Samantha Bee is adding another section to her resume, right above “late-night host”: job creator.
The “Full Frontal” star has transferred all production of her show’s charitable T-shirts to Puerto Rico until the end of 2018, it was reported in a Racked interview with the 48-year-old TV host.
The move stems from a one-hour special Bee filmed on the island (airing this week), which is still reeling from the devastating effects of Hurricane Maria.
All proceeds from the T-shirts will go toward the Hispanic Federation’s hurricane relief efforts, but Bee hopes the production itself will add a much-needed long-term boost to the small businesses affected by the storm. “Trying to be a job creator felt like it had more legs to me than just doing one thing,” Bee told Racked.
“It feels rude in a way to go to a place, bring your operation there, bring all these people there, film a special on an island, and leave nothing behind. We wanted to leave something behind.”
And the comedian isn’t planning to go it alone. Bee is scheduled to appear on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on Tuesday, and plans to challenge her late night peers to follow her lead. “Why not? We have these really big platforms,” she said.
“To me it’s just a challenge to all the hosts to kinda rethink how we do things. You could literally order T-shirts for your friend’s bar mitzvah and have them printed in Puerto Rico. Knowing that, why wouldn’t you?”
The “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” Puerto Rico special airs Wednesday at 10 p.m. on TBS.
