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Actress Issa Rae said Thursday she believes diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) has become a toxic topic in the entertainment industry.
“I can see it,” the “Insecure” actress said while participating in TheWrap’s Creators x Hollywood Summit. “Frankly. People are afraid and they just don’t invest as much as they would before. Even the officials who you know are colorful are like waving their hands like, ‘I can’t sign it because I will lose my job.’ And that’s scary to see and sad to see because it’s like a bad word now.”
“We all know that, usually, when we talk about diversity, it’s about equality [and] inclusion, it’s about giving people opportunities that they wouldn’t get compared to the employment of sad people and programs of regret and the like,” he continued. “Definitions have changed and it’s become a bad name, but it doesn’t affect what we do and who I create and what our company creates and who we put first. And it won’t.”
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The “Insecure” creator and star criticized the rollback of DEI’s policies. (AP)
Rae was asked about Hollywood and other big industries pushing back on DEI plans since President Donald Trump takes office again in 2025. As a series creator himself, Rae agreed that people have to be “smart” about how they package different projects.
“Like, ‘It’s not a show about a black woman, it’s a show about class,’ Rae said. “As good as that may sound, it’s starting to sell. You know, a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down.”
Rae said that minorities are “back to limited representation” in entertainment that she hasn’t seen since she started her YouTube series “Awkward Black Girl” in 2011.
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Issa Rae suggested that artists should be “smart” when releasing different projects. (Getty/Stock Photo)
“I started ‘Awkward Black Girl’ because there was a lack of people in the industry, and I felt like this was my chance to put an archetype in a place that didn’t exist at the time,” he said. “And now, even after so much progress, we have returned to a limited representation and we have to participate with our issues. We are back to where we started, in a way, but much smarter.”
Rae has pushed politics and representation in the past. In 2025, he canceled a sold-out show at the Kennedy Center after Trump was elected chairman of the center.
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Actress Issa Rae speaks during the induction ceremony for singer Brandy on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, California, March 30, 2026. (Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)
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“Unfortunately, due to what I believe is a violation of the principles of an institution that faithfully celebrates artists of all backgrounds in all ways, I have decided to withdraw my appearance on this site,” Rae wrote on Instagram.
