Wanda Sykes has hit back at critics who call her a "woke comic," saying she gladly welcomes the term.
The 59-year-old comedian is a veteran in the entertainment industry, having made her big break writing for The Chris Rock Show, which saw her win a Primetime Emmy Award in 1999.
Aside from appearing in TV series like Black-ish, The Upshaws, and Curb Your Enthusiasm, she's also been in movies like Monster-In-Law and the Ice Age franchise.
Most of us, however, recognize Sykes for the stellar LGBTQIA+ comedian she is... Though, not everyone seems to be finding her material as funny.
The comedian sat down for a recent interview with Variety about her new comedy special, where she discussed her jokes, her career, and why she portrays her French wife as a smoker during her shows (despite the fact her wife, Alex, doesn't smoke). "When I first started doing her on stage, I would say at the end, 'Oh, by the way, my wife doesn't even smoke. This is just how I see her,'" Sykes said.
"I didn't do it this time in the special, so she's like [in a French accent, pretending to hold a cigarette], 'Everybody thinks I smoke now! Everybody's asking me, Alex, when did you start smoking?' When I talk like her, I just happen to do it," the comedian joked.
She also spoke about the rise in feminist, racial, and LGBTQIA+ issues being part of comedy shows in recent years, especially when it comes to Roe v. Wade, slavery in the USA, and transgender rights.
Sykes told the outlet that she has included jokes about laws banning transgender women from women's bathrooms, saying: "I knew that it's such a delicate issue to talk about. I'm not trans, but they have my support, 100 percent.
"I wanted to find something where I can shine some light on what they're going through, to show how just stupid and hateful really it is. I was in a woman's bathroom one time, and I was like, 'Who would want to come in here anyway?' It was like, 'I kind of want to go check out the men's room. Sometimes, it's even cleaner.' And that's how that whole bit started. I've always just been grossed out by bathrooms," she revealed.
Sykes - who hosted the infamous 2022 Oscars alongside Regina Hall and Amy Schumer - also discussed the backlash many comics have received for their so-called "woke comedy," commenting: "It's pretty funny. If you want to give me the label of a 'woke comic,' that's fine. That's great. What makes me laugh is that they say that like it's an insult: 'Oh, they're woke.' Thank you!
"Yeah, I read some stuff from time to time. Yeah, I know a few things. It's not an insult at all. I mean, George Carlin, he was woke. Richard Pryor, woke. Bill Hicks, woke. It's almost like they're angry that we're evolving. It's sad, really," she said.
Sykes' brand-new Netflix comedy special I'm An Entertainer is available now on Netflix.