Waithe is a rising star in Hollywood. | Photo: IMDB
The Emmy award winner Lena Waithe has cut her hair, but her decision to chop it off holds a greater meaning than just wanting to change.
In an interview with Variety, Waithe said she’s ‘gotten gayer’. The actor and screenwriter joked at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s annual grants banquet on 9 August.
Lena Waithe made history at the Emmys 2017
The Master of None star made history as the first black woman to win an award for comedy writing in 2017. She won the Emmy for the Thanksgiving episode, based on her true experience of coming out as a lesbian.
She is also known for her fashion choices, such as the decision to wear a rainbow cape at the 2018 Met Ball. The theme was ‘fashion and the Catholic imagination’ and she slayed the red carpet.
Lena Waithe and the 2018 Met Gala. | Photo: Twitter/@blackmon
In the interview with Marc Malkin, she explained she had thought about cutting her hair for a while. However, she said she didn’t as she was afraid of the way others would perceive her.
‘I felt like I was holding onto a piece of femininity that would make the world feel comfortable with who I am,’ Waithe said.
‘I think I thought for a long time, “Oh, if I cut my hair, I’ll be a stud or I’ll be a butch”,’ she said referring to all the categories in ‘the gay world’.
‘And I’ve always thought, “Well, no, I’m not that, I’m still soft,” and I said, “Oh, I gotta put that down ’cause that’s something that’s outside of me”.’
.@LenaWaithe explains why she cut her hair: “I felt like I was holding onto a piece of femininity that would make the world feel comfortable with who I am” #HFPA pic.twitter.com/GTlxZJ11uO
— Variety (@Variety) August 10, 2018
‘I really stepped into myself’
Waithe, who is engaged to content executive Alana Mayo, also said that finally making the decision to cut her hair made her feel ‘so free and so happy and so joyful’.
‘I really stepped into myself,’ she added.
‘If people call me a butch or say “she’s stud” or call me sir out in the world, so what? So be it. I’m here with a suit on, not a stitch of makeup, and a haircut. I feel like, “Why can’t I exist in the world in that way?”‘
Waithe, who created autobiographical drama The Chi, will produce a series for HBO about the life of Kid Fury.
She is also the executive producer of the first two seasons of Amazon horror anthology series Them.
Way to go, Lena.
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Keiynan Lonsdale, Lena Waithe, Lady Gaga among LGBTI MTV Movie & TV Awards winners
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