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Yvette Nicole Brown Defends Good Times Role, Insists ‘Edgy’ Netflix Reboot ‘Lines Up With My Values’

Rebecca Iannucci
·2-min read

Yvette Nicole Brown is content to let the Good Times roll, pushing back against criticism of her involvement with Netflix’s reboot of the sitcom.

Dropping Friday, April 12, the forthcoming Good Times follow-up is an animated — and, as evidenced by Wednesday’s trailer, a noticeably raunchier — take on the 1970s classic, centered on the latest generation of the Evans family. Brown voices Beverly Evans, the wife of cab driver Reggie (J.B. Smoove), and she’s taken to social media to call out fans questioning her participation in the new series.

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“This version of #GoodTimes is edgier and more irreverent than the Good Times of our childhood, but it’s still a show about family, fighting the system and working to make things better despite where you start out in the world. That 100% lines up with my values,” Brown said in an X post on Wednesday, in response to a user who said they were “surprised you attached yourself to this project.”

Brown similarly defended the reboot to another X user who was dismayed that the upcoming series uses the Good Times title and is connected to the original show.

“It’s called #GoodTimes because it was championed by @TheNormanLear,” Brown explained, referencing the original Good Times‘ late executive producer. “He was excited to update the story and use the freedom of animation to point out what still isn’t fair and equitable for Black folks. That is what we do with the show.”

Brown pushed back once more in another X post, telling critics of the trailer that “nobody’s forcing you to watch something you don’t want to watch. Just don’t watch. Solved.

“I’ve spent my whole life shining a light on the things that matter & calling out the systems that keep a boot on our necks,” she continued. “At times, I take parts in projects that do the same — even if they are irreverent or risky. Coming for me as if that’s wrong is a fool’s errand.”

In addition to Brown and Smoove, the Good Times reboot’s voice cast includes Jay Pharoah (Saturday Night Live), Marsai Martin (black-ish), Gerald “Slink” Johnson (Black Jesus) and Rashida “Sheedz” Olayiwola (Jury Duty).

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