Who is April Korto Quioh? Racism allegations against Colleen Ballinger surface amid Haters Back Off writer's bombshell reveal

April Kortoh Quioh, a screenwriter who worked on Colleen Ballinger’s 2016 comedy series Haters Back Off, shared in her newsletter about how Colleen had been a racist. She shared the piece on the 36-year-old comedian in her newsletter, You Owe Me an Apology, on July 1, 2023.

Quioh, a Black woman, was one of the writers on Colleen’s show and had to write about Miranda Sings, the protagonist that was played by the comedian herself. The writer shared in her newsletter that she was the only Black member in the office.

April Kortoh Quioh said that Ballinger felt that having people of color as background actors would be distracting as the show was set in Washington. When viewers raised questions and expressed their concerns about how white the entire cast of the show was, Ballinger told them that she cast the best people for all the roles. In addition, the comedian added that it was not her fault that the best actors happened to be white.

Quioh also spoke about how Miranda’s storyline with her creepy uncle involves child abuse and grooming. The author said that Colleen Ballinger wanted her to make the character of the uncle more “r*pey,” which Quioh felt uncomfortable writing since Miranda’s primary audience was teenagers.

---

Colleen Ballinger named a character in her show after April

Aside from screenwriting, April Korto Quioh is also a podcaster and an occasional vlogger. Notably, she has worked on the final season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, the popular NBC comedy. Her most recent work is as a supervising producer on Apple TV+’s Loot. Quioh is currently adapting a memoir for Disney+ and turning it into a feature film. She is also working as a producer on a new series on Hulu.

Quioh grew up in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, in a matriarchal household. She studied at Northwestern University pursuing Television/Film and Sociological Studies. After graduation, she relocated to Los Angeles, where she currently lives, and writes about popular culture, her Liberian-American identity, and her blackness.

April's latest newsletter, where she spoke about Colleen Ballinger, who owes her an apology, is titled:

"on "cancel culture," accountability, and being in the writers' room with Miranda Sings"

The screenwriter shed light on the problematic and disturbing things she had experienced and witnessed while on the set of Ballinger's Haters Back Off. She shared that the protagonist of the show, Miranda, shared an incestuous relationship with her creepy uncle Jim.

Netizens calls out Colleen Ballinger's Miranda Sings and her relationship with Uncle Jim. (Image via Instagram/@aprilkortoquioh)

Quioh said that it felt deeply wrong as Ballinger would show them photos of smiling children in her audience who used to attend her comedy shows. However, the next morning, the comedian would try to think of a way to show Jim and Miranda indulging in actual s** on screen.

The author said that Colleen Ballinger named a character in the show April, which the author was not comfortable with. Quioh said that she felt that the comedian took pleasure in making the author uncomfortable since she knew that Quioh could not do anything about it.

April Kortoh Quioh further shared that Ballinger had to film a scene of the show at an Asian market, but later, she asked that the scene be removed from the show. Colleen Ballinger called it, as Quioh quotes:

“Asian sh*t”.

Netizens slams Colleen Ballinger for being racist. (Image via Reddit/@u/peperci)

Another instance was shared by the author. During an audition, a Black actor was there but the lighting was not great, and the comedian shouted, asking where the auditioning actor was. It implied that the man was so dark-skinned that he could not be distinguished from the darkness.

Colleen Ballinger also stated that some other creator was experiencing the “cancel culture” first-hand for saying the n-word, bragging that she would never be that stupid to get caught saying something like that. However, Quioh implied that Colleen Ballinger actually said the n-word with the hard ‘r’.

April Korto Quioh's newsletter left people disgusted at the comedian and they sympathized with the author for having to deal with such a toxic work place.