Chuck Lorre's United States of Al is under fire over its Afghan character

The Hollywood Reporter

Even though the trailer for the CBS comedy was released on March 4, it garnered new attention over the weekend and got Lorre's name trending over its casting of Adhir Kalyan, a non-Afghan actor, in the title role and for the character's depiction in general. "This is so ridiculous and offensive I don't have the words to express just how terribly bad this is on every conceivable level," tweeted human rights lawyer and former Congressional candidate Qasim Rashid. Writer Rekha Shankar added: "Can someone tell Chuck Lorre that 'what if a white person liked a brown person' is not a tv show concept." One of the show's executive producers, Reza Aslan, responded to the criticism on Saturday, tweeting: "Maybe learn a little about the show, its creators, it’s producers, it’s four Afghan writers, it’s plot, and pretty much everything else before you announce your opinion of it. Just a thought." Aslan added: "Because it’s my show I can make sure that it is written and produced by Afghans and Muslims. That it uses the format to reframe the perception that people have of both. That it portrays a Muslim Afghan protagonist in a true and honest light." He also challenged, "Fun fact: you haven’t seen it so can’t really comment from a place of knowledge now can you?"