In a clear division between viewers and critics and an intriguing media case study, All’s Fair, the noisy new Ryan Murphy legal drama starring and executive produced by Kim Kardashian, has delivered Hulu Originals’ biggest scripted series premiere in three years, amassing 3.2M views globally after three days of streaming.
All’s Fair, in which attire mogul and relative acting novice Kardashian is surrounded by such heavy hitters and Murphy regulars as Naomi Watts, Niecy Nash-Betts, Sarah Paulson and Glenn Close as well as rising star Teyana Taylor, premiered on Hulu on Nov. 4 to scathing — including zero-star — reviews. (The show’s Rotten Tomatoes score, initially at 0%, has since climbed to 5%.)
The series already had strong pre-launch awareness through Kardashian’s massive social media reach (354M followers on Instagram alone) and the cast’s whirlwind promo tour which generated viral moments, including Nash-Betts’ heavily circulated excess baggage video.
Hulu’s own All’s Fair social assets have generated over 7 billion impressions on social media with 190M video views, per internal data.
The negative reviews — some going as far as calling All’s Fair the worst show ever with the worst acting — triggered a new media cycle of stories. Possibly proving the old adage that there is no such thing as bad publicity, with the critical response piquing people’s curiosity, All’s Fair launched at #1 on Hulu’s Top 15 and remained in the top spot for the first three days on platform.
The show’s complete rejection by critics may also have drawn sympathy from fans. All’s Fair’s Rotten Tomatoes audience score is 66%, a 61% gap from critics, with social listening tool Netbase measuring 81% positive social sentiment.
Kardashian, Close and the other All’s Fair stars have rallied fan support. Kardashian on Thursday night did an IG post clapping back at the bad reviews, countering them with positive feedback from viewers. Tongue firmly in cheek, she captioned the post, which also features photos from the series’ press tour, with “Have you tuned in to the most critically acclaimed show of the year!?!?!?” before plugging the series with “All’s Fair streaming now on @hulu and @disneyplus.”
Close also seemed to take the critical response in stride, posting a parody sketch drawing of the All’s Fair cast lined up for some Critic-Bunny Stew, a sendup of her hit movie Fatal Attraction.
