Arshad praised Google-platform for ‘giving him a voice’
TV’s behind-the-curve approach to diversity is pushing away talent, according to YouTube star Humza Arshad.
Speaking at an IPA event last week, Arshad praised the Google-owned platform for “giving him a voice” after his early television career saw him stereotyped as ‘terrorist number two”.
“You get just one line – Allah Akbar - and then bang! No call backs, no sequels, no nothing,” he joked.
Due to the stereotyping and lack of opportunities for young Asian actors, Arshad turned to YouTube and created his comedy series Diary of a Bad Man.
The show which revolves around the video diaries of a “young British Asian man in London who is trying to be a gangster but gets beaten up by his mum” has been viewed more than 60 million times.
In 2011, the fifth episode of the series was the seventh most-viewed video on YouTube in the UK.
Arshad claimed that this success would not have been possible if he had stayed in traditional TV.
“I didn’t feel like certain channels were going to turn around and say – you’re talented, here’s your own show. So I just did it myself,” he said.
Having generated almost 350,000 subscribers to his Humza Productions channel, Arshad is in “this amazing position where brands and channels are coming to me”.
Over the last year, he has worked with the Metropolitan Police to visit over 130 schools, discussing topics such as Islamophobia, hate speech and bullying.
He has also been recruited by the East Midlands Police to help prevent the radicalisation of British Muslims by holding workshops in the area.
“There is a community out there that needed my voice and YouTube allowed me to do that. I never wanted to be a puppet or propaganda tool but YouTube allowed me to have my voice and talk about things I’m passionate about,” he added.
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