Angelica Nwandu
Birth dateMay 10, 1989 (age 37)
Birth placeLos Angeles, California, U.S.
OccupationMedia personality
Years active2014–present

Angelica Nwandu (born May 10, 1989)[1][2] is an American media personality. She the founder of the Shade Room, an Instagram-based media company focused on celebrity gossip. Nwandu was dubbed "The Oprah of [her] generation" by Refinery29[3] and a "celebrity culture savant" by Complex. Time magazine named TSR in the 30 most influential on the internet in 2016. The New York Times called the Shade Room "Instagram's TMZ".[4]

Early life and education

Angelica Nwandu was born in 1989 in Los Angeles, California, to Nigerian parents.[5][6] In a November 2025 interview with Proximity Media, she revealed that her father murdered her mother when she was six years old. Subsequently, Nwandu grew up in foster care.[7] She graduated from Loyola Marymount University.[8]

Career

The Shade Room

Main article: The Shade Room

In 2016, Forbes named Nwandu to its 30 Under 30 list, saying she "revolutionized celebrity gossip" with the founding of the Shade Room.[9] Cosmopolitan reports that the Shade Room's followers across platforms now total more than eight million people.[10] TechCrunch named her to its list of "18 Female Founders Who Killed It in 2015"[11] and BuzzFeed says Nwandu is "figuring things out faster than everyone else."[12]

Film

Nwandu has also been a Sundance fellow and Time Warner HBO fellow 2014[13] selected for the January 2014 Screenwriters Lab.[14] The project, developed with co-writer Jordana Spiro, is called Night Comes On. It premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival where it won the NEXT Innovator award.[15] Samuel Goldwyn Films acquired the film for distribution, with a simultaneous theatrical and VOD release set for August 3, 2018.[16]

References

  1. ^ Abumere, Princess (May 10, 2017). "5 things you should know about the Shade Room founder". Pulse Nigeria. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  2. ^ "Today is my bday". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
  3. ^ Davis, Allison P. (2019-10-21). "How I Get It Done: Angelica Nwandu, Founder and CEO of The Shade Room". The Cut. Retrieved 2023-07-22.
  4. ^ Wortham, Jenna (April 14, 2015). "Instagram's TMZ". The New York Times
  5. ^ Williams, Tommy (2020-02-20). "Meet Angelica Nwandu: Founder Of The Shade Room, Instagram’s 3rd Most Engaged Profile". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-06-07.
  6. ^ Shafrir, Doree (2015-12-22). "The Shade Room Is Coming For The Gossip Industry's Wig". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 2025-06-07.
  7. ^ Proximity Media (2025-11-03). From Sundance to The Shade Room: How Angelica Nwandu Built a Media Empire | IN PROXIMITY S3E07. Retrieved 2025-11-03. – via YouTube.
  8. ^ Titus, Alex (February 3, 2016). "Step Into #TheShadeRoom With Angelica Nwandu". NBC News.
  9. ^ Inverso, Emily. "Anjelica Nwandu, 25 - In Photos: 2016 30 Under 30: Media". Forbes
  10. ^ Wood Rudulph, Heather (June 20, 2016). "How I Started My Own Company Using My Instagram Account". Cosmopolitan
  11. ^ Loizos, Connie (December 22, 2015). "18 Female Founders Who Killed It In 2015". Tech Crunch. AOL. Archived August 21, 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 10, 2019. You might not have heard of Angie Nwandu yet, but you can bet investors are paying close attention to her nascent but fast-growing media company, The Shade Room. Started in March 2014 as a personal Instagram account of Nwandu, the 25-year-old has managed to become a hugely popular purveyor of black celebrity gossip, taking on older, more established competitors with a small staff and very flexible ideas about where she wants to take her business next.
  12. ^ Shafrir, Doree (December 21, 2015). "The Shade Room Is Coming For The Gossip Industry's Wig". BuzzFeed
  13. ^ D'Amour, Zon (May 5, 2016). "Who Is Angelica Nwandu?". Los Angeles Sentinel
  14. ^ Obenson, Tambay A. (December 19, 2013). "Angelica Nwandu's 'Night Comes On' + Ryan Koo's 'Manchild' Are Sundance 2014 Screenwriters Lab Picks". IndieWire
  15. ^ Erbland, Kate (June 14, 2018). "'Night Comes On' Trailer: Jordana Spiro and Angelica Nwandu's Sundance Winner Announces Arrival of Big New Talents". IndieWire. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  16. ^ "The Shade Room Founder Angelica Nwandu Joins Hollywood Ranks With Powerful New Film 'Night Comes On'". Essence. Retrieved June 24, 2018.