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A new CBS<\/a> sitcom project from producer Kenya Barris<\/a> and actor Mike Epps<\/a> has incited controversy because of its setting: Altadena, California, in the aftermath of the recent Eaton Fire<\/a>.<\/p>\n News of the project came last month, with Deadline<\/a> reporting that Barris was creating and writing the multi-camera sitcom and that BET Studios and CBS Studios were producing.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the untitled half-hour, after wildfires sweep through Altadena, two estranged Black brothers \u2014 one played by Epps \u2014 reunite to sell their late grandmother\u2019s house to private developers,\u201d the logline reads, per Deadline. \u201cBut when they learn her caretaker now owns part of the home and refuses to sell, they\u2019re forced to live together and confront their differences \u2014 and what community, legacy, and family really mean.\u201d<\/p>\n Altadena, an area in Los Angeles County, is where the Eaton Fire started this January. The fire spread over more than 14,000 acres and weeks to contain, and it led to the deaths of 18 civilians and the destruction of more than 9,000 structures, according to Cal Fire<\/a>. As developers rushed in to buy out damaged and destroyed properties, Altadena residents rallied around the motto \u201cAltadena is not for sale,\u201d per the Los Angeles Public Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n And a recent Instagram post<\/a> posted by artist and entrepreneur Anjelika Perry and the Instagram accounts @inrealtimela and @altadenarising encapsulates the backlash to Barris\u2019 sitcom.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of us are still displaced. Still fighting insurance. Still grieving what never made it out,\u201d the post reads. \u201cSo when I saw that CBS and Kenya Barris are partnering to develop a comedy \u2018set in post-wildfire Altadena,\u2019 I couldn\u2019t believe it. A sitcom. About the ashes we haven\u2019t even finished sweeping. And the most painful part? It\u2019s being led by creatives who should know better. Who claim to represent us \u2014 but chose profit over people. This isn\u2019t storytelling. It\u2019s desecration.\u201d<\/p>\n The post continues: \u201cThe idea that someone, anyone, would mine that grief for comedy while survivors are still rebuilding feels like a slap in the face. \u2026 Not everything needs to be content. Especially not our catastrophe. This fire wasn\u2019t metaphor. It wasn\u2019t a plot device. It was my mother\u2019s home. It was my niece\u2019s bedroom. It was everything we had, and we watched it burn. \u2026 Cancel the sitcom. Respect the grief. We don\u2019t want a laugh track over our losses.\u201d<\/p>\n As The Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/em> notes, KBLA journalist and Conversation Live: Altadena Rising<\/em> host James Farr offered his take on the project in a statement to KBLA\u2019s RSVP With Jill Monroe<\/a><\/em>. \u201cLove them [Barris and Epps] both, but there\u2019s not anything funny happening,\u201d Farr said. \u201cI\u2019m sure they\u2019ll deliver intellectual humor with plenty of \u2018message\u2019 as a through line. However, I don\u2019t know how I feel about it. Great for keeping Altadena in the national conversation, though.\u201d<\/p>\n In the comments on the original Deadline article, readers argued about the idea. Another commenter replied, \u201cA story-oriented narrative that\u2019s occasionally funny? Sure, because life is sometimes funny, even in tragedy. But a straight-out comedy-oriented narrative? No. \u2018Read the room.\u2019 Sure, \u2018Tragedy + time = comedy,\u2019 but we\u2019re missing the \u2018time\u2019 part.\u201d<\/p>\n Someone else commented, \u201cIs this a joke? It\u2019s way too soon. We as victims are still suffering every day. We need support and live and our real stories told. There is a time and place for this humor, but it\u2019s not now.\u201d<\/p>\n As for Barris, he defended the project on Instagram, THR<\/em> reports. \u201cWhat way could you think of supporting it then [sic] by doing what I know how to do and trying to bring a light to a place that many have already forgotten,\u201d the Black-ish<\/a><\/em> creator commented, responding to one user\u2019s criticism. \u201cI understand your fear, but know that I only plan to do the best I can to make sure the world sees you.\u201d<\/p>\n Read the latest entertainment news on TV Insider<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cWhile I sympathize with everyone who lost their homes in the fire, none of us knows how the tragedy will be even highlighted,\u201d one wrote. \u201cAll the triggered folks here think you can\u2019t find happiness after a tragedy?\u201d<\/p>\n