansari has appeared at several stand-up gigs since, the comedian has largely recoiled from the subject matter and kept a relatively low profile for months.
During a February stand-up gig, the ‘Parks & Recreation’ alum reportedly said he hoped to take “a step forward” from the scandal and that he gained insight from it, became a better person. He added that he was deeply grateful that he’s been allowed to continue performing as a stand-up comic in spite of it. He also appeared at a ‘Parks & Recreation’ reunion during PaleyFest in March.
‘Master of None’ was never pulled from Netflix in the wake of the scandal, and Ansari appears to have maintained a strong relationship with the streaming service. Netflix later said that it would bring back his Emmy-winning comedy for a third season if Ansari was interested.
Ansari, 36, mounted a 75-city tour over the last year, during which he sold out two June shows at New York’s Radio City Music Hall and three shows with Dave Chappelle at Austin’s Paramount Theater in April.
The new stand-up special was filmed during a tour stop at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
