Issa Rae recently spoke out against the entertainment industry’s changing priorities in an interview with Time. She expressed frustration with what she sees as a shift away from creativity and inclusion, and towards a focus on financial considerations. This attitude has been driven in part by Rae’s own experiences; her TV series “Rap Sh!t” was cancelled by Warner Bros. Discovery earlier this year, and she believes that Hollywood is now more scared and clueless than ever before.
Despite the setbacks she has faced, Rae is determined to move forward in a positive direction. She is currently working on two new projects for HBO, and is also involved in efforts to build a studio campus in South L.A. However, she cautions that the industry’s current priorities pose a threat to the promises of increased diversity and representation that have been made in recent years. Rae believes that executives are increasingly focused on playing it safe, rather than taking chances on edgier content.
In Rae’s view, this approach is misguided and self-defeating. She argues that executives should leave creative decisions to the experts, rather than trying to micromanage their programming. Rae also points out that the youth demographic that Hollywood is trying to reach is spending more time on platforms like TikTok, rather than traditional media. She believes that this shift in audience behavior should be embraced, rather than resisted.
Ultimately, Rae is committed to staying true to her own creative vision, even in the face of industry pressure. She acknowledges that there may be limits to how flexible she can be, but she remains determined to make the content that she believes in.