On the one hand, it has been so frustrating to watch this season, on the other hand, none of this should be surprising. Glossing over big issues is what The Bold Type does. Silencing Black voices is what Hollywood does . Watching The Bold Type is an exercise in turning off your brain and letting the glitzy fantasy world of three women going on implausible misadventures in outfits they’d never be able to afford. The series has basically become sci-fi for people who actually work in women’s media — it’s unrealistic but addictive — but there is one part of it that is incredibly true to real life. It has built a brand on inclusive feminism by leaning on its Black employee for clout while refusing to practice what it’s preaching behind the camera. (The same could be said for Refinery29, which has been accused of the same treatment of its employees of color.) As Sesali Bowen wrote for Refinery29 in 2018, The Bold Type is “flexing its feminist muscles. Per usual; however, that feminist spirit is really cute, and really white.” Now we know why.