Amanda Seales spoke her truth about her strained relationship with her former boss, Issa Rae, on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay.
During the most recent episode of Club Shay Shay, Amanda Seales discussed her long-rumored problems with Issa Rae. The comedian and actress asserted in the interview that Rae’s publicist, Vanessa Anderson, started the issues.
Earlier rumors on set suggested that Issa Rae and Amanda Seales had a beef. The actresses appeared to get along well on screen, but what about in the real world?
In fall 2021, Amanda faced backlash for dressing in Alpha Kappa Alpha attire for her character’s storyline on Insecure. As the controversy developed, some fans of Insecure thought that Issa and the creators ought to have been more accountable.
Shortly after that episode, Amanda was turned away from the September 2019 Celebrate the Culture II Emmys After-Party. The sole snag? Issa’s publicist, Vanessa Anderson, stopped her!
At the 26-minute mark of the episode’s Part 2, Seales spoke about the 2019 incident where she claimed security and Rae’s associates shouted at her to leave an Insecure event in Hollywood at Anderson’s demand.
Two days later, Seales revealed she was contacted by Rae, who denied that she was behind Anderson’s request.
“And she 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 recalled.
Despite the tension in their professional lives as co-stars on Insecure, Seales claimed she always meant to “protect” Rae.
According to Seales, Issa’s protection has made it easier for people to attack her.
“There’s a whole narrative that is completely false that people keep spinning,” she said. “They keep saying, you know, that I’m this mean girl on this set, that I harmed these people on this set.
Towards the end of the interview, Shannon Sharpe praised Issa Rae for her work with women. But Amanda Seales disagreed with that.
“I disagree. She wasn’t empowering to me. She didn’t feel like I deserved to be protected,” Seales continued. I have still always protected her because I felt it was my responsibility to do so, but I now realize it is not.”
Watch the clip below:
