Sara Ramirez Issues Scathing Response to Anti–Che Diaz Profile

Two months after The Cut’s publication of a profile on Sara Ramirez, the actor has issued a scathing response to the piece about them, which was published back in June. 

The 47-year-old actor behind Che Diaz took to Instagram on Tuesday—the same day Max announced And Just Like That’s renewal for a third season—to say that they’ve “been thinking long and hard about how to respond to The Hack Job’s article, ‘written’ by a white gen z non-binary person who asked me serious questions, but expected a comedic response I guess (?).” Ramirez accompanied their caption with two photos from the Cut photo shoot, tagging several of the artists involved—but not features writer Brock Colyar, who penned the profile.

In the piece, Colyar notes that while Ramirez says they’re “not Che Diaz,” the actor’s Instagram profile describes them as “MexicanIrishNon-binaryHuman,” an echo of Diaz’s AJLT introduction as a “queer, nonbinary, Mexican-Irish diva.” That line is no longer visible in Ramirez’s public Instagram bio. Colyar, who is nonbinary as well, also acknowledges “eye-rolling from the (mostly younger) queer people I know, who found the character a hyperbolized, hypercringe representation of nonbinary identity”; the writer speculates that it’s possible the show “was just being cheeky and trolling us all about how self-serious we get over the politics of representation on a fizzy sitcom.”

Ramirez responds to the criticism in the story, telling Colyar, “Anybody who benefits from patriarchy is going to have a problem with Che Diaz,” and later arguing “that opinions about whether Che is representing an authentically queer person or not is not for me to answer.”

Ramirez had more to say about that line of questioning in their Instagram post. “I trust that those of you who matter, who are not petulant children, who are smart enough to catch on to what was actually going on there, can perceive it for what it is: an attempt to mock my thoughtfulness and softness, while dismissing a valid existence and real human being in favor of tv show critiques that belonged elsewhere,” they wrote. “I am not the fictional characters I have played, nor am I responsible for the things that are written for them to say. I am a human being, an artist, an actor. And we are living in a world that has become increasingly hostile toward anyone who dares to free themselves from the gender binary, or disrupt the mainstream.”

Ramirez concluded their post—which, as of this writing, has been liked by fellow cast member Kristin Davis—with a few “friendly reminders,” suggesting that “when a cis man is in charge and has ultimate control of dialogue actors say, and you have a valid problem with it, perhaps you should be interviewing him.” For what it’s worth, series creator Michael Patrick King told TheWrap back in July that a season two scene featuring a focus group for Che’s fictional sitcom was partially inspired by “the reaction to what season one of Che was, which was judging a book by the cover.” King also said that while Che was known for their “cockiness, bravura, sexuality” in the first season, they needed to become “vulnerable, knocked for a loop, insecure” in the second.

The Cut’s profile ends with Colyar noting Che’s “habit…of lighting up in inappropriate places.” “Though I did happen to have a joint on me in the park, I didn’t offer it to [Ramirez],” Colyar adds. “I wasn’t sure they would get the joke, or think it funny.” The actor righted that wrong as well, writing on social media, “Further proof that this ‘writer’ knows little more about me than a Google search provides, I would have happily smoked that joint with them.”