Tracee Ellis Ross directly criticized Jay Leno and his "Tonight Show" for not inviting her or her "Girlfriends" co-star onto the talk show.
Ross also noted that the show favored lesser-known celebrities from lower-rated programs.
Tracey claims that during the successful run of the series "Girlfriends", Jay Leno's "Tonight Show" refused to invite her to appear on the set.
According to Page Six , Ross claimed that Leno hadn't called her or her co-stars Golden Brooks, Persia White, and Jill Marie Jones. The actress noted that despite the show's immense popularity, no one had called the "Girlfriends" group.
In an interview with Trevor Noah's podcast "What Now?", the actress claimed the industry hadn't given her the recognition she deserved. The "Black-ist" star said, "No 'Tonight Show,' no David Letterman, no Emmys. Never been to an Emmy." She added, "Actually, I have a story. It was Jay Leno. I had a show called 'Girlfriends,' and the comment was, 'We love Tracy. Call us when she gets something,'" she recalled.
The actress said she was puzzled. "What exactly? What else was there to get?" I don't know. And it was like... "We love her," but that wasn't an option," she recalled. She also noted that other, less popular series were shown, mentioning "Monk." "I remember "Monk" in particular. You remember that show with Tony Shalhoub? That show had a quarter of our audience. A quarter of our audience," the actress exclaimed.
Frustrated by the lack of compelling reasons for the actors' firing, the actress questioned what exactly Leno was guided by when making his decision: "And the only thing you can boil it down to is, 'Is this just racism?' I'm not sure how to classify it? I don't know what it is.".
Created by Mara Brock Akil, "Girlfriends" followed a group of Black female friends as they navigated marriage, friendship, and dating. The series ran for eight seasons from 2000 to 2008.
The series received 29 NAACP Image Award nominations and one Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography in a Multi-Camera Series.
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The article "Tracee Ellis Ross Criticizes 'Girlfriends' Ignorance, Questions Racism on Late Night Show" first appeared on Reality Tea.