Amanda Seales Claims Deadly Shooting at Trump Rally Was ‘Staged’ 

Amanda Seales at the HBO After Party at Pacific Design Center on September 17, 2017 in West Hollywood, CA. (Credit: Shutterstock)

Actress and activist Amanda Seales is facing backlash after posting a video on social media claiming Saturday’s deadly shooting at former President Donald Trump’s campaign rally was “staged.”

In the now-viral video posted on Saturday, July 13, Seales insisted the gunfire at the rally was fake.

“That sh– was more staged than a Tyler Perry production of Madea Runs for President,” she said.

The actress went on to say she’s familiar with the sound of gunshots from living in New York City.

“I lived in Harlem long enough to know that gunshots do not sound like making popcorn on a stove,” she said.

RelatedTrump Says He Was Shot in the Ear at Rally as Details Emerge About Gunman

Trump, 78, survived what authorities said was an attempted assassination during the July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

One attendee was killed. He’s been identified as former fire chief Corey Comperatore, 50, who died while shielding his family from gunfire, The Associated Press reported Sunday. Two other men were injured and are now listed in stable condition.

Law enforcement agents fatally shot the gunman, who was identified as 20-year-old nursing home aide Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.

Secret Service agents hustled Trump from the stage as the gunfire rang out. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee was shown in live news coverage with blood dripping down the side of his face. Trump later released a statement on his Truth Social platform, saying he was shot in the ear.

Seales claimed the blood on Trump’s face was part of an elaborate hoax.

“Where’d the blood come from. In theater, in movies, they have what’s called blood pellets… It’s basically a pellet of fake blood that’s in your mouth and when you crush it, the blood comes out,” she said. “To be frank, small hands Trump would not respond by raising his fist in the air triumphantly were an actual attempt made on his life. This was, I believe done to try to show his strength counter to Biden’s fragility.”

The Art of Dialogue reposted Seales’ video on X. As of Sunday evening, the post had more than 600 comments, with the majority criticizing Seales for her “ridiculous statements.”

The actress later walked back some of her comments in a follow-up video.

“I got some intel. Turns out it was real y’all, at least the gun was real,” she said on Instagram.

That “intel” was likely network news coverage. Seales played a news report in her follow-up post, showing a BBC reporter interviewing a man at the rally who witnessed the shooting.

Best known for playing Tiffany DuBois on HBO’s Insecure, Seales is no stranger to controversy.

In April, she appeared on Shannon Sharpe’s “Club Shay Shay” podcast. During the three-hour interview, Seales confirmed she’s been at odds with Insecure creator Issa Rae for years. She claimed in the interview that Rae “wasn’t empowering to me.”

Seales also criticized Black-owned media outlets for coverage “nitpicking” comments she’s made over the years.

Weeks earlier, the actress said on Instagram she’s not invited to “Black spaces in the industry” such as the BET Awards, NAACP Image Awards, and the Essence Black Women in Hollywood ceremony.

“If it wasn’t for y’all I would really think that I ain’t doing sh–,” she said to her followers. “Because the industry I’m in does not recognize me. And to be clear, I’m speaking about the Black spaces in the industry I’m in ’cause y’all know I don’t give two damns about any of these other spaces.”

Her comments prompted The Grio to post a column with a headline saying: “Amanda Seales is not a victim of anything but her own hubris.”


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About Anita Bennett

Anita Bennett is the editor and founder of Urban Hollywood 411. She can be reached on Twitter @tvanita.