Amanda Seales not renewing 'The Real' contract, says 'black voices' are not respected 'at the top'
Amanda Seales is out at The Real — less than six months after being named a permanent co-host.
The comedian and actress shared the news in conversation with Brandon Victor Dixon about George Floyd’s death and fighting racism and inequality. She said her exit is her decision because she says her voice is being stifled in her role and she’s spoken to “in disparaging ways.”
A spokesperson for the show has not yet responded to a request for comment.
“Well, you know what happened to me today,” Seales said in the Instagram video. “I’ve arrived because my contract is up at The Real and I did not renew it because it doesn’t feel good to my soul to be at a place where I cannot speak to my people the way they need to be spoken to. And where the people who are speaking to me in disparaging ways, are not being handled.”
See the clip of Seales’s announcement:
She continued, “I’m not in a space where I can, as a full black woman, have my voice and my co-workers also have their voices and where the people at the top are not respecting the necessity for black voices to be at the top too.”
Seales said she reached a point “even when it just comes to Hollywood in general, you’ve seen me transform into a way that I just can’t function in this place the same way. I can’t. They’re planting white beans in my soil.”
The full interview can be watched here with the announcement about halfway through:
Seales, who also stars in HBO’s Insecure, appears on the syndicated show, which appears on Fox Television Stations, alongside Loni Love, Tamera Mowry, Adrienne Bailon and Jeannie Mai. She first made guest appearances on the show, which debuted in 2013, then became a guest co-host before a deal was made in January to up her to a permanent co-host.
At the time, the Telepictures Executive Vice President & General Manager Donna Redier Linsk called Seales “an excellent addition to our award-winning team” and said “her unique voice at the table will add new dimensions to the conversation ... for years to come.”
Seales also does standup and is the creator/host of the live music and game show Smart Funny & Black and hosts weekly a podcast, Small Doses.
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