Niecy Nash Says Her Relationship With Jessica Betts Is The First Time She Has Felt 'Fully Seen'
When Niecy Nash-Betts announced she was married to musician Jessica Betts, many people were surprised. The Emmy-nominated actress has a history of dating only men and was even married twice prior to meeting her wife. However, Niecy has become an example of the saying “love is love” and she and Jessica have been open about their relationship ever since.
The Claws star and her daughter Dia Nash stopped by the YouTube series Bumble Presents Luv2SeeIt with Teyana Taylor and dished on love and dating outside of what was expected. “The most rewarding thing for me is just that for the first time, I feel fully seen,” Niecy said. “I loved everybody that I was with until I didn’t. So, it wasn’t that I was living a sexually repressed life or I always wanted to do a thing but never did it, I just wasn’t on that side of the line.”
“Now that I am,” she continued, “the best thing about it is that I can be 100% who I am. I don’t have to play small, I don’t have to dumb it down. I can be bright, shiny. I can take up space and it’s well received.”
Niecy and Jessica got married in August 2020 and recently celebrated their second wedding anniversary. The actress reflected on the moment that she told her family including her three children about Jessica and what her 23-year-old daughter’s response was. While she said she would have preferred to tell everyone in person, she had to tell them on FaceTime because she was traveling.
Everyone was supportive but that didn’t mean jokes were off limits. Niecy said that Dia’s response was, “are you the same mom that said, ‘I’m strictly dickly?’” She added, “but she was like, are you happy? And that’s the most important part.”
The Rookie: Feds star also dished on her marriage with the Los Angeles Times and shared why she decided to keep her relationship under wraps when they began dating.
"[Early on] our relationship wasn't a secret, but it was private," she explained. “I couldn't wait to just be like, 'This is me.' I didn't know if people were gonna turn their backs on me. But I don't do secrets. It's not in my DNA."
While the 52-year-old has always had a vibrant personality, she believes marriage helped her to be more of her authentic self. "Being comfortable in my skin has been a gift. I liken it to my marriage because I've never been a person who lives my life in a closeted type of way," she said.
Niecy and Dia Nash discuss dating comfort zones | Bumble Presents Luv2SeeIt with Teyana Taylor
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Featured image by Matt Winkelmeyer/WireImage
ItGirl 100 Honors Black Women Who Create Culture & Put On For Their Cities
As they say, create the change you want to see in this world, besties. That’s why xoNecole linked up with Hyundai for the inaugural ItGirl 100 List, a celebration of 100 Genzennial women who aren’t afraid to pull up their own seats to the table. Across regions and industries, these women embody the essence of discovering self-value through purpose, honey! They're fierce, they’re ultra-creative, and we know they make their cities proud.
VIEW THE FULL ITGIRL 100 LIST HERE.
Don’t forget to also check out the ItGirl Directory, featuring 50 Black-woman-owned marketing and branding agencies, photographers and videographers, publicists, and more.
THE ITGIRL MEMO
I. An ItGirl puts on for her city and masters her self-worth through purpose.
II. An ItGirl celebrates all the things that make her unique.
III. An ItGirl empowers others to become the best versions of themselves.
IV. An ItGirl leads by example, inspiring others through her actions and integrity.
V. An ItGirl paves the way for authenticity and diversity in all aspects of life.
VI. An ItGirl uses the power of her voice to advocate for positive change in the world.
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You've Never Seen Luke James In A Role Quite Like This
Over the years, we've watched Luke James play countless characters we'd deem sex symbols, movie stars, and even his complicated character in Lena Waithe's The Chi. For the first time in his career, the New Orleans-born actor has taken on a role where his signature good looks take a backseat as he transforms into Edmund in Them: The Scare—a mentally deranged character in the second installment of the horror anthology series that you won't be able to take your eyes off.
Trust us, Edmund will literally make you do a double take.
xoNecole sat down with Luke James to talk about his latest series and all the complexity surrounding it—from the challenges taking on this out-of-the-box role to the show's depiction of the perplexing history of the relationship between Black Americans and police. When describing the opportunity to bring Edmund's character to life, Luke was overjoyed to show the audience yet another level of his masterful acting talents.
"It was like bathing in the sun," he said. "I was like, thank you! Another opportunity for me to be great—for me to expand my territory. I'm just elated to be a part of it and to see myself in a different light, something I didn't think I could do." He continued, "There are parts of you that says, 'Go for it because this is what you do.' But then also that's why it's a challenge because you're like, 'um, I don't know if I'm as free as I need to be to be able to do this.' Little Marvin just created such a safe space for me to be able to do this, and I'm grateful for everything I've been able to do to lead to this."
Courtesy
Them: The Scare, like the first season, shines a light on the plight of Black Americans in the United States. This time, the story is taking place in the 1990s, at the height of the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles. While the series presents many underlying themes, one that stands out is Black people and the complicated relationship with the police. "For the audience, I think it sets the tone for the era that we're in and the amount of chaos that's in the air in Los Angeles and around the country from this heinous incident. And I say it just sets the tone of the anxiety and anxiousness that everybody is feeling in their own households."
James has been a longtime advocate against police brutality himself. He has even featured Elijah McClain, the 23-year-old Colorado man who died after being forcibly detained by officers, as his Instagram avatar for the past five years. So, as you can imagine, this script was close to his heart. "Elijah was a soft-loving oddball. Different than anyone but loving and a musical genius. He was just open and wanted to be loved and seen."
Getty Images
Luke continued, "His life was taken from him. I resonate with his spirit and his words...through all the struggle and the pain he still found it in him to say, 'I love you and I forgive you.' And that's who we are as people—to our own detriment sometimes. He's someone I don't want people to forget. I have yet to remove his face from my world because I have yet to let go of his voice, let go of that being [because] there's so many people we have lost in our history that so often get forgotten."
He concluded, "I think that's the importance of such artwork that moves us to think and talk about it. Yes, it's entertaining. We get to come together and be spooked together. But then we come together and we think, 'Damn, Edmund needed someone to talk to. Edmund needed help... a lot [of] things could have been different. Edmund could have been saved.'
Check out the full interview below.
Luke James Talks Ditching Sex Symbol Status For "Them: The Scare", Elijah McClain, & Morewww.youtube.com
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