Amanda Seales opens up about her rumored feud with Issa Rae: 'She didn't feel like I was needed'

The actress and comedian unpacked her beef with Rae in an interview on "Club Shay Shay."

Amanda Seales addressed some longstanding rumors of a fallout between her and Insecure costar/the show's creator Issa Rae in a recent appearance on the Club Shay Shay podcast with Shannon Sharpe.

Seales revealed that the root of her beef was with Rae's publicist. However, when Rae refused to intercede for Seales, it left her feeling as though Rae wasn't "empowering" her.

Seales and Rae's relationship became strained in 2019 after Seales was kicked out of an Insecure event in Hollywood, apparently at the direction of Rae's publicist Vanessa Anderson. According to Seales, Rae called her two days after the incident to let her know that she had nothing to do with it and asked if Seales was willing to talk to Anderson.

When they finally spoke over the phone, Anderson allegedly admitted that she didn't like Seales, who, up until now, has avoided discussing the drama.

"So I've never talked about this publicly because it has always been incredibly important to me to protect Issa," Seales told Sharpe. "Because I know that Issa is doing something within this business that so few people get to do. And it's not something I desire to do. I'm not interested in getting a $100 million production deal. That's not a life that I want for myself. But I know that her role is very important."

Not talking about it, however, made Seales a target, with rumors flying that she was a "mean girl" on set — despite the fact that she had little to no power.

"I just want to point out something very basic. How can I be a mean girl on a set that ain't my set? How? It's your show. You are my boss," Seales explained. "I don't even have the capacity to be the mean girl here because you can fire me."

Seales' working relationship with Rae suffered as a result. The comedian had a show produced by Rae's Hoorae Media that Seales claims her boss refused to publicize. Seales also alleges that Anderson went on a "smear campaign" against her but Rae chose not to intervene.

Then, while filming Insecure, Seales felt iced out by her fellow cast members, noting, “everybody knows what's going on. They don't say nothing to me. And that's just f---ing mean. It's mean." While shooting the finale, Seales says Rae "came out her face at me one time too many," which, inevitably, led to her change of heart.

“She wasn't empowering to me. She didn't feel like I was needed," Seales added. "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."

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