Issa Rae shared why she “had” to shut rumours down for the sake of her family earlier this year after fans assumed that she and husband Louis Diame were expecting a child.
The 37-year-old actor talked about how she felt she had to publicly deny the pregnancy rumours circulating on Twitter back in March during an interview with Today for its digital cover story. At the time, fans had been musing that she had a baby bump.
Rae told Today that her mother Delyna Diop had seen an article about her daughter’s alleged pregnancy and started to question if the rumours were true.
“My sister sent me a screenshot of my mom texting her an article like, ‘Did she tell you ... Are the rumours true?’ I was like, ‘What?!’ (My sister) was like, ‘Not Mom believing in gossip!’ I was like, ‘But she texted you and she didn’t even ask me!’” the Insecure star recalled.
While she told her mother that she’d “never hide her grandchild” from her, she still “had to say something” about the rumours on Twitter.
“I’m like, ‘Mom, a pregnancy … you really think that I would hide a grandchild from you? That you’ve been begging for?!’ So I had to say something, because it was getting out of hand,” she continued.
The comedian went on to discuss how she’s a relatively private person and said that if she does get pregnant, she doesn’t know if she’ll publicly open up about it or not.
“I’m not sure,” she added. “Maybe if I have a child, I’ll feel like, ‘Everybody needs to see this thing!’ I don’t know!”
The baby bump rumours proliferated after a video of the actor dancing alongside herInsecure co-star, Yvonne Orji, went viral on Twitter in March. Fans began suggesting that Rae had a baby bump in the clip.
In a since-deleted tweet, Rae shut the speculation down and wrote: “I am not pregnant, f*** you very much. LET A B**** EAT DRINK AND BE MERRY.”
This isn’t the first time that Rae has opened up about starting a family. During an interview with Self Magazine in September 2021, two months after she married Diame, Rae acknowledged that she was still unsure if she wanted children or not, as she has a certain “window” of opportunity to do what she wants in her life, especially as a woman.
“I like my life, I like this selfishness, and I know that I have a window,” she said. “I’ve always felt that way, that women, Black women especially—unless you’re Viola Davis or Angela Bassett—you have a window when people are going to want to continue to see you and see what you can do.”
“Then there are so many limitations placed upon you, and that does keep me up,” she added. “I want to do as much as I can while I still can. I know it’s not the proper mentality to think that kids will slow you down, but I do feel that way.”
