Netflix’s newest series “Dad Stop Embarrassing Me!” has a very famous father-daughter duo attached, Jamie Foxx who stars in the series, and Corinne Foxx, who is making her producing debut. The sitcom is inspired by the 27-year-olds teenage life and relationship with her famous father based on situations described in Corinne’s diary, per Newsweek. It stars Kyla-Drew who plays “Sasha Dixon” and Jamie who plays her father “Brian” and follows their blossoming relationship as the single father figures out fatherhood “on the fly” after his strong-minded, sassy, and smart teenage daughter moves in with him.
Although the series is largely fictional, it includes some factual awkward, and embarrassing stories. In a recent interview with Newsweek, Corinne shared some insight about how it all got started and what it was like being her father‘s boss. The executive producer said all it took was her diary full of content to land the deal. “It really started from years of my dad and I telling these funny, embarrassing stories we had throughout my life and throughout my teenage-hood. Everyone’s always laughed at them, so we thought, Why don’t we take these stories and turn them into episodes of a TV show? That’s really what we did. We basically took my diary and pitched it to Netflix, and they loved it,” the model said.
Corinne thinks their dynamic shifted onset compared to when they worked on “Beat Shazam” together because she was suddenly behind the camera “calling the shots.” “Suddenly I was his boss, and I was the one calling the shots. If you think about the whole show and years of embarrassment, for me to now be his boss, it‘s very full circle for me. But honestly, my dad believes in me so much.” Despite disagreeing at times, she explained he always encouraged her creative agency and she became the person he would listen to. “There were times, yes, where we didn’t agree on things. But he would always trust me and encouraged me to trust my gut. He really gave me so much of a voice, and I noticed that the other producers realized that because they would come to me to tell [my dad] bad news or that he needed to come in early because he’d listen to me and not them.” Corrine explained.
Her role as an executive producer also allowed the youngest producer of the project to find her voice. “I think also just being a woman and finding my voice in the room was a huge part of my journey,” she said. “Once I was an EP, I got involved in every small detail. I was sitting with the colorist. I was coloring the show with them, I was editing the show, I was writing the show, casting—every single part of this. There are so many decisions that have to be made and I think that because it‘s my story, I was so closely involved in every small detail of putting the show together.”
The series also includes Brian’s father “Pops” played by David Alan Grier, his witty sister “Chelsea” played by Porscha Coleman, and best friend “Johnny” played by Jonathan Kite. It became available Wednesday, April 14th and the hashtag #DaddyStopEmbarassingMe is currently being promoted by Netflix. There are plenty of mixed reviews on the site, with Jamie’s “White pants at the party” getting plenty of attention. Apparently, Jamie and Mark Consuelos have a lot in common.