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Lena Waithe Reportedly Working on New Series About Open Marriages

Lena Waithe is never not working. The 36-year-old writer, showrunner, producer and actress is reportedly working on a new drama series centered around open marriages. Suggested Reading Trigger Warning…All of the Shocking Testimony From Diddy’s Federal Trial 15 AI Videos of Black Folks That Look So Real You Were Likely Fooled Why Wendy Williams is…

Lena Waithe is never not working. The 36-year-old writer, showrunner, producer and actress is reportedly working on a new drama series centered around open marriages.

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According to the Hollywood Reporter, the series is part of her massive, overall deal with streaming giant Amazon and is tentatively titled Open. Should it get the greenlit, it will join Waitheโ€™s other television programs: Showtimeโ€™s The Chi and BETโ€™s Boomerang and Twenties.

โ€œSociety has such a conservative way of looking at marriage,โ€ Waithe tells THR. โ€œI do think that we as a nation need to reevaluate what marriage looks like for us as a countryโ€”because whatever we have right now, it ainโ€™t working.โ€ Waithe further explains that while sheโ€™s never been in an open marriage herself, the arrangement is โ€œfascinatingโ€ to her.

https://twitter.com/THR/status/1290395891904532481

โ€œWe live in a world where, if I told you I cheated on my wife, you would be like, โ€˜Yeah, thatโ€™s the way it goes,โ€™โ€ she continues. โ€œBut if I told you that Iโ€™m in an open marriage, it would be as if I told you Iโ€™m joining the Church of Scientology.โ€ Waithe and her longtime partner Alana Mayo split earlier this year after two months of marriage, after which they issued a joint statement saying they โ€œhave nothing but support for one another.โ€

Waitheโ€™s first official project under her Amazon deal, which was announced in 2019, will be called Them: Covenant. Per The Hollywood Reporter, it โ€œfollows a Black couple and their move to an all-white Los Angeles neighborhoodโ€”where the picturesque street masks malevolent forces both real and supernatural.โ€ Waitheโ€™s ability to โ€œ[identify] exciting and authentic voicesโ€ was praised by Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, when news of the deal was made public.


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