Issa Rae Says She Didn’t Lie About Lawrence Character On “Insecure”

Issa Rae, Jay Ellis

Issa Rae Says She Didn’t Lie About Lawrence Character On “Insecure”

“Hey Issa.” That was the greeting heard around the world this past weekend when the beloved character Lawrence – played by actor Jay Ellis – returned to HBO’s “Insecure.”

Social media exploded at this surprise resurgence, because the masses were under the impression that Lawrence wouldn’t be returning. Some even accused the show’s star, Issa Rae, of lying to fans about Lawrence’s fate.

Issa posted an excerpt of Jay Ellis’ recent interview to social media, debunking that rumor. Her caption reads:

“a bitch did NOT lie! Thanks, @jayrellis”

She posted this excerpt:

“[Interviewer:] When Issa said you weren’t going to be on the show this season, were you surprised that was the strategy they were taking?

[Jay Ellis:] Well, I’m going to back up. I think Issa was misquoted, and I think it’s actually very unfair that she was misquoted. I think what Issa actually said was, “We’re taking a break from Lawrence.” A break doesn’t mean a season. A break could mean an episode, it could mean 30 minutes, it could mean a year. She didn’t actually put a time limit on what the break was. I think that because she said we’re taking a break from Lawrence this season, people ran with what they thought that break was and therefore they thought that break was for the entire season, and that wasn’t the case. I think she actually chose her words very correctly, and I think people just kind of took it and ran with it in another way.”

Jay spilled some interesting details on how he and the show runners kept his return a secret. He said:

“People literally didn’t know I was showing up to set. It was really amazing.”

He continued:

“It was like a homecoming feeling. It was like seeing friends and seeing family that you haven’t seen in a while, but people were also kind of shocked when they saw me, which was really interesting.”

Here’s what Jay says we can expect from the rest of season three:

“You can expect it to be fun to watch…I really think it’s just about the encounter. It’s all really built on that moment. Most of us, I would assume, who are reading this and are out there watching the show, [or] if you’ve ever bumped into an ex before, [know] what that moment is like and how awkward it may be and how you try to cover and how goofy you may act or rude you may act or surprised. You don’t know what to say, or you say too much, or whatever it may be. In a brief moment, we get to see Lawrence and Issa kind of go through that. We get to see these two people, who were obviously in a relationship for so long, figure out that brief encounter in the middle of the night.”

Written by Miata Shanay