Nipsey Hussle was a rapper, philanthropist, community leader, business owner, and apparently a peacemaker.
In the cover story for Vanity Fair's latest issue, Issa Rae revealed that it was the late, great Nipsey who singlehandedly facilitated the mending of her relationship with his longtime partner Lauren London.
As the Insecure star recalled, Lauren "took offense" to being named in both Issa's memoir and in interviews when she shared the story of how a TV executive suggested that Lauren play the lead in the cable version of Issa's web series, Awkward Black Girl. As noted by VF, "the moral of the story was not only that executives were out of touch with Black women, swapping one for another even when they were nothing alike, but also that dark-skinned Black women could be edited out of their own narratives."
However, Issa told VF she didn't anticipate the anecdote hurting Lauren's feelings, but it did.
“One of my biggest regrets, naming her,” Issa said.
The 36-year-old actress and producer went on to share how the two were able to mend their friendship after Nipsey encouraged her to speak with Lauren at Diddy’s 50th birthday party in 2020
“He was like, ‘You should just talk to her. Let me set it up,’” she recalled. “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.’ 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.”
Read Issa's full cover story HERE!
Photo: Getty Images