Andre Braugher Calls for ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ to Address Police Brutality

Actor Andre Braugher, who we know as Captain Holt on the NBC police sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine, has called for the show to address police brutality and the current social climate in the United States.

The Juilliard-trained actor who never thought he would appear in a comedy is voicing his opinion on how the usually less-than-serious TV show needs to respond to the rise in police brutality recently. The show’s cast includes Andy Samberg, Melissa Fumero, Stephanie Beatriz, Terry Crews, and Joe Lo Truglio.

In the show, Braugher plays a gay black cop in the NYPD who had to prove himself and push his way to become captain.

Although he loves his role as Samberg’s character’s foil, Braugher told Variety his thoughts about his character and cop TV shows when he said, “But because there are so many cop shows on television, that’s where the public gets its information about the state of policing. Cops breaking the law to quote, ‘defend the law,’ is a real terrible slippery slope. It has given license to the breaking of law everywhere, justified it and excused it. That’s something that we’re going to have to collectively address — all cop shows.”

We’re back… in 2021 that is. 😏 #Brooklyn99 returns to @nbc in the new year! pic.twitter.com/wUzD89tDPw

— Andre Braugher (@AndreBraugher) August 27, 2020

Writer and producer of Brooklyn Nine-Nine Dan Goor has confirmed that he and the other writers are going to address police brutality and racism in the upcoming season. He told Variety, “We want to make sure we get it right.”

Braugher talked about his hopes and concerns for the upcoming season when he told Variety, “Can a comedy sustain the things that we’re trying to talk about? I don’t know. It could be a really groundbreaking season that we’re all going to be very, very proud of, or we’re going to fall flat on our face. … But I think this is a staff, a cast and a crew that’s willing to take it on and give it our best. I think we have a damn good chance to tell the kinds of stories that heretofore have only been seen on grittier shows.”

Braugher also recently condemned police brutality on behalf of himself and the show on his Instagram and showed his support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

We look forward to seeing season seven of Brooklyn Nine-Nine in 2021 and seeing how the show addresses police brutality going forward.