iCarly is back with a whole new look that made some fans uncomfortable.
The Paramount reboot aired on June 17th of this year, following the 2007 iCarly‘s Nickelodeon sitcom by Dan Schneider, until it ended in 2012.
Fast forward to 2021 the new iCarly sitcom now has a new black writer, Franchesca Ramsey. Who helped cast not only two black actresses but also a black makeup artist & a black hairstylist.
One of the new actresses, Laci Mosely announced her debut on Instagram In March. She expressed her excitement to star as Harper, Carly's new roommate and best friend.
Fans of the original iCarly immediately raised questions and commented racial slurs all over Mosely social media, which has since been taken down . “Where is Sam? ” & “Who is this black replacement ?”
Mosely Spoke With LA Times and made it very clear that she isn’t trying to impersonate the old Sam.
“She’s not a replacement of Sam…“She’s not a substitution. She’s a completely different person. She’s queer, she’s Black— and not in a stereotypical way…she’s really fun. She pushes Carly into doing crazy things all the time.”
Mosely continued about her sexuality and how iCarly Production team still welcomed her with open arms.
“I’m also queer and is not something that’s addressed on the show…it’s fine and nobody cares. I think that’s such an amazing thing for young kids to see… especially if they’re queer, you could just be who you are and it doesn’t have to be a lifetime movie special”
But Fans still took Sam not being present very personal and left Mosely to fend for herself.
She later posted a 15 second video to her Instagram story in response to all the backlash. Which she soon apologized for.
“I shouldn’t have been cursing in this response but I was really caught off guard by the onslaught of racist trolls. I deleted a lot of comments but they keep coming on every platform. Being a Black woman is exhausting. We all deserve better…no amount of slurs or vitriol you dump online will change that.”
According to Teen Vogue, Miranda Cosgrove who plays Carly contacted Jerry Trainor (Spencer) ,Nathan Kress (Freddie) and Jennette McCurdy (Sam) about the project. Kress and Trainor hopped on board but McCurdy gave up acting.
McCurdy confirmed the rumors in March 2021 on her podcast Empty Inside on how her goals changed after the passing of her mother in 2013.
“With her death kind of died a lot of her ideas for my life [did too]…I quit [acting] a few years ago because I initially didn't want to do it. My mom put me in it when I was 6…I was the main financial support for my family…. I'm so ashamed of the parts I've done in the past. I resent my career in a lot of ways. I feel so unfulfilled by the roles that I played…I did shows that I was on from like 13 to 21, and by 15, I was already embarrassed.”
With An old character ready to step down , a new character was ready to fulfill her acting dreams.
Mosely is no stranger to Hollywood. Her first acting role was in Insecure in 2016 & later in, “I Want My Phone Back”. She is also known for her early 2019 role for “The Wedding Year” & Pop series “Florida Girls”.
Then In September 2019, she created the podcast Scam Goddess that went virtual in 2020 which later got picked up by Conan O’Brien’s company, Team Coco.
In early 2021 she joined the main cast of “A Black Lady Sketch Show“ second season and now stars In iCarly new reboot. Which is due for Season 2 of 13 where Carly and Spencer run a Hype House with a new generation of influencers getting influenced by the new fashion iCarly web show.
In addition, she is set to star in an upcoming digital series “Scroll Wheel of Time“ on Eko but until then Mosely Will continue to be Black, Queer and Proud. Gayes, Are You Excited To Meet Harper?