Kad said: "I will be forever baffled by how quickly he was catapulted to such a level of celebrity with Slave Play and maintained it even after a total lack of great follow up work when so many other young playwrights never get such opportunity even after impressive debuts."
"Celebrity" is a generous term, but I think it has to do with his multihyphenate nature (playwright, screenwriter, TV show contributor, co-producer, performer, fashion-person, activist), his willingness to combat critics and make incendiary comments (in the press, in the industry, online), and the fact that he's a flamboyant and outspoken queer Black man in an industry where that's not the norm. Above all he is quotable, and when you're quotable and willing to give a hot take about anything, the media will lap it up. (See also: Barry Diller, Paul Schrader, Anthony Scaramucci.)
He wants to be in the spotlight, whereas a lot of other people prefer the spotlight to be on their work. HE is more of a story than any work he has actually produced.
In his small corner of the world, he may be developing a persona of "person who is famous for being famous"... the Kardashians, the Gabors, etc.
