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Mindy Kaling, known for various quirky roles throughout her career recently voiced the character of Velma Dinkley inVelma.The animated series based on the characters ofScooby Doofeatured Velma Dinkley as the main protagonist of the series. However, things didn’t exactly go as planned.
While getting trolled the series garnered a lot of negative reception while standing at a low rating of 1.4/10 on IMDB. On top of things, the series was renewed for a second season all the while fans noticed a dark joke that shouldn’t have been said.
Mindy Kaling’sVelmaMade A Joke About Sickle Cell Anemia
The creators weren’t too late to make the joke on sickle cell anemia since the character of Fred uttered it in the first episode of the show. For those unversed, sickle cell anemia refers to the disease wherein the red blood cells turn into a sickle shape and die early. As serious as this disease sounds, the creators weren’t so concerned with the joke that Fred uttered in the first episode.
Also read:‘They’re butchering all the Scooby-Doo characters’: Velma’s HBO Max Debut Sparks Heated Debate, Fans Label it ‘Just Another Generic Cartoon’
InVelmawhen Fred meets Velma for the first time, Fred states that he can’t remember what her name was. Giving it a nonchalant look Fred states that he can’t seem to remember people’s names all too well and calls it“sickle cell for rich people”.
“I have a disease where I can’t recognize people who aren’t hot,”he says.“My doctor says it’s basically sickle cell for rich people.”In response, Velma just plainly quips,“Is it called rudeness?”
The people took to Twitter to show the series that sickle cell anemia is not a thing to be made a joke of.
Sickle Cell has been used by Ted 2, Velma, & DL Hughley as punchlines. But during#blackhistorymonthI’m here to remind the entertainment industry that#SickleCellIsNotAJoke!pic.twitter.com/0i7EKaugWQ
— André Marcel Harris, MSW (@andreharris89)June 05, 2025
#SickleCellisn’t some punchline to put in an@hbomaxshow. We are discriminated against in healthcare, which causes further harm to our physical & mental. Ignorant jokes like this make it that much harder for systemic changes to occur for better treatment of sickle cell patientspic.twitter.com/kWpzAhiPnb
— Memej99-SickleCellLifeOfMemej (@Memej99)July 24, 2025
The joke about Sickle Cell on E1 of Velma on@hbomaxwas unnecessary and misinforming to the world and insensitive to the sickle cell community.#SickleCell#Velma#HBOMaxpic.twitter.com/uOl3o0EDxG
— TEP FOUNDATION (@Tep_foundation)July 18, 2025
She wrote an insensitive joke about Sickle Cell on Velma. I’m sorry but she deserves the backlash. You never make fun of people’s medical conditions.
— Whitney Pyant (@WhitneyPyant)June 28, 2025
@mindykaling, what might’ve started out as a harmless joke, turned out to show a lack of empathy, compassion for & knowledge of#sicklecelldisease. It prevents others from learning what#scdTRULY is, a rare#blooddisorderaffecting All races, predominantly African Americans.
The joke did not seem to make the people laugh (as it shouldn’t) since the series was review-bombed for its lack of comedy. With no idea of the reason, but HBO Max decided to renewVelmafor a second season much to the people’s disapproval.
Suggested:“Tell anyone and you are fired”: ‘Velma’ Star Mindy Kaling Forced a Kiss on Co-Star Without Consent, Threatened to Fire Him if He Sued Her
Mindy Kaling Deletes Her Tweet AfterVelmaFailure
Related:‘Who asked for this?’: Mindy Kaling’s Velma Getting a 2nd Season Despite Insanely Bad Reviews Proves No Publicity is Bad Publicity
During the initial promotion of the series, Mindy Kaling excitedly talked about the series on her Twitter account. With several initial tweets that promoted the series, Mindy Kaling soon took them down after the series was met with an extremely negative reaction.
Taking to her Twitter account, Mindy Kaling had initially bragged about the good ratings of the show that it initially garnered. A couple of days later when the show failed disastrously, the tweets were allegedly deleted. The infamous tweets are no longer visible on her Twitter profile. Although the series has been renewed for a second season, it is up to the creators andMindy Kalingherself to redeem the series for the audience of the original cartoon.
Mindy Kaling’sVelmais currently available to stream on HBO Max.
Source:Bounding Into Comics
Visarg Acharya
Senior Writer
Articles Published :3266
Visarg Acharya is a Senior Writer at FandomWire, majorly focusing on movies, with over 3000 articles published. He has been an entertainment journalist for the past three years and a copywriter at a corporation. Visarg usually covers news and theories on the MCU and the DCU, with an emphasis on Avengers and Superman; Game of Thrones, and more.A Tarantino fan, Visarg, spends his time critiquing various directors’ filmographies and watching them with curiosity. Medieval fantasy like The Lord of the Rings or sci-fi movies like Interstellar, watching the latest horror movies, and listening to Hans Zimmer become his comfort zone. When idle, he can be found reading fantasy novels with a terrible cup of coffee in hand.
