Aziz Ansari starts off his new special on a serious note.
In “Aziz Ansari Right Now”, which premiered on Netflix Tuesday, the comedian addresses an allegation of sexual misconduct he faced in early 2018.
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Opening his standup set, the comedian recalls a fan who mistook him for comedian Hasan Minhaj, only to clear up the error by confirming he was actually “Aziz, right?”
“I was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, that’s me,'” Ansari says.
The conversation continues: “‘”Master of None”?’ ‘Yeah, yeah, that’s me.’ ‘”Parks and Rec”?’ ‘Yeah, yeah, that’s me.’ ‘Treat Yo’ Self?’ ‘Yeah, yeah, that’s me.'”
Then the fan asks, “And you had that whole thing last year, sexual misconduct?”
“No, no, no, no, no,” Ansari tells him, jokingly. “That was Hasan.”
Then the comedian gets serious, addressing the allegation and the subsequent fallout head-on.
“You know, I haven’t said much about that whole thing, but I’ve talked about it on this tour, ’cause you’re here and it means a lot to me. I’m sure there are some of you that are curious how I feel about that whole situation,” he says.
“There’s times I felt scared, there’s times I felt humiliated, there’s times I felt embarrassed, and ultimately I just felt terrible that this person felt this way,” Ansari continues, referring to the woman who alleged she felt pressured into sex while on a date with him.
“After a year or so, I just hope it was a step forward,” he says. “It moved things forward for me, made me think about a lot. I hope I’ve become a better person.”
He also points to a specific moment of growth that came out of the allegation.
“I always think about a conversation I had with one of my friends where he was like, ‘You know what, man? That whole thing made me think about every date I’ve ever been on.’ And I thought, Wow! That’s pretty incredible,” Ansari says. “If this made not just me but other people be more thoughtful, then that’s a good thing, and that’s how I feel about it.”
Ansari then adds, “This isn’t the most hilarious way to begin a comedy show but it’s important to me that you know how I feel.”
