"Every time I tell people my series is on WOW Presents Plus, they assume I’m a drag queen"
What do you get if you mix the cynicism of 90’s cult cartoon hero Daria, the off-beat humour of the Toronto alt-comedy scene, storylines straight out of Courage the Cowardly Dog, and starring a queer Arab and a Transgender woman? Well, you’d have the recipe for WOW Presents Plus‘ first ever scripted show, I Hate People, People Hate Me!
The series follows two friends – Jovi (Bobbi Summers) and Tabitha (Lily Kazimiera) – as they navigate the local queer and wider community of their hometown, as despairing outsiders; exploring their identities from the sidelines of a world that feels to them increasingly mainstream and commodified.
When asked how it feels to be making queer history by being the first show of its kind on WOW Presents Plus, Bobbi Summers, the star and creator of I Hate People, People Hate Me, laughs. “It’s interesting being the first. Every time I tell people my series is on WOW Presents Plus, they assume I’m a drag queen. I’m like, ‘I don’t think I could even successfully apply concealer on my best day.’”
Rather than a polished glamazon, Bobbi describes himself as a “K-Mart faggo,” a sensibility that permeates his show’s irreverent, no-frills take on queer existence. The series fearlessly pushes boundaries, blending humor with deeply personal darkness. “There’s a quirky suicide attempt,” he says casually. “The whole thing is kind of a cartoonification of the darkest experiences of my life. I pushed the envelope as far as it felt appropriate—which ended up being pretty far. And I think that’s what makes the show stand out. It’s divisive, and I like that.”
Beyond starring in and creating the show, Bobbi also produced its soundtrack under the name Peachy CC. “The CC comes from my birth name, Christopher—which means ‘of Christ,’ by the way… and don’t you forget it” he jokes. Before venturing into comedy, he was deeply embedded in the music industry. As a member of the group K.I.D, alongside Kara Lane, he faced frustration at the misunderstanding of the group by the label and who their audience was. The experience left him feeling jaded. “I felt like I’d been abandoned and tossed away. So I had to find a back door into Hollywood.” That back door turned out to be stand-up comedy.
When asked about the connection between songwriting and stand-up comedy—two very different beasts—and scripted television, Bobbi responds, “The hardest part of becoming a good songwriter was finding the courage to be honest. Truly great writing is almost humiliatingly honest. I was surprised by how closely songwriting and stand-up parallel each other; and the learning curve (to scripted television) wasn’t as steep as I expected.”
That raw honesty is the beating heart of I Hate People, People Hate Me, with Bobbi revealing that the script for the season finale actually began as a short story he wrote for a business school elective, a course that ultimately convinced him to postpone his suicide. “It was my saving grace.”
His creative influence extends far beyond his own show. Bobbi worked on creative direction for the music video Aute Cuture, Rosalía’s Grammy-nominated song, and even toured with rap icon Cupcakke. “I actually set up the tour myself. The label didn’t really understand our audience. But I did—it just made sense.”
That same DIY mentality shaped the casting process for I Hate People, People Hate Me. With no access to union actors, Bobbi embraced the opportunity to cast fascinating, unpolished talents. “Instead of ‘seasoned professionals,’ I could just pick interesting people off the street who had a sick vibe.” The result is a show that feels like a chaotic yet deeply authentic snapshot of Toronto’s alt-queer scene.
As a child of the late ‘90s and early 2000s, Bobbi packed the series with nostalgic references. While technically set in modern times, Lily Kazimiera, who plays Tabitha told Bobbi that the show’s lead characters are “retro fetishists,” obsessed with aesthetics from decades past. “I wanted to lean into our affinity for that stuff from the 90s, like Daria,” and despite tackling heavy themes like mental health and isolation, the series never lingers in despair. “We as queer people are disproportionately affected by depression and suicidal ideation. But I’ve never been about pessimism. My career was born out of necessity—I needed a way to transform darkness into something else.”
With I Hate People, People Hate Me finally out in the wild, Bobbi is ready for whatever comes next—whether it’s more TV, more music, or simply watching the internet implode over his work. “I hope people see themselves in it,” he says. “Even if they hate it. I’ve had people say it’s their favorite thing ever, and others say they physically can’t watch it because it’s too depressing. But at least it made them feel something. At least they weren’t bored.”
And for those who don’t get it? Well, the clue is in the title. He did warn us that he hates people.
Bobbi Summers as Jovi in ‘I Hate People, People Hate Me’ – photo credit Lauren Newman.
Check out a snippet of the interview below
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Taylor: What do you hate the most right now?
Bobbi: Human rights violations
Taylor: If Jovi and Tabatha were stranded on a desert island, what’s the first thing they’d fight about?
Bobbi: They’d be in nicotine and alcohol withdrawal so they’d fight about everything.
Taylor: The strangest thing that’s happened to you during a comedy set?
Bobbi: The stage literally broke. Should’ve skipped the McChickens that day.
Taylor: Who would Jovi & Tabitha’s partner Pokemon be?
Bobbi: Tabitha’s would be Gloom and Jovi wouldn’t have one, he’d just be wanking off to Brock. Like how I used the British term for jerking off? CULTURED!
Taylor: If you got to be a guest star in a Simpsons episode who would you be hanging out with?
Bobbi: Bart or Comic Book Guy.
Taylor: Favorite Mariah Carey song?
Bobbi: MIGRATE from E=Mc2
I Hate People, People Hate Me premiered on January 13th, with further episodes airing weekly on WOW Presents Plus.
