Condola Rashad considers herself a casual admirer of HBO’s hit comedy series Insecure. She’s watched it now and again and thinks it is funny. And then series co-creator Issa Rae named a character after the Billions star, and things started getting a little weird on social media.
Fans of the show from the #LawrenceHive and #IssaHive got so angry at the end of Season 4 when it was revealed that the show’s Condola (played by Twenties‘ Christina Elmore) was pregnant with Lawrence’s baby, they started tweeting horrible things about “Hating Condola.”
It got so bad that one of Rashad’s best friends got upset on the actress’ behalf — until she realized people were talking about the character and not her bestie.
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Fans’ sentiments could change for the better when Insecure airs this Sunday at 10/9c and the episode moves the Lawrence-and-Condola story forward.
“I’ve never met Issa, but I had heard there was a character on Insecure named after me,” a slightly flummoxed Rashad tells TVLine. “I saw that Issa confirmed it in a tweet about my name and thought it was sweet because I’ve never met another Condola other than my grandmother. Until Issa confirmed it, I had no idea. I just thought the character was nice. But I wasn’t watching when people got mad at her for reasons I did not know. I wish I had been, because those tweets were so mean.”
Condola haters started calling her all sorts of cleverly cruel nicknames such as “Condolence” and “Crayola,” which made Rashad chuckle a little but also confused her.
“I’ve never heard my name used so disparagingly,” Rashad admits with a chuckle. “People were so angry, you would’ve thought she’d done something to them in real life. Or that I had, because it was my name first. My hope is that Season 5 is better for my namesake because it got a little dicey. And I definitely have to meet Issa so we can work together someday.”
Elmore, who says the tweets became so visceral at one point that she decided to spend more time on Instagram instead, hopes Rashad never takes the negativity to heart.
“Condola Rashad is beautiful and talented. Just look at who her parents are,” Elmore exclaims. (Her parents are Phylicia and Ahmad Rashad, for the record.) “The best advice I could give her is to ignore the haters. That’s what I do. I mean, it’s just a TV show.”
What do you think about the “Condola hate” from Insecure fans? Drop your thoughts in the comments.
