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I Feel Bad Wasn't Written for a Woman of Color. Then Sarayu Blue Auditioned.


Sarayu Blue was debating a career change—or, at very least, a pivot—when the actress landed the part of Emet on I Feel Bad, NBC’s new comedy from Amy Poehler. “I wasn’t like, ‘Oh, I quit,'” she explains. “It was more of a really deep frustration with the industry and feeling like there was a cap on what, as a woman of color, I was going to be allowed to do.”

That’s not to say Blue isn’t proud of her résumé so far. She is! She’s had great experiences with roles on just about every hit procedural and sitcom you can name (NCIS: Los Angeles, Grey’s Anatomy, The Big Bang Theory) as well as a memorable part in this year’s Blockers. But after more than a decade auditioning for what she jokes are “four-line doctor roles,” Blue started to feel discouraged. She questioned her long-term plan. She thought, “I gotta figure something out to be able to not be broke at 85.”

Acting is like being in a dysfunctional relationship, she explains. Right when you’re ready to call it, you get just enough to keep going.

“In my experience, if it wasn’t written specifically for a woman of color…a lead role wasn’t going my way.”

“I turned to my husband and said, ‘I think I’ve got about one more pilot season in me,'” Blue remembers. “And he looked at me with heartbreak. I mean, he was so sad that’s where I was. It really broke his heart.” She tears up remembering this story, because, “it just makes it mean so much more now.”

That “it” is playing Emet, a mother/daughter/wife/coworker who’s just trying to keep it all together. When Blue saw the role, she knew she wanted it. Bad. She remembers shaking as she left the audition, thinking, Oh my God, I think I nailed it. After that came a studio test, then a network test, and a read with Paul Adelstein, who plays Emet’s husband David. Still, Blue knew well enough by now that roles can come and go at anytime, for any reason. It’s the nature of the business.

Another factor she considered: Emet wasn’t written specifically for an Indian woman. “I was the only woman of color testing for it,” she says. “It was one of those experiences where you go, ‘Oh, it’s either going to go that way or this way.'” In other words, she wasn’t really in competition with anyone for the part—she was auditioning for “the concept of me doing the role.”

PHOTO: Getty Images

PHOTO: Getty Images

PHOTO: Getty Images

But it worked: Blue got the part, and it had ripple effects for the rest of the show’s casting. “It brings this cultural specificity,” she explains. “You have to get Indian parents, you have to get biracial children.”

Blue compares this to a Cinderella story: Colorblind casting is still so unheard of in the industry that it’s a fairytale. A fantasy.

“There have been plenty of times I read for the leads of pilots, and I’ve called up my manager and said, ‘I’m not going to get this. You still want me to go in?'” Blue says. “Not to be cynical. I’m happy to go in; I love auditioning. But I had the awareness at that point that it was like, ‘They’re not going to do that.'”

“I’ve heard a lot of people when I got [I Feel Bad] say, ‘Where did she come from? We didn’t know you could do this!'”

When I ask her to elaborate, she says, “In my experience, if it wasn’t written specifically for a woman of color—and even more specifically, Indian—a lead role wasn’t going my way. It just wasn’t on the table. It wasn’t an option. There are plenty of lead roles that I think lots of women of color are fantastic for, but more often than not they’re creating that work for themselves. That’s what I’ve seen.”

She’s also seen people of color or other marginalized communities being limited to those aforementioned four-line doctor roles. “When you watch any story, there are characters that are fleshed out and there are functional characters. There’s nothing wrong with either,” she says. “But if you keep putting [people of color] in those roles, audiences aren’t going to know what those actors can do. I’ve heard a lot of people when I got [I Feel Bad] say, ‘Where did she come from? We didn’t know you could do this!'”

But that’s the point: She can do this. She has been doing this. She just finally has a platform to show it.

“The thing about the show that’s so special is how honest it is. None of us feel like we’re enough or doing enough or that we’re allowed to just take a break. We’re all just trying to get by,” Blue says. “I wanted to let Emet be the flawed human she is. Because I think that’s how we all feel, like treading water and trying to keep afloat. That, to me, is very human.”

I Feel Bad airs Thursdays on NBC.



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Rihanna Is Here to Convince You That Blue Highlighter Actually Looks Amazing


Fenty Beauty is dropping products so quickly, it’s impossible to keep up. After surprising fans with four new shades of Stunna Lip Paint, the brand just announced its new-new for the holidays, and—well—it’s a doozy. Fenty is releasing its first highlighter palette.

Last night, Rihanna made an appearance in Sydney, Australia where she revealed the first (in what’s sure to be much more to come) of Fenty’s #CHILLOWT holiday collection. The seven-pan palette includes just about every shade of highlighter under the rainbow, which we mean quite literally. The Killawatt Foil Palette contains metallic purple, pink, white, red, orange, bronze, and blue (yep) options available to aid in your glow-up. And, like all of Fenty’s products, they can be used pretty much however you deem fit.

Fans, as you can imagine, have been going rightly bonkers over it online. “OH HELL YES!!! THIS IS GOING TO BE MINE,” one user commented on Instagram. “Ri Ri really out her got me buying more highlighter ok goodbye wig, goodbye bank account,” shared another.

The palette is launching at midnight on October 4 (so basically tonight) for anyone who lives in Australia or New Zealand. The rest of us have to wait until October 12 when it start rolling out in Sephora stores in the U.S. and online. According to the brand, this is only just the beginning from the collection. So buckle up, Rih-mas is looking good this year.

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Melania Trump Wore a Red, White, and Blue Ralph Lauren Dress for the Fourth of July


Melania Trump knew all eyes would be on her when it came to dressing for the Fourth of July—all the more so after a high-profile faux pas involving a certain green military jacket worn to visit migrant children and emblazoned with the phrase “I really don’t care, do u?” on the back. This, along with a series of other much-discussed moments, made choosing her outfit for the Fourth of July—a holiday as American as it gets—weighted with extra significance.

The President and the First Lady hosted a picnic for military families on the White House lawn. Mrs. Trump went with the $2,490, blue-and-white Rivera gingham Ralph Lauren evening dress—who knew gingham could go evening?—anchored by a red, bow-embellished Alexander McQueen belt. Ralph Lauren is traditionally super American (the label has outfitted Olympians), so as far as that vein of criticism could go, the dress is practically, shall we say, unimpeachable. (Plus, it had pockets!)

PHOTO: Yuri Gripas/Bloomberg via Getty Images

As for the rest of her outfit, there is the on-sale $537 belt from Alexander McQueen, the British-based line. (And, well, if it weren’t for those pesky Brits, one could argue wouldn’t have gone off and started a fight for independence, nor, therefore had a Fourth of July to commemorate in the first place.)

Her shoes were—wait for it—flats (very picnic appropriate), and were reportedly from French shoe icon Christian Louboutin. So let’s leave it at that: It was the Fourth of July; FLOTUS wore a dress by an American designer. She got this one spot on.

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The DNC Is Betting on a Woman Boss to Turn the Midterms Blue


Ahead of a pivotal midterm battle to take back Congress from the party of President Donald Trump, the Democratic National Committee is putting a woman in charge.

The party’s new CEO will be Seema Nanda, most recently of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and a former top aide to DNC Chairman Tom Perez, the party told Glamour ahead of Friday’s official announcement.

“People are hurting all across our country,” Nanda said in comments provided to Glamour by the DNC. “I believe that Democrats are offering the positive solutions so desperately needed right now – solutions forged by the strength of our diversity, the rigor of our ideas, and the decency of our values.”

Nanda replaces former CEO Jess O’Connell, who in January announced she was leaving after less than a year.

The first Asian-American to head the DNC in recent memory, Nanda takes the reins from an interim ceo, Mary Beth Cahill, in overseeing the financial and political trajectory of the DNC at a pivotal moment.

The Democrats are trying to generate a “blue wave” to control of the House from the GOP by anchoring Republicans to a controversial and unpopular president. But the party is also facing an internal reckoning on how to craft the best message for November and has dramatically trailed fundraising by the Republican National Committee under its chairwoman, Ronna Romney McDaniel.

As the Center for American Women and Politics has noted, “Democratic women are the real drivers of the surge in female candidates in 2018: women are 33% of all Democratic candidates but only 14% of all Republican candidates.” It remains to be seen how much women, both as voters and candidates, will change a political landscape in which they are underrepresented at the federal level on down.

“Women are not only making their voices heard, but this hire also signals that women are leading the Democratic Party, and I couldn’t be prouder of that,” said the DNC’s communications director, Xochitl Hinojosa.

Amid a national outcry over the separation of migrant families detailed at the U.S. border, the DNC is also emphasizing Nanda’s past experience as head of the DOJ’s Office of Immigrant and Employee Rights Section.

When she steps into her new assignment this summer, Nanda will oversee the party in close coordination with Perez. She was his chief of staff when he ran the federal Labor Department during the Obama Administration.

“As we head toward such a crucial election,” he said in comments forwarded by the party, “I’m 100 percent certain that Seema’s leadership will help the DNC capitalize on the unprecedented grassroots energy and enthusiasm surging throughout the country.”

Nanda, who has also worked in the Justice Department’s Division of Civil Rights, is a graduate of Brown University and Boston College Law School.

She lives in Arlington, Virginia with her husband and her 12- and 14-year-old sons.

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Lucky Blue Smith, Luka Sabbat, Kunal Nayyar, Nico Tortorella and More Open Up About the Loves of Their Lives


  • <img src=”https://media.glamour.com/photos/5a553914d3a2b46cf8eba5f4/master/pass/pic%201.jpg” alt=”Julia van Os, 21, right, with boyfriend Max Papendieck, 30, and their Boston terrier, Sid“/>

    Julia van Os, 21, right, with boyfriend Max Papendieck, 30, and their Boston terrier, Sid

    Max Papendieck nearly missed meeting Julia van Os at New York City nightclub the Blond two years ago. “It was one of those nights you’re like, Ah, I’m not sure if I’m going to do anything,” the Australian photographer says. Spoiler alert: He went. She approached. They kissed. “You don’t really meet people you get serious about in a nightclub. We’re, like, the exception,” says Os, a model from the Netherlands. “I would say that Max is my best friend.”

    Photograph by Marcus Ohlsson Stylist: Vanessa Chow

  • <img src=”https://media.glamour.com/photos/5a55391519d53202391096b3/master/pass/pic%202.jpg” alt=”Alex Crush, 23, left, with girlfriend Amilna Estevão, 18“/>

    Alex Crush, 23, left, with girlfriend Amilna Estevão, 18

    For Alex Crush and Amilna Estevão, it all started in a karaoke bar. “She had a lot of life. She smiled a lot,” says Crush, a gender-fluid model. “In this industry it’s hard if you’re different, and I’m very different. Amilna’s always been supportive in everything I do or want to be.” As for Estevão, who was born in Angola and became a model at 14, “Alex taught me that I’m the prettiest black girl in the world,” she says. “People told me that before, but Alex made me believe it.”

    Photograph by Marcus Ohlsson Stylist: Vanessa Chow

  • <img src=”https://media.glamour.com/photos/5a5539146882d60a811be051/master/pass/pic%203.jpg” alt=”Pyper America Smith, 20, right, with brother Lucky Blue Smith, 19“/>

    Pyper America Smith, 20, right, with brother Lucky Blue Smith, 19

    “Lucky’s superpower is that he makes people feel like they’re on top of the world,” says actress Pyper America Smith. “You feel like you literally have wings.” According to little bro Lucky—model, actor, and new father—the feeling of awe is mutual. “Pyper doesn’t realize how cool she is,” he says. “I genuinely don’t think she comprehends it.”

    Photograph by Olivia Malone Stylist: Henna Koskinen

  • <img src=”https://media.glamour.com/photos/5a553915b833470cd8e200a0/master/pass/pic%204.jpg” alt=”Kunal Nayyar, 36, with wife Neha Kapur Nayyar, 34“/>

    Kunal Nayyar, 36, with wife Neha Kapur Nayyar, 34

    “The first time I saw Kunal, he was wearing a trucker hat, cutoff gloves, hipster glasses, and a scarf,” fashion designer Neha Kapur Nayyar recalls of meeting the Big Bang Theory star in 2009. “It took me a while to find him among all that.” Though she wasn’t impressed with her future husband’s accessories and was oblivious to his fame—“I had never seen the show,” she admits—Kunal was already a goner. “My first thought was, This is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” he says. “My second thought was, She’s way out of my league.” The two married in New Delhi two years later. The cutoff gloves stayed home.

    Photograph by Olivia Malone Stylist: Henna Koskine

  • <img src=”https://media.glamour.com/photos/5a55391610d80e0f6e3da266/master/pass/pic%207.jpg” alt=”Maria Dueñas Jacobs, 34, with daughters, from left, Isa, two, Luna, four, and Silvi, two“/>

    Maria Dueñas Jacobs, 34, with daughters, from left, Isa, two, Luna, four, and Silvi, two

    “‘Despacito’ is the girls’ favorite song right now,” says Maria Dueñas Jacobs, director of brand development at Stitch Fix (and a former editor at Glamour and Elle). “It’s pretty much inappropriate for their age, but they love that it’s in Spanish, their first language. To them it’s about love, kissing, and slowing things down, despacito…. Having them as daughters is the biggest love I’ve ever felt.”

    Photograph by Marcus Ohlsson Stylist: Vanessa Chow

  • <img src=”https://media.glamour.com/photos/5a5539174f28af08832f1965/master/pass/pic%208.jpg” alt=”Samira Wiley, 30, right, with wife Lauren Morelli, 35“/>

    Samira Wiley, 30, right, with wife Lauren Morelli, 35

    Actress Samira Wiley and television writer Lauren Morelli first met on the set of Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black in 2012. “The first time I saw Lauren, I thought, Whoa—she’s really young to have this job. She must be really f-cking talented,” Wiley says. (Says Morelli: “I remember feeling like she was magnetic.”) Five years and four Emmy wins later, the pair, who exchanged vows in Palm Springs last spring, are still each other’s biggest fans. “I know Lauren loves me when she texts me during the day and tells me she misses me,” Wiley says. “It’s so wonderful to feel wanted and needed.”

    Photograph by Olivia Malone Stylist: Henna Koskinen

  • <img src=”https://media.glamour.com/photos/5a553915dd507c63c19c0fc0/master/pass/pic%205.jpg” alt=”Luka Sabbat, 20, right, with girlfriend Adriana Mora, 22“/>

    Luka Sabbat, 20, right, with girlfriend Adriana Mora, 22

    It was the summer of 2015 in New York City when model-stylist-actor Luka Sabbat—wearing head-to-toe red—caught Adriana Mora’s eye. “I thought, Who is that?” the Costa Rican–born model says with a laugh. “And what is he wearing?” (The ensemble was Raf Simons and Supreme, if you must know.) His first impression of her? “That she was fire,” he says, “and she was mad weird—and mad interesting.”

    Photograph by Olivia Malone Stylist: Henna Koskinen

  • <img src=”https://media.glamour.com/photos/5a55391697d0890ca33ddf34/master/pass/pic%206.jpg” alt=”Bethany C. Meyers, 31, right, with partner Nico Tortorella, 29“/>

    Bethany C. Meyers, 31, right, with partner Nico Tortorella, 29

    “We met playing beer pong in college,” Younger star Nico Tortorella says of his love of 11 years, fitness entrepreneur Bethany C. Meyers. (FYI: Her seam tattoo runs from her ankle to her armpit to her wrist!) The duo has been what they call “twin flames in a polyamorous, queer relationship” ever since. So do they have their own romance language? “A few different dialects,” jokes Tortorella. Adds Meyers: “I know his love patterns better than he does. Nico falls in love very deeply—people come into his life and sweep him away. I can usually see a bigger picture of how long it will last.”

    Photograph by Marcus Ohlsson Stylist: Vanessa Chow

  • <img src=”https://media.glamour.com/photos/5a5539184f28af08832f1967/master/pass/pic%2010.jpg” alt=”Moj Mahdara, 40, right, with fiancée Roya Rastegar, 36“/>

    Moj Mahdara, 40, right, with fiancée Roya Rastegar, 36

    A mutual friend tried to set up Moj Mahdara and Roya Rastegar 11 years ago: “She was like, ‘I found your future wife,’ ” recalls Mahdara, the CEO of beauty industry fest Beautycon. They didn’t hit it off. “We were in two different parts of our lives,” says Rastegar, a writer and film producer. Seven years later that same friend, who had briefly dated Rastegar in the interim, intervened once more. “She was like, ‘You guys should be together,’ ” Mahdara says. It was true. “You have all these ideas of who you want to be with,” she says. “Most of the time, the best person for you is someone you’ve put into a bucket of ‘no.’ ” The couple are expecting their first child.

    Photograph by Katie Friedman Stylist: Amy Hou

  • <img src=”https://media.glamour.com/photos/5a55391a3f9fef53944e7cd9/master/pass/pic%2011.jpg” alt=”Camilla Stærk, left, with best friend Helena Christensen“/>

    Camilla Stærk, left, with best friend Helena Christensen

    “For some strange and magical reason, even though we’re so different, we agree on everything,” supermodel Helena Christensen says of fashion designer and collaborator Camilla Stærk, whom she met at a photo shoot in Denmark in 2000. Stærk agrees: “There are very few people you can spend a lot of time with and never feel like you need some space,” she says. “I always call Helena my girlfriend, but then people think we’re a couple. I’m like, ‘Well, we basically could be by now!’”

    Photograph by Marcus Ohlsson Stylist: Vanessa Chow

  • <img src=”https://media.glamour.com/photos/5a5539171344497f44e6b6c2/master/pass/pic%209.jpg” alt=”Frida Aasen, 23, left, with best friend Herieth Paul, 22“/>

    Frida Aasen, 23, left, with best friend Herieth Paul, 22

    Herieth Paul met Frida Aasen “in a model apartment when we were, like, 16,” she says. “We were different ages. We spoke different languages. It was hard.” (Paul was born in Tanzania; Aasen hails from Norway.) But after bonding over a mutual love of clothing—“I learned how to dress better from her,” Aasen says—the former roommates, who both walked in the 2017 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, became each other’s missing piece. “I’m a little more of an introvert, and she’s outgoing,” Aasen says. “It’s really nice to have someone to push me a bit.” Adds Paul: “We help each other. We do.”

    Photograph by Marcus Ohlsson Stylist: Vanessa Chow

  • <img src=”https://media.glamour.com/photos/5a553919d3a2b46cf8eba5f6/master/pass/pic%2012.jpg” alt=”Jaxyn Harlem, nine, left, with father Benny Harlem, 28“/>

    Jaxyn Harlem, nine, left, with father Benny Harlem, 28

    “When Jaxyn was born, I was 19 years old; I wasn’t ready to be a father,” admits model Benny Harlem, whose Instagram (@bennyharlem) is a touching tribute to big hair…and bigger love. “My daughter has taught me to be a better helper, a better healer, and a better listener. Period.” Jaxyn, who often appears on her dad’s feed, says the lessons are mutual. “The best thing I’ve learned from my dad is to love myself,” she says. “Before I can love anybody else, I have to be proud of myself, learn from my mistakes, and be thankful for all my imperfectness.”

    Photograph by Marcus Ohlsson Stylist: Vanessa Chow



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    Beyoncé Held Blue Ivy's Juice Box at the 2018 Grammys, and the Internet Is Losing It


    The 2018 Grammys were a bust for women, to be honest, but there was one saving grace from the evening. Actually, make that two saving graces: Beyoncé and her 6-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy Carter. These two stole the show at the Grammys, hands down—and Bey didn’t even perform. They just lived their lives, and dozens of photographers were there to capture it.

    Seriously, every facial expression Blue made throughout the evening sent Twitter users ablaze. Things hit a fever pitch when a clip of Blue seemingly telling Beyoncé and Jay Z to calm down during the show went viral. It’s a hilarious, endearing moment that confirmed Blue’s actually the one calling the shots in the Carter household. As she should be!

    And now we have even more proof of this: A photographer at the Grammys snapped a pic of Beyoncé holding Blue’s snacks and juice box, and it’s quickly taking over the Internet. For good reason, too: To the world, Beyoncé is this untouchable music deity, but to Blue she’s just her mom who holds the snacks for safe keeping. That’s incredibly humbling, and it’s a nice little reminder that everyone—even Beyoncé—is a human being. Here’s the pic:

    PHOTO: Getty Images

    Of course, the Twitter reactions to this have been pretty great. “While we were all looking for #Beyonce at the #Grammys, she was out getting snacks for #BlueIvy,” a radio station tweeted. “She’s wearing $6.8 million worth of diamonds, but who cares? Beyonce clutching Blue Ivy’s juice box is everything,” tweeted someone else.

    Below, peep the best (and funniest) reactions to Beyoncé being a regular-AF mom at the Grammys.

    Sigh. If only things from the actual Grammys show got us this excited.

    Related Stories:

    Blue Ivy Is the Only Person Who Can Get Away With Telling Beyoncé to Calm Down

    This Woman’s Reaction to Being in the Same Room as Beyoncé and Jay-Z Is All of Us

    Beyoncé Went to Target With Blue Ivy, and the Internet Is Having a Field Day





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