Mary Beth Barone Pushes for Grammy to Spotlight Comedy Gender Gap — SkimNews
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Mary Beth Barone's Netflix special 'Galaxy Brain' premiered July 28, and the nine-track vinyl album — recorded live in New York City — goes on sale Nov. 23 as part of her Best Comedy Album push for the 2027 Grammys.
- Barone is making the campaign public to spotlight a gender gap she calls a 'huge imbalance': only four women have won Best Comedy Album since 1970, meaning Dave Chappelle has more wins in the category than women combined.
- She unveiled the Grammy push on a recent 'Late Night With Seth Meyers' appearance, framing the effort as 'starting a conversation' rather than just seeking a personal nomination.
- The Galaxy Brain material covers rape culture, the 'scourge of male comedians,' her rescue chihuahua Pink, and a tongue-in-cheek plan for women to swing elections via their dating-app matches.
- Barone stars in the Amazon Prime/A24 college comedy 'Overcompensating' and co-hosts the weekly podcast 'Ride' with castmate Benito Skinner.
Why it matters: Barone is converting a personal Grammy bid into a public audit of the Best Comedy Album category: by naming the four-women-since-1970 statistic on a national talk show and tying it to her own campaign, she's forcing the Recording Academy to either widen its winner's circle or defend a pattern that's held for 55 years.
Ask SkimNews
