Netflix’s Master of None will return in May with a third season withdrawing Aziz Ansari’s presence on screen, more than three years after the co-creator of the award-winning comedy was the subject of a sexual assault.
Instead of focusing on Ansari’s character of Dev Shah, the new season will put the Denise of Lena Waithe in the spotlight, reports Variety. A Netflix representative declined to comment.
Master of NoneExploring Denise’s sexuality, in a season 2 episode titled “Thanksgiving”, focuses primarily on her instead of Dev and deserves Ansari and Waithe their first Emmy for writing. Angela Bassett starred as Denise’s mother (and earned an Emmy nod).
Moving away from the focus of the first two seasons on Dev as a single man seeking love helps the series and Netflix move away from the aforementioned incident in Ansari’s personal life. In January 2018, a 23-year-old woman posted an article online claiming that an appointment with Ansari ended with a non-consensual sexual encounter with the actor.
Shortly afterwards, Ansari issued a statement saying, ‘It was true that everything seemed good to me, and when I heard that this was not the case for her, I was surprised and worried. I took her words to heart and responded privately after taking the time to process what she said. ‘
A year later, Ansari further set out his side of the issue with the Netflix rebel special Aziz Ansari: Right now. In it, he addressed the allegations, admitting that he ‘felt terrible’ that his prosecutor felt he had violated her.
“There were times I felt scared, and sometimes I was humiliated, and sometimes I felt embarrassed,” he said. ‘And in the end, I just felt terrible that this person felt that way. And after a year or so, I just hope it was a step forward. It made things move for me, made me think a lot. I hope I have become a better person. ‘
Master of None, who was nominated twice by Emmy for Best Comedy Series, and for which Ansari won a Golden Globe as Best Comedy Player in 2018, released its second season in May 2017.