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Joey Soloway
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Joey Soloway
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Joey Soloway (born Jill Soloway; September 26, 1965)[2][3][4] is an American television creator, showrunner, director and writer. Soloway is known for creating, writing, executive producing and directing the Amazon original series Transparent, winning two Emmy Awards for the show;[5] directing and writing the film Afternoon Delight, winning the Best Director award at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival; and producing Six Feet Under.

Key Information

Soloway identifies as non-binary and gender non-conforming, and uses they/them pronouns.[6] In 2020, Soloway announced a name change from Jill to Joey.[7]

Early life

[edit]

Soloway was born in Chicago, Illinois to writer and public relations consultant Elaine Soloway and psychiatrist Carrie Soloway, who grew up in London. Around 2011, Carrie Soloway came out as transgender.[8][9]

Soloway's elder sibling[10] Faith Soloway is a Boston-based musician and performer, with whom Joey sometimes collaborates.[11][12][13][14] Both Joey and Faith attended Lane Technical College Prep High School in Chicago.[15] Joey Soloway graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison as a communications arts major.[16][17][18]

Soloway's mother was formerly a press aide to Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne and was a former communications director for School Superintendent Ruth Love.[19] After 30 years, Soloway's parents divorced in 1990.[20] Soloway has a stepfather named Tommy Madison.[21]

Career

[edit]

While at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Soloway was a film and television student of JJ Murphy and participated in the creation of an undergraduate experimental narrative film entitled Ring of Fire as the assistant director under director Anita Katzman. After college Soloway worked as a production assistant in commercials and music videos in Chicago, as well as at Kartemquin Films on the movie Hoop Dreams.[16]

While in Chicago, Joey and Faith co-developed a parody of The Brady Bunch for live stage called The Real Live Brady Bunch, which began their professional theatrical writing and directing endeavors. They also sold a pilot script to HBO called Jewess Jones about a female superhero. Also at the Annoyance Theatre in Chicago, the pair created plays The Miss Vagina Pageant, and later, while in Los Angeles, Not Without My Nipples.

With Maggie Rowe, Soloway co-created Hollywood Hellhouse and Sit n' Spin.[22]

Television

[edit]

Soloway's TV writing career began on shows such as The Oblongs, Nikki, and The Steve Harvey Show. Soloway followed those shows by writing for four seasons on the HBO original series Six Feet Under, ultimately serving as co-executive producer. Six Feet Under ran for five seasons from 2001 to 2005.[23] Soloway received three Emmy nominations in 2002, 2003, and 2005 for Outstanding Drama Series.[24] Soloway's short story, Courteney Cox's Asshole, caught the attention of Alan Ball and led to the job.[15]

Soloway later wrote episodes of Dirty Sexy Money, Grey's Anatomy, and Tell Me You Love Me and was executive producer/showrunner for the second season of Showtime's United States of Tara, created by Diablo Cody, as well as HBO's How to Make It in America, created by Ian Edelman.

In August 2016, Amazon premiered a Soloway-directed pilot of I Love Dick, based on the novel by the same name by Chris Kraus.[25] It was later picked up for a full season,[26] which premiered on May 12, 2017.[27]

Transparent

[edit]

Soloway created the pilot Transparent for Amazon.com, which became available for streaming and download on February 6, 2014, and was part of Amazon's second pilot season.[28][29] Joey and Faith Soloway collaborated on Transparent, including serving as co-writers.[30] Joey was inspired by their parent who came out as a transgender woman.[31] The show stars Gaby Hoffmann, Jay Duplass, and Amy Landecker as siblings whose parent (played by Jeffrey Tambor) reveals she is going through a significant life transition[clarify].[32] The pilot for Transparent was picked up by Amazon Studios.[16][33]

As part of the making of the show, Soloway enacted a "transfirmative action program", whereby transgender applicants were hired in preference to non-transgender ones.[16] As of August 2014, over 80 transgender people have worked on the show, including two transgender consultants.[16]

Soloway wrote Hoffmann's role on Transparent especially for her after seeing her performance on Louie.[34] Transparent premiered all ten episodes simultaneously in late September 2014.[35] The show wrapped its fourth season in 2017, and concluded with a movie finale in 2019.[36]

Soloway received two Primetime Emmys for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series in 2014 and 2016 for Transparent and the show has received Emmy nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series.[24]

Film

[edit]

Soloway's first film was a 13-minute short titled Una Hora Por Favora, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012. The film stars Michaela Watkins and Wilmer Valderrama. The film tells the story of a woman (Watkins) who hires a day laborer (Valderrama) to do some work at her home, but their relationship soon goes beyond the professional.[37][38][39]

Soloway's debut at Sundance, Afternoon Delight (2013) won the Directing Award.[40] The film follows Rachel (Kathryn Hahn), a thirty-something woman who is struggling to rekindle her relationship with her husband (Josh Radnor), and ultimately befriends an exotic dancer (Juno Temple).[41] In an interview by IndieWire, Soloway had a personal connection to the film's central character, explaining "There's a lot of me in Rachel's journey. I've never brought a stripper home, but I've always loved reading the memoirs of strippers and sex workers. I feel like they're the war reporters for women. They go to the front lines of a very particular kind of extreme conflict and live there, then write about it so we can experience it with them."[42]

Afternoon Delight played at national and international film festivals and was nominated for multiple awards, including a Gotham Award for Breakthrough Performance for Hahn and a Spirit Award for First Feature.[43]

In June 2019, Soloway signed on to write, direct and produce the Red Sonja remake.[44][45] Soloway later left the project but remained an executive producer.[46]

Writing

[edit]

Soloway wrote the novella Jodi K., which was published in the collection Three Kinds of Asking For It: Erotic Novellas, edited by Susie Bright. Soloway's memoir, Tiny Ladies in Shiny Pants: Based on a True Story, was released in hardcover in 2005, and in paperback in 2006.[47] In 2018, Soloway published another book, She Wants It: Desire, Power and Toppling the Patriarchy, with Ebury Press, a division of Penguin Random House.

Jewish religion and culture, sexuality, and gender are recurring themes in Soloway's show, Transparent.[30] According to Soloway, "The Transparent narrative is not, then, just or even mostly about transition and transgender. It's about big themes like familial secrets and transformation, revelation and change, all of which are rendered through the specificity and magic of television images and sounds, which create imaginative worlds."[30]

In September 2016, Soloway gave a master class on the female gaze at the Toronto International Film Festival.[48] The term male gaze was first coined by Laura Mulvey in her 1975 essay Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema and, just like Mulvey, Soloway gives their own definition of the Female Gaze in three parts.[49] Part one: "reclaiming the body, using it with intention to communicate Feeling Seeing".[48] An example of this female gaze is in the television show I Love Dick, Soloway said in an interview at the Sundance Film Festival that, "I Love Dick...is a series that confronts us with the power of that feminist anger, the female gaze..."[50] Then, part two: the gazed gaze which Soloway describes as taking the camera and using it to show how it feels to be the object of the gaze.[48] For example, in the film Fish Tank, Soloway says it does exactly that, "...while I was watching it, I was like this is the female gaze. She is showing us how it feels to be this girl. She is not looking at this girl" they explained.[51] And part three: a "Socio-Political justice-demanding way of art making" and returning the gaze.[48] The female gaze is about people reclaiming ownership over their body, deciding how it can be portrayed and, as Soloway points out, is a "conscious effort to create empathy as a political tool" thus seeking out empathy rather than objectification.[48]

Soloway's writing is often about "The Heroine's Journey", which is about "repairing the divided feminine: the wife and the other woman confronting each other--mom, stripper. That I think women's journeys are really about repairing these sort of divided parts of ourselves. And this divide in our culture that I think is responsible for so much that is a problem in our culture."[52]

Honors

[edit]

Soloway has seven Emmy nominations and two wins.[24] Soloway is also a member of the board of the San Francisco Film Society.[53]

In 2015, Soloway's show Transparent won a Golden Globe for Best Series - Musical or Comedy, which Soloway dedicated to Leelah Alcorn after her suicide the year prior.[54][55] Later that same year, Soloway won a DGA Award and a Primetime Emmy Award for directing episode 1.08 ("Best New Girl") of the show.[56][57] In 2016, Soloway won another Emmy for directing episode 2.09 (" Man on the Land") of Transparent.[58] Also in 2016, Soloway was a finalist for The Advocate's Person of the Year,[59] and was named to Oprah Winfrey's SuperSoul 100 list of visionaries and influential leaders.[60]

Soloway was inducted into the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame in 2022.[61]

Personal life

[edit]

In 2011, Soloway married music supervisor Bruce Gilbert, with whom Soloway had been in a relationship since 2008. They have a son. Soloway's older son is from a prior relationship with artist John Strozier. In 2015, Soloway announced their separation from Gilbert, and that Soloway was in a relationship with poet Eileen Myles, whom Soloway met through Transparent;[1][62] their romantic relationship has since ended,[63] and Myles and Soloway held an event at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, in which they "processed [their] relationship onstage".[63]

Soloway lives in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles.[5][64]

In Soloway's memoir She Wants It, Soloway discusses accepting a nonbinary identity at age 50 after filming the first two seasons of Transparent.[65]

Activism

[edit]

Soloway is a strong supporter of feminism[66] and co-founded the website Wifey.tv[67] which is described as, "a curated video network for women"[68] that includes content created by and for women. In an interview by Forbes, Soloway discusses the site saying, "I really like when our content appears to contradict itself at first glance. One day we might post something about sexism or the male gaze, then the next day post something that might be seen as precisely too sexy or raunchy, but it comes from a female creator or artist so it’s relevant. We love the conversation and don’t feel as dependent on insisting on a particular point of view."[69]

Soloway also co-founded the East Side Jews collective,[70] which is funded by the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles.[71] The collective "brings together 20- and 30-something Jews in Silver Lake and the surrounding neighborhoods of Los Angeles for offbeat, too-cool-for-shul events that tend to be heavy on comedy and light on Jewish ritual."[70]

Soloway co-wrote The Thanksgiving Paris Manifesto with Eileen Myles in 2016,[72] which is a feminist manifesto about the pornography industry. The manifesto was posted on topplethepatriarchy.com, a domain purchased by Myles and Soloway.[72] The manifesto opens with, "We shouldn’t be starting with porn but we must. We support the idea of a porn industry and the idea of people making a living photographing and sharing images of sex but we don’t support an industry that exclusively distributes portrayals of almost exclusively male pleasure and climax."[73]

Works or publications

[edit]
  • Bright, Susie, Eric Albert, Greta Christina, and Jill Soloway. "Jodi K." (novella) Susie Bright Presents: Three Kinds of Asking for It: Erotic Novellas, New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005; ISBN 978-0-743-24550-0
  • Soloway, Jill. Tiny Ladies in Shiny Pants: Based on a True Story, New York: Free Press, 2005; ISBN 978-0-743-27217-9
  • Soloway, Jill. She Wants It: Desire, Power, and Toppling the Patriarchy, Crown Archetype, 2018; ISBN 9781101904749

References

[edit]
[edit]
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Joey Soloway

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Joey Soloway (born Jill Soloway; September 26, 1965) is an American television , director, , and . Born and raised in , , Soloway graduated from the of Wisconsin in 1987 and began their career writing for television series including Six Feet Under on . Soloway achieved prominence as the creator, , and director of the series Transparent (2014–2019), a comedy-drama centered on a family's response to their patriarch's identity, which garnered critical acclaim, two , and 24 Primetime Emmy nominations, including two wins for Soloway's directing. The series faced production challenges following sexual allegations against lead , leading to his dismissal in 2018, after which Soloway recast the role with a for the musical spin-off Transparent: Musicale Finale. Identifying as nonbinary and using they/them pronouns, Soloway has been active in LGBTQ advocacy, co-founding the East Side Voice of the People and publicly protesting content perceived as harmful to individuals, including comparing such treatment to a "" during a 2021 rally against a special.

Early life and education

Family background and childhood

Joey Soloway was born Jill Soloway on September 26, 1966, in , , into a Jewish family. Their mother, Elaine Soloway, was a and public relations consultant who served as a press aide to Chicago Mayor and authored two memoirs detailing her upbringing in Chicago's Jewish ghetto. Their father, Harry Soloway, was a who had grown up in before immigrating to the ; he practiced in Chicago and maintained a marriage to Elaine for over 40 years until coming out as in 2011 at age 75, adopting the name Carrie Soloway. Soloway grew up near Chicago's South Side, attending an all-Black public school through sixth grade, where they were one of the few Jewish students, an experience they later described as making them feel "very unseen" amid complex racial and cultural dynamics. The family's Jewish heritage influenced their early environment, with Soloway inheriting a creative bent from their mother's writing, which included explorations of Chicago's Jewish community. Soloway has one sibling, sister Faith Soloway, with whom they shared a particularly close bond, potentially intensified by their parents' increasingly strained marriage in later years.

Formal education

Soloway attended Lane Technical College Prep High School in Chicago, Illinois, alongside their sibling Faith. Soloway graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1987 with a bachelor's degree in communications arts. During their time there, Soloway studied film and television production, crediting courses with emeritus professor J.J. Murphy for sparking interest in filmmaking. No advanced degrees or further formal education are documented in available records.

Professional career

Early writing and television work

Soloway entered the television industry as a staff writer on comedy series in the early 2000s, including The Steve Harvey Show (1996–2002), Nikki (2000–2002), and The Oblongs (2001). These initial roles involved scripting episodes for network sitcoms, providing foundational experience in collaborative writing rooms focused on humor and character-driven narratives. Transitioning to prestige cable drama, Soloway joined the writing staff of HBO's Six Feet Under starting in 2002, contributing to seasons 2 through 5 and advancing to co-executive producer by the series' conclusion in 2005. The show, created by Alan Ball, explored themes of death, family dysfunction, and emotional intimacy, aligning with Soloway's emerging interest in complex interpersonal dynamics. Concurrently, Soloway wrote episodes for ABC's during its second season in 2005–2006, adapting skills from ensemble comedy to medical procedural storytelling. Soloway's mid-2000s credits expanded to include writing for ABC's (2007–2009) and HBO's Tell Me You Love Me (2007), both of which delved into affluent family secrets and intimate relationships. These projects honed Soloway's ability to blend serialized drama with psychological depth, paving the way for showrunning duties on Showtime's (2009–2011), where Soloway oversaw production of the series centered on .

Creation and production of Transparent

Transparent was inspired by the real-life transition of Joey Soloway's parent, who came out as in , prompting Soloway to explore themes of dynamics, identity, and in a fictionalized narrative centered on an aging parent revealing their identity to adult children. Soloway pitched the concept to multiple networks in 2013, but Amazon Studios greenlit the pilot due to its flexible development model, allowing rapid iteration without traditional broadcast constraints. The pilot episode, written and directed by Soloway, was released exclusively on on February 6, 2014, receiving strong viewer feedback that led to a full-season order. The first season, consisting of 10 episodes, premiered on September 26, 2014, with Soloway serving as , , , and director for multiple episodes across the series' run. Production emphasized authentic representation of experiences, with Soloway implementing a "transfirmative action" initiative that prioritized hiring transgender writers, actors, and consultants to counter historical underrepresentation and ensure narrative accuracy from lived perspectives. Principal filming occurred in , reflecting the show's setting in a Jewish-American family navigating personal revelations amid everyday urban life. Amazon renewed the series for a second season on , 2014, followed by announcements for third and fourth seasons in 2015, with Soloway signing an overall deal with the studio to develop additional projects. Soloway envisioned a five-season arc from , which was realized through 2019, though production faced interruptions, including a shift away from filming in for season 3 due to Soloway's alignment with pressures. The series maintained a consistent creative vision under Soloway's , blending comedy-drama elements with explorations of , sexuality, and generational trauma, while adhering to Amazon's release model that bypassed pilot testing for established viewer metrics.

Film directing and other television projects

Soloway's feature film directing debut was Afternoon Delight (2013), a comedy-drama they wrote and directed starring as a dissatisfied who hires a , played by , as a for her son. The film premiered at the on January 18, 2013, earning Soloway the U.S. Dramatic Directing Award for its exploration of suburban ennui and interpersonal tensions. Distributed by Cinedigm and Film Arcade, it received mixed reviews for its raw depiction of female friendship and sexual frustration but grossed approximately $200,000 at the U.S. box office. In addition to Afternoon Delight, Soloway directed a segment in the collaborative experimental anthology film Valencia (2013), adapting segments from Michelle Tea's memoir of queer life in San Francisco, alongside 17 other directors including Cheryl Dunye and Silas Howard. The project screened at Frameline 37 and emphasized fragmented, non-linear storytelling reflective of underground queer narratives. On television, Soloway co-created and directed the pilot episode of I Love Dick (2016), an Amazon Prime series adapted from Chris Kraus's novel, starring Kathryn Hahn as an academic obsessed with artist Kevin Bacon's character. The eight-episode first season, which Soloway executive produced, delved into themes of desire, power, and autofiction; it premiered on September 29, 2017, but was canceled after one season due to insufficient viewership metrics. Soloway was attached to direct the feature adaptation of Amy Butcher's memoir Mothertrucker in 2019, with Julianne Moore set to star as the titular ice road trucker, but the project remains in development without a release date as of 2025. Similarly, Soloway was announced to write and direct a reboot of Red Sonja for Millennium Films in June 2019, replacing prior director Bryan Singer, though no production updates have materialized.

Post-Transparent endeavors

Following the conclusion of Transparent in March 2019, Soloway focused on developing new film and television projects, primarily in the realms of feature adaptations and documentary series. In August 2019, Soloway was announced as writer and director for Mothertrucker, an adaptation of Amy Butcher's memoir chronicling a friendship with an ice road trucker, with Julianne Moore attached to star; the project is produced by Makeready and remains in development without a confirmed release date. In May 2021, Soloway was hired to direct the remake for Films, co-writing the script with Tasha Huo and initially featuring in the lead role; however, Soloway departed the project by early 2022, with replacing them as director and cast as the titular character. Soloway has also developed The Godyssey, a docu-comedy travel series exploring the biblical figure Amtlai, the purported mother of Abraham, through global journeys to trace her story; a pilot episode screened at events including the University of Wisconsin in April 2024. Additional projects in active development include an adaptation of and The South Commons Experiment, a personal documentary. In April 2023, Soloway signed with Range Media Partners for representation across television, film, and publishing, signaling a continued emphasis on multifaceted creative output amid these ongoing endeavors.

Personal life

Relationships and family

Soloway was married to music supervisor and musician from 2011 until their separation in 2015. The couple share a son, Felix Soloway Gilbert, born in 2009. Soloway also has an older son, , from a previous relationship with artist John Strozier. In 2018, Soloway began a romantic relationship with comedian , which reportedly lasted until 2019.

Gender identity, name change, and public transition

Soloway first publicly identified as non-binary in 2015 upon announcing their relationship with poet , describing themselves as queer and outside the traditional . In a May 2017 interview with , Soloway elaborated on this identity, stating that terms like "male" and "female" describe past states rather than fixed realities and expressing a preference for the singular "they" pronoun, which they said led to being treated more as a full human being. This identification was influenced by their father's transition to living as a woman, which Soloway has cited as prompting personal reflection on gender, though Soloway's own stance emphasizes a rejection of binary categories without reference to medical interventions such as hormones or surgery. By 2018, Soloway had integrated this non-binary perspective into public discussions, including in their memoir She Wants It: Desire, Power, and Toppling the Patriarchy, where they described the identity as liberating and aligned with feminist critiques of gender norms. Soloway also began correcting others on pronoun usage in interviews, framing non-binary identity as a "third space" between traditional genders. On June 26, 2020, Soloway announced their name change from Jill to Joey via an post, explaining that the new name better matched their non-binary identity and brought them closer to authenticity, a step they attributed to personal privilege enabling such public evolution. This change was concurrent with broader reflections on experiences, including those of , whom Soloway praised for advancing visibility of . Soloway has since consistently used "they/them" pronouns in professional and public contexts, positioning the transition as an ongoing process of self-alignment rather than a singular event.

Activism and ideological positions

Advocacy for LGBTQ+ causes

Soloway has advocated for increased LGBTQ+ representation in the entertainment industry, particularly through the production of Transparent, which featured characters and narratives drawn from personal family experiences. The series included a deliberate "transfirmative action" initiative prioritizing the hiring of writers, actors, and crew members to amplify authentic voices, resulting in multiple individuals securing roles in writing rooms and on set. In 2022, Soloway established The Disruptors Fellowship, a program designed to support emerging television writers who identify as , non-binary, disabled, or people of color, providing resources and opportunities to underrepresented creators within the LGBTQ+ spectrum. This initiative builds on earlier efforts to foster diversity in media production, reflecting a focus on structural changes in hiring and storytelling. Soloway has publicly expressed support for individuals, citing inspiration from community members' courage and contributions to visibility efforts, as seen in responses to high-profile transitions like that of in 2020. They delivered a address at the 2024 Berlinale Power To Transform forum, addressing global challenges for women and LGBTQ+ filmmakers. These activities, alongside induction into the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame in 2022 for activism alongside creative achievements, underscore Soloway's role in promoting LGBTQ+ narratives in arts and media.

Feminist initiatives and critiques of patriarchy

Soloway has promoted the concept of the "female gaze" as a feminist alternative to the in visual media, emphasizing , shared emotional experiences, and feeling seen rather than objectified. In a September 2016 keynote at the , Soloway outlined three pillars of the : "feeling seen," or the sensation of being truly observed; "shared experiences," fostering collective ; and an inherent that challenges traditional power dynamics in storytelling. In production practices, Soloway implemented anti-patriarchal measures on the set of Transparent, such as prioritizing cast and crew well-being over rigid schedules and budgets, describing it as a "patriarchal-toppling tool" that elevated human needs above financial and temporal constraints. This approach aimed to disrupt hierarchical norms in Hollywood workplaces. Soloway co-founded 5050by2020, an artist empowerment network launched in 2017 as a strategic arm of the Time's Up movement, targeting in film and television by 2020 through , , and measures for production companies. The initiative sought to address systemic underrepresentation of women and non-binary creators, though it fell short of its numerical goal amid broader industry resistance. Soloway's critiques of center on its embeddedness in liberal institutions, including Hollywood's "white male liberal" culture, which they argue perpetuates power imbalances even under progressive guises. In a 2018 Salon interview, Soloway highlighted how such environments prioritize male egos and financial metrics over collaborative equity. Their 2018 book She Wants It: Desire, Power, and Toppling the frames as a structure stifling female and non-binary desire, advocating personal and institutional upheaval, including reimagining power through non-hierarchical desire models; Soloway reportedly considered retitling it post-2016 U.S. election to reflect intensified resolve against patriarchal resurgence. Soloway, raised in Chicago in a family with Jewish heritage, has described not being raised strictly observant but developing a deeper connection to Judaism through their creative work. While directing the 2013 film Afternoon Delight, Soloway reported realizing a affinity for portraying Jewish characters and identifying "Jewishness" in their writing voice. They co-founded the East Side Jews collective to explore Jewish cultural themes and have incorporated nuanced depictions of Jewish-American family dynamics and self-discovery in projects like Transparent, consulting Rabbi Susan Goldberg for authenticity on spiritual elements such as the Torah's "Lech Lecha" narrative of wandering. Soloway's recent work, including the 2024 project The Godyssey, draws on invented Jewish histories emphasizing pre-biblical "Jewish witchery" and arboreal traditions, framing Judaism as a source of mystical and matriarchal heritage rather than orthodox doctrine. In relation to , Soloway has expressed affection for an idealized vision of the state while sharply critiquing its contemporary governance and societal structure. They have likened Israel's leadership to that of , portraying it as a fundamentalist, orthodox religious regime enforcing exclusionary policies under the guise of preserving , akin to Christian nationalist appeals in the U.S. Soloway advocates separating this reality from aspirational , stating, "Reclaiming the word Zionism and not having it be about the current state of , which is patriarchal and militarized. Instead, this other dream of would be about love and ," and emphasizing, "I think you can have dreams for the that you imagine without giving any credence to the way that is being run right now." As a Jew, they prioritize , tolerance, and leftist values over orthodox repression, viewing the "dream of " as compatible with broader acceptance but incompatible with . Soloway's engagement with Israel-Palestine geopolitics is evident in Transparent's fourth season (2017), which follows character Ali Pfefferman's journey through and the to depict the occupation's daily effects on , drawing input from Palestinian activists and groups like (JVP) and the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. Initially planning to film live scenes in , Soloway altered course after a 2018 from 23 activists, led by , urging a to avoid endorsing "pinkwashing"—Israel's promotion of LGBTQ+ tolerance to deflect criticism of its policies—and associating trans narratives with apartheid. This led to all live filming occurring in , using local sites and constructed sets like a replica Wailing Wall, while retaining B-roll from and . The season's portrayal of Palestinian experiences has drawn mixed reactions, with some observers praising its platforming of Palestinian perspectives as overdue education and others criticizing it as one-sided hasbara (propaganda) lacking Israeli historical context. Soloway has cited these discussions as influencing their shift, reflecting openness to activist critiques despite the logistical and financial costs.

Controversies and criticisms

Handling of Jeffrey Tambor harassment allegations

In November 2017, two transgender women associated with the set of Transparent accused , the show's lead actor, of . Former assistant producer Vanessa Barnes alleged that Tambor groped her in July 2015 while she was assisting him in his trailer. Actress , who played Shea on the series, claimed Tambor cornered her off-set, made repeated unwanted advances such as commenting "you're so beautiful" and "looking good, baby girl," and physically grabbed her. Tambor denied intentional harassment, stating he was "adamantly and vehemently" opposed to any such behavior, though he initially apologized for any "inadvertent misbehavior." Amazon Studios launched an internal investigation into the claims on November 8, 2017, amid the broader #MeToo movement, which had already led to executive resignations at the company. Joey Soloway, then known as Jill Soloway and the show's creator, refrained from direct commentary on the allegations during the probe, citing complications from the ongoing process, but publicly pledged to enhance set safety protocols, including clearer boundaries for intimacy coordinators and anti-harassment training. Soloway emphasized a commitment to "safer sets" without specifying Tambor's involvement, framing the response as part of a broader industry reckoning. The investigation concluded without conclusive findings of due to insufficient evidence on certain claims, yet Amazon suspended Tambor indefinitely in late 2017 and formally terminated his involvement on February 15, 2018, determining the allegations too serious to retain him. Soloway notified Tambor of the firing via text message, followed by a phone call, a method Tambor later described as abrupt and indicative of a flawed process influenced by external pressures. In response, Tambor publicly criticized Soloway and Amazon for mishandling the matter, alleging the accusations were false and politically driven, and expressed profound disappointment in the lack of . Soloway did not publicly rebut Tambor's statements and proceeded to recast the role of for the series' fifth-season musical finale, which aired in September 2019 without Tambor, shifting focus to ensemble trans narratives. Soloway's approach drew mixed reactions: supporters praised the prioritization of accusers' accounts and set reforms in a post-#MeToo context, while critics, including Tambor, argued it exemplified rushed judgments favoring ideological alignment over evidentiary rigor, particularly given the inconclusive investigation. No legal charges resulted from the allegations, and Tambor maintained his innocence in subsequent interviews, attributing tensions to the show's intense creative environment where "lines got blurred." Soloway has not communicated with Tambor since the termination.

Accusations of exploiting transgender narratives

Critics have accused Joey Soloway of leveraging experiences primarily for professional advancement and artistic inspiration rather than authentic representation. In a review of Soloway's memoir She Wants It, critic argued that Soloway treats trans individuals as "creative oil to be fracked," portraying the creator's use of her father's transition—publicly announced in 2009 and inspiring Transparent's premise—as a resource extracted for narrative fuel in the Amazon series that premiered on September 26, 2014. Chu cited Soloway's own words, such as a reflection on her father's transition enabling Soloway to "be my true self, a director," as evidence of a self-serving dynamic that prioritized career liberation over deeper empathy for trans struggles. These claims extend to perceptions that Soloway's public evolution toward non-binary identification—first detailed in media interviews around 2017 and formalized with a to Joey in 2020—capitalized on the cultural momentum from Transparent's success, including its 2015 Golden Globe wins for Best Series and Best . further contended that Soloway demonstrated limited insight into trans realities even after years immersed in the subject, pointing to decisions like casting actor as the lead trans character despite available trans talent, which fueled broader debates on cis creators profiting from trans stories. Soloway has faced similar, though less prominent, critiques from online trans communities, where some viewed early social media posts—such as a 2014 Facebook reflection on gender fluidity—as tonally insensitive while monetizing trans themes, with Transparent generating Amazon's reported $100 million+ investment across five seasons. However, such forum-based opinions lack the analytical depth of published criticism like Chu's, which gained viral attention for its pointed dissection of Soloway's memoir as "incompetent, defensive, and astonishingly unaware" in addressing power dynamics in trans representation.

Backlash over public statements and comparisons

In September 2016, following an Emmy win for directing an episode of Transparent, Soloway compared then-presidential candidate Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler in backstage comments to reporters, describing Trump as "one of the most dangerous monsters that has ever walked this planet" and the "inheritor to Hitler." The remarks, made amid celebrations for the show's second season, drew immediate media attention for their intensity, with outlets characterizing them as injecting a "brutal note" into the event and exemplifying heated political rhetoric equating a U.S. election to Nazi-era dangers. Critics, including conservative commentators, condemned the comparison as hyperbolic and an example of celebrity overreach, arguing it trivialized historical atrocities while alienating audiences during an awards show focused on entertainment. Soloway's statements escalated in controversy during a October 20, 2021, walkout by Netflix employees protesting Dave Chappelle's comedy special The Closer, where Soloway addressed the crowd and declared, "Trans people are in the middle of a Holocaust." The assertion, framed as linking anti-trans rhetoric to genocidal violence, was part of broader demands for Netflix to enhance trans representation and curb perceived harm from Chappelle's jokes on gender identity. This drew sharp backlash from figures in comedy and free speech advocacy, who labeled it an inflammatory overstatement that equated cultural debates and media content with the systematic murder of six million Jews, including Soloway's own family's historical context as Holocaust survivors. Supporters of Chappelle, such as Laugh Factory owner Jamie Masada, highlighted the remarks as emblematic of intolerance toward dissenting views on transgender issues, amplifying divisions within Hollywood over censorship and hyperbole in activism. The statement also faced internal criticism from some LGBTQ+ voices wary of diluting the Holocaust's uniqueness for contemporary advocacy, though Soloway maintained it underscored existential threats to trans lives amid rising visibility of gender-critical perspectives.

Awards and recognition

Joey Soloway received two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for work on Transparent: one in 2015 for the episode "The Book of Life" and another in 2016 for "Man on the Land." For the 2013 feature film Afternoon Delight, Soloway won the U.S. Dramatic Directing Award at the Sundance Film Festival. Soloway also earned a Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series related to Transparent. In recognition of contributions to LGBTQ+ representation in media, Soloway was inducted into the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame. The Transparent series, created and directed by Soloway, received a Peabody Award in 2015 for its exploration of transgender experiences and family dynamics.

Bibliography and creative works

Soloway authored the memoir She Wants It: Desire, Power and Toppling the Patriarchy in 2018, detailing their personal and professional experiences amid their parent's transition and their own evolving views on gender and patriarchy. In television, Soloway created, wrote, executive produced, and directed episodes of the Amazon series Transparent (2014–2019), a comedy-drama centered on a family's adjustment to their father's transgender identity. They served as a supervising producer and writer for Six Feet Under (HBO, 2001–2005), contributing to 12 episodes including "In the Game" (season 1, episode 4, aired July 21, 2001). Additional credits include creating and showrunning I Love Dick (Amazon, 2017–2018), an eight-episode adaptation of Chris Kraus's novel exploring female desire; writing for United States of Tara (Showtime, 2009–2011), with episodes such as "Miracle" (season 1, episode 1, aired January 18, 2009); and scripting episodes of Grey's Anatomy (ABC, 2005–), How to Make It in America (HBO, 2010–2011), and Looking (HBO, 2014–2015). Soloway's feature film directing debut was (2013), a comedy-drama starring as a suburban who befriends a , which premiered at the on January 17, 2013, and was released theatrically by on August 30, 2013. They also directed the special Transparent: Musicale Finale (Amazon, 2019), a musical episode concluding the Transparent series, released on September 27, 2019. Earlier stage works include co-creating the production The Real Live Brady Bunch (1989–1990s runs), which reenacted episodes of the 1970s ; The Miss Vagina Pageant (1990s), a satirical beauty contest; Hollywood Hellhouse (2000s), a of church haunted houses; and the spoken-word event series Sit n' Spin (1990s ). Soloway has developed unproduced projects such as the action film , announced in 2010 with casting updates as late as 2023, and the drama Mothertrucker, intended to star .

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