Amanda Seales opened up about her long-rumored issues with Issa Rae on the latest episode of Club Shay Shay. In the interview, the comedian and actress claims that the issues were provoked by Rae's publicist Vanessa Anderson.
At the 26-minute mark of the episode's Part 2, Seales spoke about the 2019 incident where she claims security and Rae's associates shouted at the Insecure actress to leave an Emmys event in Hollywood at Anderson's demand. At the time, Seales discussed getting kicked out of the party on her podcast and social media channels. Two days later, Seales says 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.
Initially hesitant about the conversation, Anderson allegedly later admitted over the phone that she didn't like Seales. Seales said that she always intended to "protect" Rae, although the drama caused tension in their professional life as Insecure co-stars.
"So 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. And it's not something I desire to do," she 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."
Seales alleges that this protection of Issa has opened the door 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."
Seales continued to deny these accusations against her.
"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. I don't even have the capacity to be the mean girl here because you can fire me,” she added. "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."
Seales went on to claim that Rae did little to promote her show, Get Your Life, although it was a production of Rae's HOORAE Media.
“Like, I put all my money into it, I wrote it, I starred in it, etcetera. And so I said, 'Hey, you know, would you mind tweeting to correct this?' And she just wouldn't," Seales said. "She wouldn't promote any of the shows, you know? And I just felt like that was unfortunate. But it didn't make me, it didn't change my view of her character.”
The actress accused Anderson of running a "smear campaign" against her, and when asked to "intervene," Rae allegedly continued to refuse.
“So I said, you know, '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 of one of her last conversations with Rae about Anderson.
The tension eventually spilled over into the Insecure set.
“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. And that's just fucking mean. It's mean,” Seales said.
According to Seales, there would be several more conversations, including another heart-to-heart between the two before the show's finale where Seales said Rae "came out her face at me one time too many."
“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."
