Now that Apple CEO Tim Cook knows who the co-creator of Comedy Central's "Daily Show" is, Lizz Winstead shouldn't have any problems with her next app.
In 2016, the satirist plans to introduce Mandora, another political app.
"It's like when you listen to music on Pandora, you type in 'Rolling Stones Channel.' You'll hear a couple of Rolling Stones songs, but then you'll hear musicians who are similar to the Rolling Stones. That's kind of our concept. Let's say you click on the Ted Cruz channel. You'll hear some sound bites from Ted Cruz, but you'll be introduced to some other people very similar to Ted Cruz, who have equally crazy thoughts," Winstead told me Wednesday. "Our feeling is, everybody's running away from Donald Trump, as if he's the only one saying these things, but with 10 seconds of Google research, you can see that all of them have said similar things, just not as overtly."
Last year, when Apple didn't know who she is, it promptly rejected the Hinder app launched by Winstead's Lady Parts Justice. Hinder is Winstead's satirical take on Tinder, the dating hookups website. Except the Hinder app exposes politicians who are trying to limit access to sex ed, birth control and abortion.
Lady Parts Justice is a charity that defends women's reproductive rights. LadyPartsJustice.com is currently showcasing "The 2016 State Of The Uterus," which has its moments, if you think Winstead is funny.
"Apple rejected [Hinder]," HuffPost's Laura Bassett wrote in September, "telling Winstead's team the app's content violates Rule 14 of its app review guidelines, which bans 'any App that is defamatory, offensive, mean-spirited, or likely to place the targeted individual or group in harm's way.' But the same rule Apple cited in rejecting the app also states that 'professional political satirists and humorists are exempt from the ban on offensive or mean-spirited commentary.' "
Oops. And Hinder was in with ease.
"I think Tim Cook finally knows I do comedy, as I think 30,000 people told him," said Winstead. "Whoever works for Tim Cook who does app approvals did not spend 5 seconds googling me or Lady Parts Justice. Literally, when you google my name, Lady Parts Justice comes up with comedians and blah-blah as the founders and there's a Sarah Silverman video."