Amanda Seales Finally Explains Beef With Issa Rae to Shannon Sharpe, and the Tea is Hot!
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If it’s a day that ends in Y, we must be talking about celeb beefs. Today’s edition revolves around “Insecure” stars Issa Rae and Amanda Seales.
Televiaion history is riddled with stories of co-stars who didn’t get along. The difference nowadays is that social media has made it easier for these disagreements to happen in public. During her recent appearance on “Club Shay Shay,” Seales recounted the origins of her feud with Rae and how it’s affected her career.
Most of the former co-stars’ problems seem to stem from Seales’s issues with Rae’s publicist, Vanessa Anderson. The actress recalled a 2019 Emmys party for Black artists, where she was removed at Anderson’s request. Seales explained how she was invited and welcomed by several people at the event, but was physically confronted by security before being kicked out.
That’s where Rae comes in.
“[Issa] called me and said, ‘Hey, I heard what happened this weekend. I just want you to know I have nothing to do with it. Would you be willing to talk to Vanessa?’” Seales said. The phone conversation consisted of Anderson admitting that she didn’t like the actress and that’s why she had her removed from the party. That was pretty much the end of the discussion for Seales.
She went on to explain that after this conversation, Anderson allegedly mounted a “smear campaign” against her within the industry.
The differences between Seales and Anderson apparently put a strain on the former’s relationship with Rae, with things spilling onto the set. Seales expressed her frustration and anger with her colleagues, because — according to her — everyone knew about the drama, but no one was talking to her about it, or checking in with her.
“Nobody’s saying nothing to me. Everybody knows, because at this time, it’s just the women shooting. Everybody knows what’s going on. They don’t say nothing to me,” Seales said. “And that’s just f*****g mean. It’s mean.”
Seales also addressed the idea that she was “mean girl” on the set of “Insecure:” “How can I be a mean girl on a set that ain’t my set? How? It’s your show. You are my boss. I don’t even have the capacity to be the mean girl here because you can fire me.”
Here’s the thing: Seales’ experience is hers to tell and it’s not up to the rest of us to discount it. Only the people working on “Insecure” at that time know what really went down. It’s likely that Rae has a completely different recollection of the situation, and the truth is actually somewhere in the middle.
Despite her clear frustration with Rae, the “Small Doses” host makes it clear that she understands how essential the writer/producer’s presence in Hollywood is, so she’s tried to protect her former boss. But she doesn’t hesitate to knock Issa’s reputation for empowering women.
“She wasn’t empowering to me. She didn’t feel like I was needed,” Seales said. “She didn’t feel like I deserved to be protected. I’m only giving a portion of the situation. But that was my experience. And nonetheless, I have still always protected her because I felt like it was my responsibility to do so. But it is not.”
Regardless of your opinion of Amanda Seales is, we can all agree that if someone straight up tells you they don’t like you, there’s nothing else to talk about.
Hollywood isn’t known for being friendly to outspoken Black women, so Amanda Seales has probably been disrespected throughout her career. But at a certain point everything can’t be someone else’s fault. Frankly, we need everyone to move on so we can just go back to enjoying our favorite show without hearing about all the behind-the-scenes messiness.
