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The Cancellations of Black Shows Could Have Issa Rae Go Independent

Written by Tariq on January 30, 2024

Hollywood writer-producer Issa Rae said “You’re seeing so many Black shows get canceled, you’re seeing so many executives — especially on the DEI side — get canned. You’re seeing very clearly now that our stories are less of a priority,” she says in a cover story for Net-a-Porter’s digital publication Porter. “It’s made me take more steps to try to be independent down the line if I have to.” Rae is currently under a five-year overall deal with the conglomerate that was known as WarnerMedia when she signed it in 2021, an extension of a relationship with HBO that began in 2016, just before her Emmy-nominated comedy Insecure premiered. Earlier this month, Max canceled her comedy Rap Sh!t after two seasons.

The prolific television creator, whose Hoorae banner also made the Emmy-nominated A Black Lady Sketch Show, which was canceled over the summer, also has a thriving career as a film star, appearing in three Oscar-nominated movies last year: American Fiction, Barbie and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. In the satirical American Fiction, she plays author Sintara Golden, whose minstrel-y best-seller fuels protagonist Monk’s plot to make up a similar memoir in order to make a point. It’s an ironic role for the multihyphenate whose work has been responsible for so many of the diverse and multidimensional depictions of Black women onscreen. “When Insecure came out, I was very clear: ‘This is not a story about all Black women. This is a very specific story.’”