Amber Ruffin and her sister Lacey Lamar are sharing the struggles Black women face in the late night TV space. The revelations came during the duo’s appearance on the latest episode of The Last Laugh podcast.
Challenges In Entertainment
As a comedian, writer, and actress, Ruffin has been open about the challenges she’s faced in the entertainment industry. During her Last Laugh appearance with Lamar who is her little sister and business partner, the two got candid about working as Black women in TV. In the episode, Ruffin reflected on the changes in support and opportunities Black comedians have received in the few years following the racial reckoning of 2020.
Seth Meyers Show Run
Ruffin became a prominent face on Seth Meyers talkshow in the spring of 2020. At that time the comedian shared her experiences of being profiled by police for being Black. This segment preceded the launch of her namesake The Amber Ruffin Show. It debuted on Peacock in September 2020 and was first announced in 2019.
“When stuff like that happens, I got to be honest, you don’t care what white people have to say,” Ruffin said. “I love Seth to death, but I don’t care what that man has to say. So when everybody made more space for the Black creatives on their show, I thought that that was great, and I bet the result of it was me, Ziwe [Fumudoh] and Sam [Jay] getting late-night shows.”
Opportunities Scaled Back
But in the Last Laugh convo, Ruffin admitted that many of the opportunities that came to Black comedians during the reckoning period have either been scaled back or completely erased. Including her own show which is no longer a weekly series.
“I think it says we’re in America. Hi, welcome to America,” Ruffin said.
Ruffin and Lamar have used their experiences with racism to craft projects that allow them to speak openly about their truth. This includes their books “You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories About Racism” and “The World Record Book of Racist Stories.”
The duo has also recently launched their own podcast called The Amber & Lacey, Lacey & Amber Show. It is a collaboration between iHeartMedia and Will Ferrell’s Big Money Players Network.