Issa Rae is gearing up for the big final season of Insecure. The television star is doing the promo rounds as she preps everyone to say goodbye to her beloved series. She sat down with The Breakfast Club today to discuss her journey with the show and her professional hurdles to ensure she was getting paid her worth. She talks about her big HBO deal and how she was able to pocket more money after declining initial offer.
Issa is most certainly the definition of glow-up and showed up to the morning show looking like a superstar dressed in a black leather jacket with her signature hair. The gang had prepped for the day and had balloons on display with her name, kind of. “The S deflated,” said Charlamagne with a laugh.He went on to explain to her the impact of the show, using the women on staff as an example. “We’ve never seen a lot of black women here as excited [as they are] for you coming today. They were all super excited. All because you were coming.”
Issa Rae says the impact has been surreal and that she noticed it most after the finale was announced. Charlamagne continued to shower her with compliments, eventually telling her, “Why you waited to get all this money to not floss! Show us what that $300 million look like!” Issa jokingly responded, “what is this number?” with a laugh calling it an NBA number. Charlamagne goes on to remind her that when initial numbers came out, her deal was misreported as five years at $40 million with HBO. He says she immediately shot it down, to which she replied, “because it was incorrect.”
“I was proud. I felt like I worked hard, so I was lightweight insulted at that [$40 million] number. Like for five years, you think imma give up sh** up for that number? But, I’m blessed and we’re getting to work.” She goes on to say that despite all the money, she mostly just splurges on food and parties. The Insecure actress says that she gets a lot of free stuff, including clothes which a lot of times she returns. She says, “I like to take people out” and that she’d prefer to spend money on a gold-dusted burger than buy a purse. “I like culinary experiences. And of course traveling. But that’s not something that you floss.” When asked if her team expected her to front the bill, the actress flipped on Charlamagne, saying she’d expect him to take care of expenses because he’s been doing it longer.
According to a report in Harpers Baazar ” The new partnership will give HBO, HBO Max, and Warner Bros. television exclusive rights to Rae’s upcoming work, as well as a first-look film deal that includes brands such as Warner Bros. Pictures Group, New Line, and, again, HBO Max.” Issa commented on the deal “When people believe in you and build with you, I tend to want to further that relationship. That’s just been a staple of mine with so many of the people that I work with.”
