Amanda Seales is opening up about her relationship with former co-star Issa Rae.
Seales, who starred alongside Rae in the HBO drama “Insecure,” addressed the rumored feud between the actresses during an appearance on the “Club She She” podcast published Wednesday.
“I have never talked about this publicly because protecting Issa has always been incredibly important to me. “Because I know Issa is doing something within this business that very few people get to do,” Seales told host Shannon Sharp. “I’m not interested in getting a $100 million production deal. This is not the life I want for myself. But I know their role is very important.”
Seals said the bad blood between him and Rae began when Rae’s publicist Vanessa Anderson reportedly showed hostility toward him during the “Black Emmys Party” in 2018. Seals said he informed Rae that Anderson had a “problem” with him, but Rae reportedly chose not to address. Seals claim.
Amanda Seales alleges Issa Rae’s publicist banned her from industry party
In 2019, Seals attended the next edition of the “Black Emmys Party”. Despite being invited to the event, the ‘Get Your Life’ star alleged that she was denied entry as her name was not included in the list of authorized attendees.
With the help of friend and fellow actor Elijah Kelley, Seals was able to enter the party. However, Seals said he was later escorted out of the event by security guards at the request of Anderson, who was reportedly one of the event planners. The actress said that she was allegedly attacked by a security officer during the escort.
Seals said Rai contacted him after the incident. “He called me up and said, ‘Hey, I heard what happened this weekend. I just want you to know I had nothing to do with it,'” Seals said, also adding That Roy had asked him to talk to Anderson.
Seals said that during a phone conversation with Anderson, the publicist explained that she had removed Seals from the party because she disliked him. The “Insecure” star said Anderson later launched a “smear campaign” against her in the media, alleging that Seals got into controversy on the program and was even “under threat” of being fired from the HBO series.
Seals said he raised the issue of Rai’s lack of involvement in the controversy in a follow-up conversation with Rai, but to no avail.
“I said, ‘Listen, I’m not saying this will be a problem on the set, but I think it’s a problem that you don’t feel you need to step into,'” Seales recalled. “And she was like, ‘Okay, well then we just have a difference of opinion. That’s between you all.’ ,
USA TODAY has contacted Anderson for comment.
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Amanda Seales slams ‘false’ story about ‘unsafe’ feud with Issa Rae
Seales said she initially felt protective of Rae while working together, but this thoughtfulness backfired on her and led to rumors of poor behavior on the set of Insecure.
“There’s a whole narrative that is completely false that people keep spinning,” Seals said. “They keep saying that I’m such a mean girl on this set, that I’ve hurt these people on this set.”
However, Seales said that the power dynamics between him and Rae (co-creator of “Insecure”) made the alleged on-set drama impossible.
“I can’t even be the mean girl here because you can fire me,” Seals said. “So, there’s no way for me to be a mean girl in this situation. And I know some people who might stand up against the confirmation bias that they’ve created, but it’s absolutely true.”
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Seales also alleged that reports of her dispute with Anderson led to her being isolated by the show’s production staff. “Everyone knows what is happening. They don’t say anything to me. And it’s just (expletive) mean,” she said.
Seales said she stopped communicating with Rae at the end of the series. When Sharp pointed out that “Insecure” guest star Lil Rel Howery noted the focus on female empowerment in Rae’s work, Seals disagreed.
“She was not empowering me,” Seals said. “He didn’t feel like I was worthy of protection.” I am only giving a part of the situation. But that was my experience. And yet, I still always protected her because I felt like it was my responsibility to do so. But it’s not.”
