Jena Friedman

Jena Friedman was born and raised in Haddonfield, New Jersey, within a Conservative Jewish home. She pursued her academic interests in anthropology at Northwestern University. Following her graduation, Friedman began her career in healthcare consulting at Booz Allen Hamilton. Her creative endeavors began to emerge in 2007 with writing “The Refugee Girls Revue,” a satirical play that garnered critical acclaim at the 2008 New York International Fringe Festival and subsequently enjoyed a successful Off-Broadway run. In 2010, her parody web series “Ted and Gracie” gained significant attention, though it also led to a cease-and-desist letter from The New York Times for its satirical content.

Friedman’s career progressed into television writing, including contributions to “Late Show with David Letterman” in 2011 and serving as a field producer for “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” from 2012 to 2015. Her solo show “American Cunt” premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2015, earning critical recognition and being named one of the 10 Best Stand-Up Comedy Specials of 2016 by Paste magazine. She created, co-executive produced, directed, and hosted “Soft Focus with Jena Friedman” for Adult Swim, with installments in 2018 and 2019, featuring interviews with notable figures like John McAfee and Gilberto Valle. Her film credits include acting in “Palm Springs” (2020) and contributing to the screenplay of “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” (2020), which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

More recently, Friedman directed and starred in “True Crime Story: Indefensible” on Sundance TV in 2021, a series she also hosts on AMC+. Her latest comedy special, “Ladykiller,” premiered on Peacock in September 2022. Additionally, she made a cameo appearance in the 2020 film “Palm Springs” as Daisy the Bartender. In 2025, she delivered a TED Talk titled “The Jokes AI Won’t Tell” and brought her solo show “Motherf*cker” to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August of the same year. Friedman has also contributed as a writer to The New Yorker.