Jessica Williams Talks the Kardashians, Being a Black Woman in Comedy, and Losing Her Virginity
As a senior correspondent on The Daily Show (first with Jon Stewart, now with Trevor Noah), Jessica Williams has skewered chauvinists and mansplainers ("Jessica's Feminized Atmosphere"), broken down the politics of going natural in the military ("Operation Black Hair"), and just this week, delivered a much-needed GTFO to Beyoncé detractors (she is, after all, TDS's Senior Beyoncé Correspondent). In short, she gives her fans life. Cosmo spoke to the unstoppable 26-year-old about what's on her mind when she's not busy winning at her day job, doing standup, breaking into acting (Girls, People Places Things), and co-hosting her podcast 2 Dope Queens with Phoebe Robinson.
Your job is such a mix of reporting, writing, comedy: When you first started working on The Daily Show, did it feel natural to wear all those hats? Like it was something you just knew how to do?
It didn't feel like I was prepared in the beginning. I was trying to pull together everything that I had learned up until that point. I was really nervous. It sort of required being present and being able to improvise; it required being able to keep a straight face. And then it required a boldness to be able to say and do certain things in front of complete strangers.
What would you say are the biggest differences between Jessica the character and you?
My character is definitely more outspoken and bold than the real me is. I'm more introverted. I get shy and I hate confrontation. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it. I hate when things are weird.
You and Phoebe Robinson gave an interview to Huffington Post about how the comedy world excludes and/or ignores black women. Do you think that's getting better or worse?
I think it's getting better, just because we have social media and people talking, and there's a lot more content being created by people of color now that you can see on YouTube and Instagram and Vine. So if that is the case, and if there are so many people of color that are super talented and very funny and interesting and unique, then we can now see how glaring it is that they're not represented on our television screens as much as they should be.
You've spoken a little bit before about what I call the "only one" effect - the pressure you can feel to be representative of your race, your gender, or both when you're the only black and/or female person in an environment. When do you feel that most?
I think it's the higher you get in whatever field you're [in]. The color and the diversity dies out and it gets whiter and whiter, and that's in any field. There is also this idea that there can only be one gay person or there can only be one Asian-American woman in the office, and so it also perpetuates itself where we are isolated, especially the more successful we get.
In a Wired interview last year, you said that you would want to do a gossip site that's pop culture with vegetables. What pop culture stories have you been obsessed with?
Oh, I'm obsessed with the Kardashians. Not the way that I think a 13- or 14-year-old girl would be, but I find them fascinating. They are so rich. They are also at the end of the day women of color. They are controversial, whether it be [because of] sex tapes or the way that they often use their bodies [or] for having one of the most successful reality shows of all time. They're also women who love family, it appears. Whenever I watch that show, they're always playing with the kids, and they believe in sisterhood and keeping it in the family. They date men of color oftentimes. They either choose to get married or they don't. They just operate to me on so many different levels, and I think that years from now, culturally, once the general anger of the public subsides that they are the focal point of pop culture, once that resentment starts to die down a little bit, we [will be] able to look back and be like, "What was the fascination? What was that about? Why were they so successful? What does that mean? Does that mean anything for Armenian women? Does it mean anything for women who aren't actresses, [that] you can still be rich and successful in Hollywood?"
It's interesting to see how they're perceived sometimes as women of color and sometimes not.
Right. I think a lot of times they're not perceived as women of color. There are times when they market it more and market it a little less, but they are women of color. Sometimes people say, "They always date black guys, blah, blah, blah." And it's like, "Maybe they just like black dudes." How is that wrong? Is that bad? They're just interesting to me.
Let's switch gears just a little bit and talk about boys and dating. What are some things that you've learned the hard way about dating?
Don't try to fix anyone, especially not a dude. They're not going to change. I used to like this guy a lot who bullshitted me all the time. He never had it together and I had this idea that one day he was going to wake up and have it all together, and then we'd be able to date, and it just never happened. Now I'm in a great relationship with someone who really has it together and handles his business. Like, he goes to the dentist on his own, once every three months. And I'm like, "Oh my god, look at this beautiful, adult man."
What do you think guys need to hear specifically about sex?
Just be dope; be not weird. I'm thinking from my friends' experience, because I was sort of a late bloomer. I lost my virginity very late in life, but from what I know about my friends, it's like 85 percent of dudes are being weird! All the time! They say things that they saw in a porno. Or I've been hearing a lot about dudes that critique women's bodies after they hook up for the first time, like, "Maybe you should get into the gym." That's insane!
That's craziness. That's crazy talk.
It's so weird.
Be less weird.
Yeah, just be less weird, and be a kind and considerate human being and it'll be enjoyable.
You mentioned that you were a late bloomer. Do you feel like, looking back, that was something that was good for you? Or did it give you a lot of anxiety when you were going through it?
It was both; it was good and bad. It was good because I focused on my career. I grew up super Christian, both my parents are ministers, so I did a purity ceremony when I was a teenager. And a purity ceremony is basically you deciding not to have sex before you're married, which is a great and reasonable thing to do if you are of sound mind and you plan on keeping that [vow], but I think at the time I did it I was too young for that decision. So, growing up through middle school, high school, and college, I always thought that if I had sex, I was going to hell. And I felt that my body really wasn't my own and my vagina was just this - I don't know. It just gave me so much anxiety; I had such a complex about it and when I realized that I did want to have sex before I was married, then it just became pure anxiety about what it would be like and who would be the [man]. I was just so worked up; I'm talking at the bar, just thinking about sex and about how it's going to be. And it was good because I had strong morals for who I wanted to have my first time with and I don't regret that at all. It did, on the other hand, give me a lot of anxiety for a penis and vagina transaction.
Do you mind sharing how old you were? And do you remember anything about the actual first penis/vagina transaction?
Yeah, I was, 25 and I just remember it being like, "Oh, OK, all right, cool." But I was comfortable with my partner. It was someone who was fuckin' rad and could take care of me and make sure I was OK. But it wasn't like a crazy, out-of-body, floating around on a cloud thing. It's like, "Oh, OK, tight." And then it just got dope.
So you never have second thoughts about deciding that you didn't want to wait?
No; oh, no. I'm happy I waited, but I don't have second thoughts about pulling the trigger and just knocking that out.
We're coming into an election year, so I'm curious what political or social issues are the biggest deal to you? Which are the closest to your heart?
Relations between the police and people of color, that's what's very much at the forefront for me.
And then how would you describe your ideal ticket?
I'm going to go with Oprah for president and then Beyoncé as vice president.
I might've even reversed them.
Beyoncé's got to still work. Beyoncé can't be president because she's still got albums to drop and a baby to raise. The O, she can get out there and kick some ass and run a whole empire.
A version of this article appears in the March 2016 issue of Cosmopolitan.
