“Insecure” star and co-creator Issa Rae doesn’t think it’s that serious that her on-screen ex-boyfriend Jay Ellis won’t be on the show this season. But some viewers certainly do and they’ve launched a petition to fight it.
A website dedicated to bringing Ellis’ character, Lawrence back for season 3 has been promoted as a sponsored post on Facebook and caught the attention of Rae.
“Sign our petition to HBO pleading for Jay Ellis to return as Lawrence — then SHARE far and wide so that everyone who loves Lawrence can have their voice heard. We want Lawrence back!” the post linking to WhereIsLawrence.com read.
The link includes a sign-up form for a Care2 petition that currently has over 9,600 signatures.
In response, Rae simply seemed stunned.
“Wow. A sponsored post, though? Like… money was spent?” Rae tweeted Monday, July 30.
Rae explained to Vulture days ago that the hit HBO series would be taking a breather from Lawrence in the season set to premiere Aug. 12. She and showrunner Prentice Penny knew about the possible uproar from then but they were not worried about any backlash.
“No, I don’t care!” Rae said at Insecure Fest in L.A. “We want to stay as true to life as possible. They had a great conversation at the end of season two and it was just about like, hey, she’s moving on Daniel, sometimes we have those conversations. You never see the exes again. And it’s okay! You gotta explore life without Lawrence.”
In response to the petition cropping up, several Twitter users — and Penny along with Rae’s on-screen best friend Yvonne Orji — fired off about how the LawrenceHive was behaving.
“If folks put this much effort into the midterm elections… lol. ..but everyone is entitled to their fun.”
“😭😭😭 Lawrence Hive is out of control.”
“A whole website too??”
“That ain’t even gonna get Lawrence back this season tho so…”
