Amanda Seales has quit her role as one of the presenters at The real, stating she didn’t renew her contract amid claims of censorship.
The comedian and actress – who is also a prominent voice on racial inequality spoke in an interview on Instagram Live about her reasons for leaving the show. She claims she felt unable “to speak to her people” in the manner with which she wished.
Amanda Seales is a relatively recent addition to Fox’s chat show, having only officially joined the cast this January.
Seales sat down with actor Brandon V Dixon where she explained, “my contract is up at the real, and I did not renew it because it does not feel good in 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 speaking to me in disparaging ways are not being handled.”
She further added that she was “not in a space where I can, as a full Black woman, have my voice, and my co-workers also have their voices.”
Seales also accused “the people at the top [of] not respecting the necessity for black voices to be at the top too. So you reach a point — even when it just comes to Hollywood in general. You’ve seen me transform into a way where I just can’t function at this place the same way.”
#AmandaSeales talks about why she didn’t renew her contract at #TheReal #blacklivesmatter #blackgirlmagic #TheMelaninPot pic.twitter.com/qrFdIRITiD
— The Melanin Pot (@TheMelaninPot) June 3, 2020
Folks on Twitter generally lent their support to Amanda Seales
Many folks on Twitter supported Seales’s decision and suggested that she deserves her own show, where she can speak freely about “real” issues.
@amandaseales not renewing her contract does not shock me. She needs her own show, so we can actually get real ??♂️
— Peppa Nig (@BlackGirlGrape) June 3, 2020
One Twitter user argued that “she deserves a better platform. She’s such an educated, well-articulated woman. The show did not deserve her.”
Amanda Seales leaving The Real was a key movement. She deserves a better platform. She's such an educated, well articulated woman. The show did not deserve her.
— Your Fav Step Mom (@NontshiShange) June 3, 2020
Another user argued that this was not “the time to silence a black, knowledgeable voice.”
I need the full story on why Amanda Seales left The Real. I was starting to like the show bc they were taking about REAL shit. This is NOT the time to silience a black, knowledgeable voice.
— ???? ??. ??????? (@1Hit_Juander) June 3, 2020
Amanda Seales has denied conflict with the other hosts on The Real
Seales has also condemned fans who accuse her of having a conflict with her co-hosts at The Real. In a video shared by fellow co-host Loni Love on Wednesday afternoon, Seales railed against those who tried to create conflict between her and the other hosts.
“I did not unfollow Loni Love,” she declared. Love responded by writing on Instagram: “You make me laugh, you make me think, you make me be a better woman… thank you, @amandaseales.”
Seales took over hosting duties at The Real from Tama Braxton, who has begun her own show on WE tv called Get Ya Life. The show is all about her trying to get ahead in life.
Meanwhile, another The Real host, in the form of Adrienne Bailon, recently turned up on The Masked Singer.