The comedian who called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” at a Donald Trump campaign rally last year has secured a deal with Netflix.
The streaming giant announced on Monday that it will run three exclusive comedy specials hosted by Tony Hinchcliffe starting on April 7, based on his popular podcast Kill Tony, plus a standalone one-hour standup slot.
Hinchcliffe sparked furious criticism for his racist jokes at Trump’s Madison Square Garden extravaganza last October, in which he invoked ethnic stereotypes about Black people, Hispanic people, Palestinians, and Jews.
“I don’t know if you know this but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now,” he said. “I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”
The backlash was so severe that at one point Donald Trump claimed not to know who Hinchcliffe was and not to have heard his remarks about Puerto Rico, while his campaign said they did not reflect Trump’s views.
But Hinchcliffe refused to apologize, contending that his joke had been taken out of context and was based on Puerto Rico’s very real landfill problem. “I love Puerto Rico and vacation there. I made fun of everyone … watch the whole set,” he said.
In a statement on Monday, Hinchcliffe said: “Myself and our entire crew of Austin comedians, peers, and upcomers are excited for the opportunity to share our chaotic, insane show with a whole new chunk of the globe.”
He added: “It’s the most spontaneous and improvised show that is out there, and the creative freedom given to us by Netflix to keep the show in its pure form is a comedian’s dream and we can’t wait to Netflix and Kill.”
