Who Owns The Shade Room?

The Shade Room (TSR) is an Instagram-based media company headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The service was founded in Mar 2014 by Angelica Nwandu. The Shade Room offers hourly celebrity and trending news focused on the African American community. As of Dec 2023, the media company had 35 full-time employees.

The Shade Room has evolved from a celebrity gossip page to a media powerhouse since its founding in Mar 2014. The service expanded its offering to cover breaking news topics, pop culture, and politics on multiple media platforms.

As of Oct 2023, the company’s Instagram account received over 1.5 billion impressions and reached 32 million people weekly. The Shade Room’s Instagram account adds over five million followers yearly. [1]

The media house uses “Shade” as a slang term for quips or wisecracks made to debase their target. Some of its posts are uplifting. However, most of the content is gossipy, negative, and counterproductive to African American conversations.

In 2022, American rapper, 50 Cent, sued the Shade Room for dispersing false penis enlargement claims. 50 Cent and the Shade Room settled the lawsuit in Feb 2023 before the trial date. [2]

Angie Nwandu founded The Shade Room to create a space for real and honest conversations on celebrity culture. The platform’s purpose was purely entertainment when she started it. However, the content was misconstrued as “shade” when more people shared honest feelings about the lifestyle and actions of Hollywood starlets.

The founder rewrote the narrative to transform The Shade Room into a platform for sharing community news and positivity. But who owns The Shade Room? [3]

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Who is The Shade Room’s Owner?

The Shade Room is an independent media company owned by its founder, Angelica Nwandu. She was born in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in a foster home after her father killed her mother.

This tragic episode of domestic violence pushed Nwandu to work hard in life. After high school, Nwandu went to Loyola Marymount University to study accounting. Nwandu abandoned the path to become an accountant when she was admitted into Sundance Labs, a screenwriting incubator. She created TSR while pursuing screenwriting. [4]

Nwandu’s initial idea was a blogging website on Black-focused celebrity gossip. The concept quickly morphed into Instagram posts because she lacked web development skills.

Nwandu bootstrapped the operation to get the business off the ground. As of Mar 2024, The Shade Room generated 90% of its revenue from advertising. The owner expanded the service across the web and social media platforms. She plans to deliver The Shade Room on every channel that fits the brand and its reporting style. [5]

The Shade Room is a welcoming space for the African American community to discuss politics, music, and fashion. However, freedom of speech increases the risk of controversies. In Aug 2023, the media company was accused of spreading misinformation about Biden’s relief efforts for Maui wildfire victims.

The criticism stemmed from a misleading Shade Room Instagram post on the aid offered to Maui residents affected by the fires. [6]

The Shade Room has been criticized for undercutting the efforts of Black celebrities. In Jul 2022, American rapper Cardi B accused the outlet of posting only unfavorable content about her. The acclaimed artist clashed with The Shade Room on Twitter (X) after the company’s moderators ignored her private messages. [7]

Image Credit Magnus Andersson — Image Credit: Magnus Andersson

The Shade Room’s Ownership History

Angelica Nwandu launched The Shade Room as a Black-focused celebrity gossip blogging website. The founder and owner used the site as a personal blog to give her opinion on celebrity news.

She built the first account with up to 500,000 followers before it was taken offline and rebuilt the multimedia business from scratch. By the end of 2015, the site had 2.6 million followers. The founder expanded the coverage beyond celebrity news to include music, politics, and fashion. It has featured prominent politicians like Obama, President Joe Biden, and Stacy Abrams. [8]

Nwandu recruited her roommates to submit tips, stories, and ideas as moderators and curators for the community. The Shade Room followers have been called “roommates” ever since. She expanded the Instagram-based service to other platforms, including Snapchat, TikTok, and Twitter (X).

By Jun 2016, The Shade Room had over 8 million followers across social media platforms. The media company received venture financing from Indie VC to enhance its growth.

Angelica Nwandu was included in Forbes’ 2016 30 Under 30 list for revolutionizing celebrity gossip. In 2019, the founder launched The Shade Room Teens.

Teenagers can rely on the platform to access age-appropriate celebrity gossip and news. By Mar 2021, The Shade Room Teens had 3.1 million Instagram followers. The burgeoning TSR owner used her new-found wealth to acquire a $3.4 contemporary villa in the proto-suburban San Fernando Valley community of Sherman Oaks. [9]

The Shade Room attained profitability about two years after its founding. So, the company didn’t require substantial funding or external investors. By 2021, The Shade Room had 22 million Instagram “roommates” and nearly 1 million TikTok followers.

The service receives millions of views on Snapchat and its website. As of Jul 2022, The Shade Room Teens had 4.5 million Instagram followers and over 16,700 posts. [10]

Companies like Fashion Nova, Facebook, GMC, and McDonald’s partnered with The Shade Room to reach more consumers. The multi-platform media outlet has helped launch over 400 Black-owned businesses by providing affordable advertisements.

In Dec 2022, Angelica Nwandu established a TSR Shop powered by Flourysh. This e-commerce platform offers a community-driven marketplace featuring Black-owned brands. TSR Shop connects Black businesses to African-American consumers. [11]

The Shade Room’s Shareholder Structure

The Shade Room is a Black-owned and woman-led media house established by Angelica Nwandu. The founder has been the company’s majority owner since its founding in 2014. She is also the CEO and the most influential decision-maker in the media outlet. So, all TSR directors, managers, content creators, and editors work under Nwandu. [12]

The founder’s creative screenwriting and content creation skills fueled the media company’s meteoritic rise and profitability. In 2015, Indie VC owner Bryce Roberts offered venture capital to founder and CEO Nwandu after reading a New York Times article about The Shade Room. Bryce Roberts invested $100,000 in the company for a 7% stake. CEO Nwandu repaid the amount and reclaimed the equity held by Bryce Roberts. Angelica Nwandu is now The Shade Room’s sole owner. [13]

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