Malala Yousafzai lands Apple TV+ deal and discusses her hope for International Women's Day
CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 3/8/2021, 2:36 p.m.
By Chloe Melas, CNN
(CNN) -- Nobel laureate and activist Malala Yousafzai is teaming up with Apple TV+ to bring empowering content to the streaming platform.
Yousafzai spoke to CNN about the partnership between the streaming service and her production company, Extracurricular, in a recent interview, saying that her multi-year deal will include everything from creating documentaries, comedies to children's programming.
"This is something I'm really excited about," Yousafzai said. "There's my own story, I have been telling that and I have met so many girls and I have been able to build a platform that they can tell a story. But now it's time to go even more and to do even more and to have the platform of storytelling and bring new perspectives."
Yousafzai, who was born in Pakistan, was attacked by the Taliban after becoming a vocal critic of the group's attempts to stop girls from attending school. In 2012, at just 15 years old, she was shot in the head in an assassination attempt while riding a bus home from school.
The best-selling author also had a message for women as they reflect on International Women's Day on Monday.
"From harassment to inequality, to discrimination based on their gender, to unequal pay, all of these things are important and we need to keep working on it. But I also want to take this moment to remind all of those amazing and incredible women out there just to take a break," she said.
"(Women) have done so much, and right now some of them are studying from home, some of them are looking after their kids and they are parenting and they also have jobs to do. There is so much on their shoulders and they carry all of that with grace and with dignity, so be proud of yourself, be proud of all you have done and achieved in your life. Let's celebrate and be proud of who we are and what we have done for women and everyone around us."
Yousafzai joins Oprah Winfrey, Tom Hanks, Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon who also are creating content for Apple TV+.