 | This article contains promotional content .(November 2018) |
Brittany Ashley | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 27, 1988 Chicago, Illinois |
| Occupation | Stand-up comedian, writer, and actress |
| Nationality | American |
| Spouse | Cristina Keane (m. 2023) |
Brittany Ashley is an American actor, writer, and comedian. [1] She is known for creating lesbian content online and has been identified as an internet celebrity. [2] [3] [4]
Ashley grew up in the Chicago suburbs. Her mother died when Ashley was 6. [5]
Ashley attended the University of Illinois-Chicago.
After graduating from The Second City Training Center sketch writing program she moved to Los Angeles to pursue her acting/writing/comedy career. [6] She has performed at the Groundlings. [7]
Ashley was a full-time content creator for BuzzFeed. She was widely recognized for creating lesbian content. [8] She frequently collaborated with BuzzFeed staffer Chris Reinacher. [9]
While at BuzzFeed, Ashley wrote the web series You Do You which aired on BuzzFeed Violet and was later sold to iTunes. [10] The series hit the number 1 slot on Apple's top chart after its release, beating out HBO's Silicon Valley season 2, TBS's Angie Tribeca season 1, and CBS's The Big Bang Theory season 9. [11] The series is a queer sitcom which follows four women who go through a series of changes. The series starred Quinta Brunson and Ash Perez. [12] [13]
During her career at BuzzFeed, Ashley created numerous videos that went viral, including a short film about emotional abuse in a same-sex relationship titled Unaware, a short film about abortion titled Unplanned and a series called Lesbian Princess, a modern period comedy about a lesbian princess in the Middle Ages, who tries to avoid marrying a royal prince.
After Ashley and Jenny Lorenzo appeared in small roles on Gente-Fied, a web series produced by America Ferrera, Buzzfeed terminated both staff members for violating their contract on July 10, 2016. [14] [15] Specifically, even though both Ashley and Lorenzo worked on the Gente-Fied series in their free time, [16] they were not authorized to work with other companies without prior permission (i.e. non-compete clause). [17] [18]
Due, in part, to Ashley's large fanbase, her dismissal from BuzzFeed also surfaced a number of critiques of the organization, specifically how it owned all the creative rights to the work of their employees. [19] [20] [21] Another critique was BuzzFeed's policy to pay their employees a standard rate, meaning writers, actors, and performers do not receive residual payments when their work is viewed or goes viral. [22] [23] [24] The firing of Ashley and Lorenzo sparked conversations on the need for BuzzFeed staff to unionize and support. [25]
Ashley wrote, directed and produced a dark comedy, body horror film called Take Care, starring Courtney Pauroso and Stephanie Courtney. The film was selected for the Tribeca Film Festival Creators Market and had its world premiere at Frameline Film Festival June 2025.
Ashley resides in California. In 2021, she became engaged to designer Cristina Keane. [6] On May 6, 2023, Ashley and Keane were married at the Madonna Inn.[ citation needed ]
Ashley created and hosts the podcast Don't Tell the Babysitter Mom's Dead. The show uses dark humor as Ashley interviews a guest on their personal experience with losing their mother and asks each guest what pop-culture touchstone helped them cope with their mothers' death. [5]
Angel on Top is a bi-weekly podcast hosted by Brittany Ashley and Laura Zak to discuss the TV series Angel one episode at a time. [62] [63] [64] [65]
Similar to Angel on Top, Sicker Sadder World is a Daria re-watch podcast. [5] [66] [67]
