Issa Rae has been fairly private about her off-screen life, but after posing for the cover of Essence magazine with an engagement ring on her finger, the multi-hyphenate bombshell immediately sparked discussion on social media. Some fans thought the ring might have been a prop for the photo shoot, while others remained convinced Rae’s longtime love, Louis Diame, had popped the question.
Fortunately for curious fans, Rae’s Insecure co-stars, Jay Ellis and Yvonne Orji, have decided to set the record straight, according to a report from Entertainment Tonight . During the 2019 NAACP Image Awards, Orji and Ellis told ET that, they were thrilled for their friend.
“We’re very excited for her,” Orji said, with Ellis adding, “We all found out in different ways because we’re all on different text chains. We talk at different times, so we all found out at different times in different ways.”
Orji, who plays Rae’s best friend on the show, said everyone’s reactions were pretty similar.
“The reaction was all the same, like, ‘You out here in these streets getting married, boo!?’ That was the reaction,” she explained.
Rae has yet to address the engagement herself, but has expressed her gratitude to Essence for having her on the cover of its publication. She took to Instagram to post previews of the cover along with a lengthy caption.
She took the time to reminisce on her early days when “all I had was a web series,” and how grateful she was that the magazine had seen it fit to include her in a category with women she had long looked up to, including Ava DuVernay, Mara Brock Akil, Shonda Rhimes, and Debbie Allen. She went on to thank the magazine for helping her to “nurture a promise.”
Since then, Rae has found incredible success with her HBO series and has been tapped for a handful of movies. Rae will be staring in an upcoming movie, Little , alongside Regina Hall and Black-ish actress Marsai Martin, as previously reported by The Inquisitr .
Rae recently opened up about how her newfound success has contributed to her weight gain, as was also reported by The Inquisitr .
“When the web series started, I was very, very broke,” she said.
“Then more opportunities began to come. I was gaining New Money Weight.”
Insecure scored eight nominations at the 50th annual NAACP Images Awards, including Outstanding Comedy Show, Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Show (Rae), and Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series. Unfortunately, neither the series, nor its stars walked away with any awards.
