To her fans, Amanda Seales is beloved as an outspoken, pro-Black critic of white supremacy.
But for many who have met her — or who know people who have met her — her reputation as a difficult person far precedes her reputation as an entertainer.
I fit in both categories: I’ve never met Seales, but I enjoy her Instagram takes on most social justice issues, and seldom do I disagree with her. But I know several people who know her or have worked with her...her irascible, combative nature is well-known among Black Hollywood and Black media circles.
These folks don’t really put her on blast on social media; it’s more like, those who know what’s really up with Amanda Seales just know. She knows of her own reputation, as she’s alluded to it or addressed it directly in interviews. So, imagine my surprise when she dropped an Instagram video last weekend decrying Black media for not supporting her.
The video has Seales trending, with division among her supporters who believe she’s blackballed for being “too real” and detractors who think it’s the latest example of her complaining too damn much. As a longtime member of Black media, I can tell when certain people tweeting about her know of her character first- or second-hand.
Seales’ alleged difficulty harkens back to her MTV VJ days when she was known as “Amanda Diva;” she allegedly lived up to her moniker so much that she needed a brand change, going back to her birth name “Seales.” In 2007, she was briefly one-half of the now-disbanded R&B group Floetry, during which time she had animosity with member Marsha Ambrosius.
She also courted drama in 2019 when she accused former NFL player turned neurosurgeon Myron Rolle of sexual harassment. She kept his name out of it at first but dropped it when she said several other women came forward with similar complaints about Rolle, whose response provoked Seales to clarify her accusations, leaving a lot of people confused about what really happened.
That same year, Seales was literally escorted out of a Black Emmys party that she allegedly crashed. The removal was apparently at the behest of Vanessa Anderson, publicist for Seales’ “Insecure” co-star Issa Rae.
Speaking of “Insecure,” the cast has made clear that, years after the show’s finale, they still very much rock with one another. But we’ve never seen Seales in the social media of any of the primary cast members – which tracks with the rumors that she has beef with them.
The perception of Seales is complicated in that it intersects with the (very valid) issue of strong-willed, outspoken Black women being marginalized or asked to shrink themselves in the name of the patriarchy and the fact that anyone can be an asshole. Her fans, most of whom have never met or interacted with her, will likely always assume the former and have her back.
Seales’ challenge is that Black folks’ memories are as long as train smoke. So, if, say, the erstwhile Amanda Diva pissed off a lower-level employee at a Black media company 15 years ago, and that person rises to a decision-making position, they’d likely be disinclined to invite her to things. It’s that old chestnut at play: The same folks you encounter on the way up are those you encounter on the way down.
Again, Seales is not a dumb woman, so she knows this. Her video threatening to leave Black Hollywood indicates that she’s seeking absolution from her fans when she might do better by humbling herself – Black folks do respond to authentic penitence.
She has all the pieces in place to have the career she wants. But I’m not sure she’s willing to do what it takes to get there…to her, it’ll always be everyone else’s fault.
Dustin J. Seibert is a freelance editor and writer based in Chicago.