‘Sickle cell isn’t some punchline to put in a show’: Mindy Kaling’s Velma Faces Humongous Backlash for Extremely Insensitive Joke About Disease That Kills Thousands Every Year

'Sickle cell isn't some punchline to put in a show': Mindy Kaling's Velma Faces Humongous Backlash for Extremely Insensitive Joke About Disease That Kills Thousands Every Year

Mindy Kaling, known for various quirky roles throughout her career recently voiced the character of Velma Dinkley in Velma. The animated series based on the characters of Scooby Doo featured Velma Dinkley as the main protagonist of the series. However, things didn’t exactly go as planned.

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While getting trolled the series garnered a lot of negative reception while standing at a low rating of 1.4/10 on IMDB. On top of things, the series was renewed for a second season all the while fans noticed a dark joke that shouldn’t have been said.

HBO Max's Velma.
HBO Max’s Velma.

Mindy Kaling’s Velma Made A Joke About Sickle Cell Anemia

The creators weren’t too late to make the joke on sickle cell anemia since the character of Fred uttered it in the first episode of the show. For those unversed, sickle cell anemia refers to the disease wherein the red blood cells turn into a sickle shape and die early. As serious as this disease sounds, the creators weren’t so concerned with the joke that Fred uttered in the first episode.

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Mindy Kaling voiced the character of Velma Dinkley in Velma.
Mindy Kaling voiced the character of Velma Dinkley in Velma.

Also read: ‘They’re butchering all the Scooby-Doo characters’: Velma’s HBO Max Debut Sparks Heated Debate, Fans Label it ‘Just Another Generic Cartoon’

In Velma when Fred meets Velma for the first time, Fred states that he can’t remember what her name was. Giving it a nonchalant look Fred states that he can’t seem to remember people’s names all too well and calls it “sickle cell for rich people”.

“I have a disease where I can’t recognize people who aren’t hot,” he says. “My doctor says it’s basically sickle cell for rich people.” In response, Velma just plainly quips, “Is it called rudeness?”

The people took to Twitter to show the series that sickle cell anemia is not a thing to be made a joke of.

The joke did not seem to make the people laugh (as it shouldn’t) since the series was review-bombed for its lack of comedy. With no idea of the reason, but HBO Max decided to renew Velma for a second season much to the people’s disapproval.

Suggested: “Tell anyone and you are fired”: ‘Velma’ Star Mindy Kaling Forced a Kiss on Co-Star Without Consent, Threatened to Fire Him if He Sued Her

Mindy Kaling Deletes Her Tweet After Velma Failure

Mindy Kaling.
Mindy Kaling.

Related: ‘Who asked for this?’: Mindy Kaling’s Velma Getting a 2nd Season Despite Insanely Bad Reviews Proves No Publicity is Bad Publicity

During the initial promotion of the series, Mindy Kaling excitedly talked about the series on her Twitter account. With several initial tweets that promoted the series, Mindy Kaling soon took them down after the series was met with an extremely negative reaction.

Taking to her Twitter account, Mindy Kaling had initially bragged about the good ratings of the show that it initially garnered. A couple of days later when the show failed disastrously, the tweets were allegedly deleted. The infamous tweets are no longer visible on her Twitter profile. Although the series has been renewed for a second season, it is up to the creators and Mindy Kaling herself to redeem the series for the audience of the original cartoon.

Mindy Kaling’s Velma is currently available to stream on HBO Max.

Source: Bounding Into Comics

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Written by Visarg Acharya

Visarg Acharya joined FandomWire in 2022 as a Content Writer. Along with a penchant for writing, Visarg claims that words are the only true language made for him. Currently pursuing his B.Sc in Physics, the combination of Physics and Marvel make up for an interesting talk. Visarg Acharya has authored over 500 articles and reads books in his spare time along with an occasional series to accompany him.

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