Who is Amanda Seales' mother? 'Insecure' star opens up about her parents in Club Shay Shay interview

HBO’s Insecure star Amanda Seales set the record straight about her parents in a recent Club Shay Shay interview after host Shannon Sharpe mistakenly identified her mom as "white."

On April 23, 2024, in an episode of the Club Shay Shay podcast, host Shannon Sharpe said, “Your mom is white,” to which Amanda quickly responded, “My mother is not white!”

In a 2018 tweet, Amanda Seales posted a photo of her two Black parents to quell speculation that she isn’t fully black. Despite clarifying her African American heritage, people have repeatedly suspected her race.

During the recent Club Shay Shay appearance, Amanda Seales explained that her mother, Annette Seales, is Black and originally from Grenada in the West Indies, which has a predominantly Black population. Meanwhile, Amanda Seales' dad is African-American and from Roxbury, Boston. Amanda revealed she was raised by a single mom since her father wasn't present during her childhood.

Amanda was born in Inglewood and raised in The Valley in California. She and her mom have dual citizenship with the U.S. and Grenada.

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Amanda Seales says her mom, Annette Seales, has been incredibly supportive after her autism spectrum diagnosis

In the recent Club Shay Shay interview, Amanda Seales opened up about her recent autism spectrum diagnosis and how her parents, primarily her mom, raised her without being aware of the disorder.

When speaking about her diagnosis, Amanda Seales shared how her mom, Annette Seales, has been an incredibly supportive parent. Amanda said after she shared her diagnosis, her mother began looking up symptoms of autistic children and realized she exhibited most of it as a child.

“In this revelation, my mother started looking up symptoms of autistic children and was like, ‘Oh s**t, you exhibited all of this. But I didn’t know what to do with this,’” Amanda said.

Recalling her experience as an undiagnosed autistic child, Amanda Seales mentioned that while her mom couldn't provide emotional support, she didn’t resort to physical violence to correct her seemingly strange behavior.

“She’s a single parent, she’s trying to figure it out, but I really just thank my mom because when my mom couldn’t show up for me emotionally, I realized that she was able to, at the very least — that’s not even fair to say. She was able to still let me be who I am instead of beating it out of me, which happens to so many kids who are misunderstood,” she said.

While Amanda was forthcoming about her mom, she didn’t share much about her father other than to reveal he was an African American man from Roxbury, Boston, noting he wasn’t present during her childhood.

Amanda said she was grateful for his absence, as he wasn't equipped to handle her. She described her father as a brilliant man who struggled in life.

“If my father had lived with me, I would never have been the person I am now because he wouldn’t have been able to handle it. And I believe that he is autistic too. He’s brilliant, he was just never seen the way he needed to be seen so it turned into narcissism,” she said.

In a 2018 tweet, Amanda posted an image of her young parents on Father's Day. Her caption praised dads who show up for their kids every day and not just for a picture.

“Happy Father’s Day to all the dads that show up EVERY day, not just for “family” pictures, lol Real Ones, You don’t get enough recognition, but you’re integral to shaping young hearts and minds into solid thoughtful adults,” she wrote.

During the three-hour interview, Amanda Seales also spoke about her strained relationship with Insecure co-star Issa Rae, saying she was not on good terms with the actress after falling out with her publicist.