Daytime talk show The Real said goodbye on June 3 after eight seasons on the air. Originally presented by hosts Adrienne Bailon, Loni Love, Tamar Braxton, Jeannie Mai and Tamera Mowry, the show was revolutionary as daytime TV’s first show led by women of color. Over the years, hosts have come and gone, most significantly fan-favorite Braxton and Amanda Seales, who only appeared on the show’s panel for six months.
Seales, who was very much the “shake the table” host on the show, brought new, fresh energy. Joining during its sixth season, Seales was fearless in bringing up real conversations about Blackness and Black experiences and offering her unfiltered perspective as a Black woman.
According to Seales’ claims following her departure from the show, her efforts were not appreciated by those behind the scene. She’s said on several occasions that her voice was stifled on the show, and she couldn’t “speak to my people the way they need to be spoken to,” The Wrap reports.
Despite her attempts to reflect Blackness in America, The Real proved to be an unsupportive and toxic work environment that did not reflect the show’s diversity. According to People, Seales told fellow comedian Godfrey that the show was “breaking my spirit.” She joined the show in January 2020 and left in June of that year, The Wrap reports.
The Real‘s production team has proven their disdain for Seales and her outspokenness on more than one occasion. In September 2020, the comedian called out the show for their “egregious” repurposing of a game she played on The Real called Smart, Funny and Black, based on a show Seales created that tests one’s knowledge of Black popular culture. Her version of the segment caused a stir behind the scenes.
Seales questioned why one of the show’s white producers was producing the segment, instead of a Black producer who would understand it. Afterward, Seales said the white producer “went crying to someone and said I attacked her.” She was outraged to see the show rip off the idea, and compromise its intention.
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The comedian’s headline-making exit from The Real bubbled to the surface again last week when she clapped back at The Real‘s producers, who left her out of the show’s finale.
“So apparently The Real, in their finale episode, did promo,” she said in an Instagram video. “I am not featured in this thumbnail, and I am not featured in the farewell episode, apparently. I’ll have some things to say about that.” After a chuckle, she added, “I must really be out here shaking the table.”
Seales kept her thoughts on the snub simple in the post’s caption.
“Rude.” She wrote.
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She expounded on her thoughts on her time at The Real while appearing on The Breakfast Club, sharing that “it was a white leadership that was outwardly presenting as a show of diverse voices.” Seales revealed that her exit was not due to “just a singular issue,” contrary to the court of public opinion.
But she doesn’t regret her time on the show, saying that she knows the impact she had on its staff and viewers. Her demand for more diverse folks behind the scenes inspired Seales’ fellow co-host to call for the same thing, which led to the show securing a Black woman (Tenia L. Watson, Forbes reports) as its executive producer.
Seales wrapped up her thoughts on the snub by saying regardless of what has been said or done in the past, she deserved a spotlight in The Real‘s finale.
“At the end of the day, if you’re going to do a retrospective of the show over the years, it’s been on and the hosts that have been on it, it don’t matter what I say…I was a host on the show,” she said.
What does Seales time on The Real say about Black women on daytime TV? Are we afforded the same freedom to express ourselves fully as our white counterparts? Or do we have to water ourselves down to appeal to the white executives who run networks and Hollywood at large?
Though judged for her refusal to be silent, Seales has opened up an important conversation about what being a Black woman on daytime TV looks like, showing how important it is to have Black folks at all levels behind and in front of the camera. Shows, daytime or otherwise, need to make it a priority to represent, protect and actually see Blackness.
