In a recent Vanity Fair profile, Issa Rae discussed Insecure’s final season and her upcoming television projects. Speaking on her personal life, she revealed that late rapper Nipsey Hussle once acted as a mediator between her and actress Lauren London, helping the women clear up a previous misunderstanding.
Rae gained recognition in the early 2010s for her popular YouTube web series The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl. In 2015, she released a memoir with the same title detailing her life experiences and influences. But something she said in the book left actress London feeling uneasy.
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Photographed by Adrienne Raquel
Interviewed by @yohanadesta https://t.co/lMBqGibyfi pic.twitter.com/uRFJPj5bvH— Issa Rae (@IssaRae) May 18, 2021
In the memoir, Rae recalled when a television executive suggested that London would be a perfect fit for a small screen adaptation of her web series, despite the women looking nothing alike. Though Rae thought it was a good example of Black women appearing interchangeable to out-of-touch industry professionals, London took offense.
“One of my biggest regrets, naming her. She took offense to that,” the Hair Love actress told Vanity Fair.
Two years ago, she ran into Hussle and London at Diddy’s birthday party, and the Crenshaw rapper approached her offering advice.
“He was like, ‘You should just talk to her. Let me set it up. It actually sparked an amazing two-hour conversation,” she told Vanity Fair.
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“We had so much in common. She was like, ‘People don’t understand, I’m an awkward Black girl.’ In the same way that I was upset about the limited portrayal of Black women, she was like, ‘People do the same thing to me.’ I completely get that.”
The 36-year-old actress is having a bittersweet year. While wrapping up the final season of Insecure, she’s also preparing for the relaunch of Project Greenlight, an HBO Max docuseries about up-and-coming directors.
In addition to her upcoming projects, Rae also recently signed a five-year overall deal with WarnerMedia. Through the deal, she’ll be able to continue developing television projects for HBO while also working with Warner Bros. Television.
What do you think about Hussle bringing the women together? Let us know in the reactions and comments below.
