“I Love You” -Keith, June 15th 2018

Tommy gun

Red cloak

An army of Tillys

Sòti nan gran lanmou (From Such Great Love)

Widline Cadet

[Glee] introduced Riley to millions of fans and catapulted her into major Hollywood circles. But in other ways, it became a reminder of the types of roles Black women, especially those who are plus-sized, are relegated to. Behind the scenes, Riley says she fought for her character "to have a voice" but eventually realized her efforts were useless. "It finally got to a point where I was like, this is not my moment. I'm not who they're choosing, and this is just going to have to be a job for me for now," she says. "And, that's okay because it pays my bills, I still get to be on television, I'm doing more than any other Black plus-sized women that I'm seeing right now on screen."

The actress can recognize now that she was navigating issues associated with trauma and low self-esteem at the time [and] was triggered by how the cult-like following of the show conflicted with her individual, isolated experiences behind the scenes. But she was in her early '20s back then. She didn't yet have the language or the tools to process how she was feeling.

Riley says she eventually sought out medical intervention. "When you're in Hollywood, and you go to a doctor, they give you pills."

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