Tracee Ellis Ross questions late-night snub by Jay Leno

Actress Tracee Ellis Ross has questioned whether racism played a role in being excluded from late-night talk shows during the height of the sitcom ‘Girlfriends’. Speaking on Trevor Noah’s ‘What Now?’ podcast, Ross recalled being denied appearances on ‘The Tonight Show’ with Jay Leno despite the show's high viewership.

Ross shared that a talent representative for Leno once told her publicist, ‘We love Tracee. Call us when she gets something.’ She noted the confusion of seeing actors from shows with significantly lower viewership, such as ‘Monk’, receiving guest spots while she and her co-stars were overlooked. Ross remarked that the industry felt much more segregated during that era, noting she did not attend the Emmys until her work on ‘Black-ish’ earned nominations.