Akilah Hughes (original) (raw)

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American writer, comedian, YouTuber, podcaster, and actress

Akilah Hughes
Hughes in 2018
Born Akilah Saidah Kamaria Hughes (1989-08-31) August 31, 1989 (age 35)Florence, Kentucky, U.S.
Alma mater Berea College
Occupations Comedian Author YouTuber podcast host
Years active 2006–present
YouTube information
Channel Itsakilahobviously
Subscribers 145 thousand[1]
Total views 11.6 million[1]
Creator Awards100,000 subscribers
Last updated: July 24, 2022
Website itsakilahobviously.com

Akilah Saidah Kamaria Hughes[2] (born August 31, 1989) is an American writer, comedian, YouTuber, podcaster, and actress. She has been a digital correspondent for MTV, HBO, Fusion TV, and Comedy Central. She began her career on a YouTube channel, "It's Akilah, Obviously!", which has amassed more than 150,000 subscribers. From October 2019 to July 2021, she co-hosted the Crooked Media podcast What a Day, alongside journalist Gideon Resnick.[3]

Early life and education

[edit]

Akilah Hughes was born in Florence, Kentucky,[4][5] where she attended Boone County High School.[6] After graduating from high school, she attended Berea College in Berea, Kentucky, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Broadcasting in 2010.[6][7][8]

In 2012, Hughes moved to New York City, New York, and earned an Upright Citizens Brigade scholarship.[7]

On December 2, 2013, Hughes uploaded a comedy video, "Meet Your First Black Girlfriend," answering hypothetical questions from a white boyfriend, and it went viral.[9] She was again recognized for releasing the video "On Intersectionality in Feminism and Pizza", that went viral after being uploaded on April 8, 2015.[10]

On June 30, 2016, Hughes created a petition on Change.org titled "Ask Advertisers to Stop Supporting BuzzFeed Video's Idea Theft", which aimed to convince advertisers to stop supporting BuzzFeed Video. In the petition, described by The Washington Post as having gone viral,[11] she argued, "BuzzFeed has been caught repeatedly stealing ideas, jokes, bits, gags, and therefore money from prominent YouTube creators."[11]

In 2017, Hughes sued YouTuber Carl Benjamin (Sargon of Akkad) for copyright infringement after he used a portion of her Hillary Clinton election party footage. In August 2020, the judge, ruling Benjamin's video to be fair use criticism, dismissed the case with prejudice and ordered Hughes to pay Benjamin's legal costs in the amount of 38,785.35forattorneys’feesand38,785.35 for attorneys’ fees and 38,785.35forattorneys’feesand126.54 for costs, on the grounds that Hughes had filed a frivolous lawsuit and acted with “improper motivation”.[12][13]

In April 2020, Comedy Central's YouTube channel released three sketches starring Hughes and Milana Vayntrub as part of a new digital sketch series called Making Fun With Akilah and Milana.[14]

Hughes began appearing as herself on web series in 2014, with her first appearances coming in two episodes of mental_floss: The List Show. Between 2014 and 2017, she made various other appearances as herself on web series, including Vlogbrothers in 2015 and Project for Awesome 2016. In 2017, she hosted the first season of GK Now, a daily culinary news show for Genius Kitchen (now Food.com) for Scripps Network.[15]

Her first appearance on a television series came during the U.S. midterm elections of 2018, when HBO aired four episodes of Crooked Media's Pod Save America, with Hughes as a correspondent.[16]

In 2020, Hughes appeared as a panelist on the Syfy television series The Great Debate. That same year, she made her first appearance as an actress on a television series, when she provided the voice of Theresa in an episode of Bob's Burgers titled "Just the Trip".

In 2015, Hughes was awarded a fellowship from the Sundance Episodic Story Lab, with a half-hour comedy pilot titled Unlikely, co-written with Lyle Friedman.[17]

Hughes began writing her first book in 2015, after a collaboration with Penguin Group for her Tipsy Book Reviews video series on YouTube led the publisher to offer her a book deal.[8] The book, a collection of essays titled Obviously: Stories From My Timeline, was published on September 24, 2019, by Penguin Random House's Razorbill imprint.[18][19] The book was included in PopSugar's "The 26 Best New Books You Need to Read This Fall", where writer Brenda Janowitz described the essays as "as hilarious as they are heart-warming."[20] Writing for the Los Angeles Sentinel, Lapacazo Sandoval calls the book "very insightful and very, very funny".[21]

In 2023, Hughes wrote for Steven Soderbergh's science fiction series Command Z, inspired by Kurt Andersen's 2020 book, Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America.[22]

In 2016, Hughes co-moderated the 2016 Brown & Black Democratic Presidential Forum on Fusion TV, alongside Jorge Ramos, Rembert Browne, and Alicia Menendez. Politicians participating in the event were 2016 United States presidential election Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Martin O'Malley.[23]

Beginning in 2019, Hughes became the co-host of a newly launched daily news podcast from Crooked Media titled What a Day, alongside political journalist Gideon Resnick.[3] The podcast's first episode, titled "Baghdadi and Blackouts", was released on October 28, 2019. What a Day won a Webby Award as the People's Voice Winner of "Best News & Politics Podcast" in 2021.[24][25] The 412th episode of _What a Day_⁠—released on July 30, 2021, and titled "Keeping The DREAM Alive"⁠—was Hughes' final episode as co-host of the podcast.[26]

As part of a newly signed deal in July 2023, iHeartMedia and Ninth Planet Audio announced the production of a podcast to be hosted by Hughes.[27] On September 3, 2024, the podcast titled Rebel Spirit with Akilah Hughes premiered its first episode "A Homecoming". Rebel Spirit sees Hughes return to her hometown of Florence, Kentucky, where she attempts to convince her high school, Boone County High School, to change its confederate general mascot.[28][29][30]

Hughes made her feature film acting debut in 2023's Me, Myself & the Void, starring alongside a cast including Jack DeSena and Kelly Marie Tran, in the film directed by Tim Hautekiet.

Hughes was diagnosed with benign liver tumors in 2015, an illness for which she had surgery in July 2016.[8][31] Using the crowdfunding website GoFundMe, she raised nearly $40,000, which covered 60% of the costs related to her surgery.[32]

  1. ^ a b "About Itsakilahobviously". YouTube.
  2. ^ Hughes, Akilah (2019-09-24). "What's in a Name?". Obviously: Stories From My Timeline. Razorbill. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-101-99890-8.
  3. ^ a b Jarvey, Natalie (2019-10-21). "Crooked Media Expands Into Daily Podcasts With 'What a Day'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2020-02-04.
  4. ^ Shapiro, Ari; Chang, Ailsa (2019-09-19). In 'Obviously,' Comedian Muses About Growing Up In A Small Kentucky Town (Radio). National Public Radio. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
  5. ^ Monks, Michael (2019-12-10). "Akilah Hughes And Gideon Resnick Talk About Their 'Day'". WVXU. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
  6. ^ a b Varias, Chris (2020-04-20). "She grew up in Northern Kentucky, now she's on 'Bob's Burgers' and Comedy Central". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
  7. ^ a b Tamola, Katie (2019-09-24). "Comedian Akilah Hughes on Life, Death and When to Just Laugh It Off". Shondaland. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
  8. ^ a b c Wilusz, Luke (2019-09-23). "Akilah Hughes 'Obviously' launched a comedy career from YouTube". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  9. ^ Nicolaou, Elena (2019-09-26). "YouTube Star Akilah Hughes Tells Us How To Be Very Online & Stay Sane". www.refinery29.com. Retrieved 2020-02-04.
  10. ^ Grose, Jessica (2015-04-10). "Akilah Hughes Explains The Brain Magic Behind Her Viral "Pizza Feminism" Video". Elle. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
  11. ^ a b Dewey, Caitlin (2016-07-07). "Why some YouTube stars accuse Buzzfeed of 'stealing' their ideas". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
  12. ^ "YouTuber Wins Attorneys' Fees in Clinton Party Copyright Case". news.bloomberglaw.com. 2020-08-05. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
  13. ^ "Docket for Hughes v. Benjamin, 1:17-cv-06493 - CourtListener.com". CourtListener. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
  14. ^ Kelly-Clyne, Luke (10 April 2020). "You've Never Seen Patty-Cake Played Like This". Vulture. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  15. ^ Spangler, Todd (2017-09-19). "Scripps Networks Launches 'Genius Kitchen' Online Food Network, Folding Food.com Recipes Into the Mix". Variety. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
  16. ^ Maicki, Salvatore (2018-11-03). "Chance the Rapper, Steph Curry and Akilah Hughes want you to vote". The Fader. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  17. ^ Petski, Denise (2015-09-22). "Sundance Institute Announces 2015 Episodic Story Lab Projects". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
  18. ^ "Akilah Hughes on telling 'Stories From My Timeline' in upcoming book 'Obviously'". EW.com. Retrieved 2020-02-04.
  19. ^ "New Kids' and YA Books: Week of September 23, 2019". Publishers Weekly. 2019-09-19. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
  20. ^ Janowitz, Brenda (2019-08-22). "The 26 Best New Books You Need to Read This Fall". PopSugar. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
  21. ^ Sandoval, Lapacazo (2020-02-06). ""Obviously: Stories from My Time Line" — Akilah Hughes' hilarious book from the mind of an obviously bright woman". Los Angeles Sentinel. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
  22. ^ Zuckerman, Esther (July 17, 2023). "Steven Soderbergh Debuts Sci-Fi Series 'Command Z' at Secret New York Screening". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  23. ^ Robinson, Judah (2015-12-17). "Fusion Announces Moderators Of 'Brown & Black' Presidential Forum". HuffPost. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
  24. ^ "WINNERS ANNOUNCED FOR THE 25TH ANNUAL WEBBY AWARDS". webbyawards.com. Webby Awards. 2021-05-18. Retrieved 2021-06-29.
  25. ^ "News & Politics Podcasts: 2021". webbyawards.com. Webby Awards. Retrieved 2021-06-29.
  26. ^ "Keeping The DREAM Alive". crooked.com. Crooked Media. 2021-07-30. Retrieved 2021-07-30.
  27. ^ "Mosaic Media's Ninth Planet Audio Extends Multi-Year First-Look Deal With iHeartMedia". July 18, 2023. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  28. ^ Clark, Jess (June 25, 2024). "Boone County High School alum still fighting for school to drop the 'Rebels' as mascot". lpm.org. Louisville Public Media. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  29. ^ Mitchell, Madeline (Jun 20, 2024). "Boone County alum pressures her old high school to change Rebels nickname". cincinnati.com. The Cincinnati Enquirer. Archived from the original on 2024-06-21. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  30. ^ Galvin, Jene (June 28, 2024). "Racial mascot debate at Boone County High School". thecincinnatiherald.com. The Cincinnati Herald. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  31. ^ Cubit, Brea (2020-03-05). "Comedian Akilah Hughes Is Making Discussions About Race and Politics "Less Soul-Sucking"". PopSugar. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  32. ^ Rife, Bradley (December 2017). "How Internet Fundraisers Can Help You Cover Emergency Medical Bills". O, The Oprah Magazine. Retrieved 2020-09-02.