Michaela Coel was the recipient of the Pandora Leader of Change Award at the Fashion Awards last night in London. She was honoured for her courage in storytelling, and how through her series, I May Destroy You, sharing her experience with sexual assault, she was able to connect to so many others, particularly Black women, who have been through the same trauma. 

 

There can be healing in talking about the worst thing that has happened to you and finding community in that process; Michaela’s work has illuminated that truth. In her speech, she thanked those who felt seen by her work: 

“The system may have failed me, but maybe it will succeed for someone else somewhere else. I want to say thank you, to my audience, because in your openness to allowing my work to change you, you have given my pain meaning.”

 

It has been over three years since the release of I May Destroy You, one of the most important and acclaimed series of the last decade. Since then Michaela has acted in several projects, including Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Donald Glover’s upcoming Mr & Mrs Smith which is scheduled to drop next year. She and Anne Hathaway also star in Mother Mary about the relationship between a musician (Anne) and a fashion designer (Michaela). But despite interest in whatever project she might want to develop next, she has taken her time – which is strategic and probably necessary. We may never know what it really took for her to put I May Destroy You out into the world. And of the many takeaways that series left us with, it’s that timelines are personal. Michaela turned down big money from Netflix to protect her vision and ownership for that series. She is an artist who is deeply in tune with her own creative needs. She’ll be ready when she’s ready. 

 

In other Michaela news though, she looks amazing in this Ferragamo look and walked the carpet with Spencer Hewett, a retail and ecommerce entrepreneur, founder of the company Radar. Who… I think?... is now her boyfriend? Because this is what he reposted on Instagram: 

Spencer Hewett's Instagram story

#HardLaunch means what I think it means, right?