ACTRESSES Issa Rae and Amanda Seales both starred in the former’s HBO series, Insecure.
Fans of the two Hollywood stars want to know more about their rumored beef.
What happened between Issa Rae and Amanda Seales?
Issa Rae and Amanda Seales were co-stars on HBO’s hit comedy-drama series, Insecure, which premiered in 2016 and concluded in 2021 after five seasons.
Rae played the character Issa Dee, while Seales portrayed Tiffany DuBois.
Rae also served as Seales’ boss, having created the show alongside comedian Larry Wilmore.
As USA Today reported, Seales opened up about her rumored feud with Rae while speaking on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast.
Tension between the actresses started when Rae’s publicist, Vanessa Anderson, allegedly requested security guards to escort Seales out of a 2019 Emmys party, per the outlet.
Seales claimed she was first denied entry because her name was not included on the list of authorized guests, although she had been invited to the event.
She found help from actor Elijah Kelley and was able to attend before allegedly being escorted out.
Seales expressed that she did not feel supported by Rae following the alleged incident.
What did Amanda Seales say on the Club Shay Shay podcast?
As USA Today reported, Seales spoke about her relationship with Rae on the Club Shay Shay podcast in the episode published on Wednesday, April 24, 2024.
“I’ve never talked about this publicly because it has always been incredibly important to me to protect Issa. Because I know that Issa is doing something within this business that so few people get to do,” Seales said.
“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,” she continued.
She then recalled the 2019 Emmys incident allegedly involving Anderson, saying Rae contacted her afterward.
“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,’” Seales said.
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She also noted that Rae asked her to speak with Anderson.
Seales claimed that during a phone conversation, Anderson said she had Seales removed from the event because she disliked her, per USA Today.
She said Anderson began a “smear campaign” against her in the media, which alleged that Seales was involved in an altercation at the party and was also “in danger” of being fired from Insecure.
Seales said she then spoke to Rae again.
“I said, ‘Listen, I am not saying that it’s going to be a problem on set, but I do think it is a problem that you don’t feel that you need to step in.’ And she was like, ‘Well, then we just have a difference in opinion. This is between y’all,'” Seales said.
She then denied rumors that she acted like a “mean girl” on the set of Insecure.
“There’s a whole narrative that is completely false that people keep spinning. They keep saying that I’m this mean girl on this set, that I harmed these people on this set,” the actress said.
“I don’t even have the capacity to be the mean girl here ‘cause you can fire me. So, there’s no way for me to be a mean girl in this situation. And I know some people that may buck up against, like, the confirmation bias that they’ve created, but it simply is the truth,” she continued, referring to the fact that Rae co-created the television show.
Seales said she stopped talking to Rae close to the show’s conclusion and also claimed that Rae “wasn’t empowering” to her.
“She wasn’t empowering to me. 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,” the star said.
When was Amanda Seales on Insecure?
As Deadline reported, Seales appeared in four episodes of Insecure in the show’s first season before she was promoted to a series regular for season 2.
She then starred in the popular TV series until its 2021 conclusion.