Folks do not play about Issa Rae.
On Saturday (Oct. 7), just after shutting down Paris during Fashion Week, the HOORAE mogul spoke on a panel about mentorship, moderated by American Express‘ President of Enterprise Strategic Partnerships, Glenda McNeal, at CultureCon NYC 2023.
McNeal began the conversation by mispronouncing Rae’s first name and even though she didn’t react to the mistake, the audience was not about to let that fly.
“You guys know a lot about Issa [pronouncing her name as “Is-suh”] Rae for all the incredible work that she’s done,” said McNeal. The audience interrupted by shouting the correct pronunciation — “Ee-suh” — as the Insecure creator and star laughed, quietly saying “Damn!,” while McNeal quickly defended herself.
“EE-suh Rae! Sorry! Thank you; it’s okay! Calm down. I’m part of the community, honey, it’s okay,” the corporate exec declared as she clarified her racial background. As one attendee fired back, “And you didn’t say her name right,” McNeal continued, “It’s okay to be vulnerable and don’t get it right all the time. That is my life and you should embrace it. Embrace it, girl. Embrace it!”
The disgruntled murmurs did not cease for a few minutes until McNeal pronounced Rae’s name correctly and the crowd cheered.
When the video went viral on Twitter, the backlash rolled over. One fan noted, “Issa was gonna let it go but the crowd said AHT AHT! Millennials do NAWT play about Jo-Issa Rae Diop. And I, too, am in that number!”
While another succinctly pointed out, “While it’s not the end of the world, this kind of thing annoys me to now end. Whatever your title, when you’re going to speak to someone, let alone interview them, find out how to say their name properly.”
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