Russell Simmons Asked Amanda Seales "Have We Ever F--ked?" During Business Meeting
Two women stepped forward to accuse Russell Simmons of sexual assault leading fans to ask a host of celebrities how they felt about the news. One celeb being Insecure actress and comedian Amanda Seales.
Seales' Revealation
In a video posted to Instagram, the Grenadian-American entertainer revealed to fans what her personal experience has been working with the hip-hop mogul. “Remember when I said this,” Seales said opening the conversation. The video then replays a previous video the former Floetry singer posted on her social media page. “While in a very important man’s office, talking about working together: (begins to imitate said man) “Uh, have we ever f--ked?” Seales answered the said man with a sharp “no.”
“Oh right because I would remember that. Right?” The man continued. When the clip ends, Seales conveyed that the unidentified man had been Russell Simmons. She used this example to segue why she and many other women wait to share #MeToo stories, even though she wasn't physically assaulted by him. Seales, who is known for her outspoken views on patriarchy, racism and misogynistic manipulation captioned the video with the following statement.
Her Public Service Announcement
“PSA: For anyone who says, “Why’d they wait so long?” You wait because as a woman raised in a patriarchal, “Bros before Hoes”, sexist, “but what were you wearing” society you understand power dynamics and that even when there are witnesses to any level of sexual harassment/assault it will always be you who is questioned for incurring the offense,” Seales wrote. She continued to document her thoughts about her Russell Simmons experience and how women of color navigate keeping damaging information about men of color in power a secret instead of going public with their story. The reason being they don’t want themselves or men to face cultural and stereotypical ramifications from the media.
Why Women Wait
“You wait because, especially when it’s a black man of prestige, you are conditioned to not speak defamatory truths for fear it will undermine their contributions to the community. Lastly, you wait, because you don’t even wanna believe it ya [sic] damn self. No matter how seemingly benign or intrusive, no one wants to endure this, particularly in professional settings,” the My Brother and Me former child star eloquently shared.
The day after posting her public service announcement, Seales shared this image below, highlighting what men usually tell women to do when they’re faced with scandal or simply just having a bad day.
Some won’t get it, but too many of us do!
A post shared by amandaseales (@amandaseales) on Dec 2, 2017 at 2:28am PST
Witty karma joke, indeed.
