Issa Rae’s breakthrough show, Insecure, is coming to an end after its fifth and final season, but it’s clear she has more where that came from. Recently it was announced she’s helming the reboot of Project Greenlight, the IFC reality show from the aughts in which Matt Damon and Ben Affleck helped filmmakers make their dream projects (with lots of nightmares along the way, of course). Rae spoke about the revival during a recent profile with Vanity Fair, though she also shared a story about the late Nipsey Hussle.
According to the Insecure star, HBO initially thought Insecure should star not Rae but a woman of lighter skin color would be a better fit. When they suggested London, Rae took offense, but she later discovered that London, who was Hussle’s partner from 2013 until his death, heard about her complaint and even took offense.
But in 2019, at Diddy’s 50th birthday party in 2019, Hussle played mediator. “He was like, ‘You should just talk to her. Let me set it up,’” she said. “It actually sparked an amazing two-hour conversation. We had so much in common. She was like, ‘People don’t understand, I’m an awkward Black girl.’” She added, “In the same way that I was upset about the limited portrayal of Black women, she was like, ‘People do the same thing to me.’ I completely get that.”
Nipsey Hussle is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.