Last week, Issa Rae and Insecure showrunner Prentice Penny announced an upcoming tour. It’s called Insecure: The 10th Anniversary Tour, and it will see the cast of the iconic HBO show marking its 10th anniversary with a multi-city trip, stopping in American cities and getting together with fans to share insights into the show and highlighting lesser-known facts about filming. Really, it’s an opportunity for fans and the stars of the show to reflect on arguably one of the most revered Black TV shows in modern history.

With what we know about Issa Rae and with what we’ve seen from her, you can guarantee there will be some critical dialogue about the show, the cast and what it means to fans. But there’s one pretty notable cast member who won’t be in attendance, and therefore won’t be included in that dialogue – former cast member Amanda Seales.

Amanda, who played the role of Tiffany, was one of Issa’s core four friends in the series. And despite being in every single season between 2016 and 2021, towards the end of the show, it was common knowledge that she and Issa were growing further and further apart, leading to her storyline becoming less prominent as the show wound down.

Since at least 2019, Amanda has been pretty candid about what she feels led to her and Issa’s fallout. That year, she cited an instance where she arrived at a party planned by Vanessa Anderson, Issa’s publicist, having received an invitation from Jesse Williams. But she was turned away at the door. She said she was able to eventually get in, but was made to leave after Vanessa sent multiple security guards to escort her out. I wrote more about that here.

Amanda has gone on record more than once to say that Issa did call her after this mishap with the intent of being a mediator. She said Issa offered to host and moderate a conversation between Amanda and her publicist - but that the conversation never happened. Issa told Amanda it was an issue she needed to own and resolve, not anyone else.

All of this begged the question of what role Issa was supposed to play in this debacle. Some agree that Amanda should have put on her big girl pants and handled the issue directly with Vanessa. Others agree that as her boss, it was Issa’s job to employ her people management skills to broker a conversation between the two and have it resolved so as to not further impact the work the group would ultimately have to do together in relation to the show.

Then there was another incident that further ruptured the relationship, which Amanda detailed in this clip. During filming for the show, Issa was reading a review of the show to the cast while on a break. Amanda says she asked Issa about what the review said, but that Issa blew up at her. Amanda went on to allege that Issa attempted to physically assault her, which became the thing that ended the relationship for good.

Over the years, Amanda has been on several podcasts and has spoken openly about her time on Insecure and her fallout with Issa. So it makes sense that with news of the cast going on tour, the friction between her and Issa is back in the spotlight. It also doesn’t help that she participated in the Netflix documentary trend that has taken over social media lately, posting to her Instagram feed about not being invited on the tour, which invited a flood of comments, mostly about why she would even think she’d be invited given the series of events that have taken place over the last seven years.

In true Amanda fashion, she did offer up a response to some of the inquiring minds, saying:

“Why is it so difficult for folks to grasp the concept of accountability being taken, an apology and an invite being extended is beyond me. When you do people dirty, you correct it.”

Elsewhere, she called the cast “fake”, reaffirming that she didn’t have to make amends with anyone and that the harm done was one directional. She also suggested Issa should’ve reached out to her after her appearance on Shannon Sharpe’s podcast.

And there are people who agree with her. The conversation on Threads has evolved into one about the difference between the “aesthetics” and “practicals” of “really helping your people”, according to this user.

Another Threads user had this to say:

“What happens when your contribution is important enough to celebrate—but your presence is too inconvenient for the celebration? Amanda Seales being left out of the Insecure anniversary tour is bigger than celebrity beef. It is about belonging, leadership, boundaries and what happens when the relationship ends—but the value you created together keeps making money.”

That user went on to highlight the point I made earlier about the crux of the disagreement here actually being more about whether Amanda’s issue with Issa’s publicist became Issa’s issue the moment it started to affect her work. Should Issa have been responsible for addressing her publicist’s behaviour towards Amanda, who was her employee? This seems to be a sticking point.

With both Amanda and Issa being Black women and having starred on a show about Black women, their audience is comprised of a lot of Black women who understand the repercussions of not having a boss who stands in your corner with you. And the fallout from that is why we’re seeing such division in who is really at fault here, and especially the nuance in trying to determine the path forward for these two.

Some people have pointed out the validity of so many of the arguments Amanda has made in recent years, specifying that the problem is rarely the argument – but her delivery instead. That’s another question – as communicators, are we only responsible for what we say? Or are we also responsible for how it lands? And for the way it’s received?

For me, it feels like there’s a lack of accountability being taken on Amanda’s part, regardless of the truth or mistruth of the experiences she says she’s had. Issa picked up the phone after the incident with her publicist. She tried. Also, Issa has remained pretty tight-lipped about this situation, which could indicate professionalism just as much as it could indicate foul play. Either way, there’s been a complete breakdown in communication between these two.

There’s one other thing that’s not nearly as prominent in the conversation as it needs to be – and it’s about what might possibly have happened even if Amanda hadn’t soured her relationship with Issa. This tour is being sponsored by HBO. And Amanda, the candid social media user she is, has spoken at length over the years on her thoughts on everything from Black imperial leaders to what’s happening in Palestine and everything in between. We know what happens to majorly outspoken stars in Hollywood. She has become far too political to be a “safe” bet for Hollywood heavyweights. The comfort the decision-makers are looking to have in putting her centre-stage at an unscripted event, hell, even a scripted one, is non-existent.

While Amanda’s tendency to be a wildcard is a superpower in the eyes of some, it’s her downfall in the eyes of many others. And this is why she is so divisive. Because she represents who a lot of us are at our core, and the experiences she has had being silenced, being marginalized and being invited, uninvited, or not being invited at all speaks to the feelings so many Black women have to navigate in different spaces.

Though she’s correct in saying that an invitation might have been a step in the right direction, sometimes a step back is also the right direction, too.

Photo credits: Scott Kirkland/Shutterstock

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