Angela "Bye Felicia" Means Kaaya

"Bye Felicia" is a line from the 1995 comedy classic FRIDAY. Both the phrase and the movie continue to be a part of pop culture today. MTV and other networks often run marathons of FRIDAY and its sequels NEXT FRIDAY, (2000) and FRIDAY AFTER NEXT, (2002). A fourth installment LAST FRIDAY has been delayed because of the death of John Witherspoon who portrayed the father of Craig Jones who is portrayed by Ice Cube.

In the first film, Craig and Smokey (Chris Tucker) are sitting on the front porch of the Jones home when an unkempt young woman with plaited hair shows up. She was assumed by the viewing audience to be the neighborhood crack addict. She annoys the young men by asking to borrow a car, a microwave, or drugs and Craig dismisses her by saying "Bye Felicia" and telling her to get a job.

. The slogan caught and "Bye Felicia" became the way of telling someone to get out of your face. There are memes with these two words and the motto has been used often in conversations and on social media over the decades.

Felicia was portrayed by actress Angela Means Kaaya who describes herself as being of mixed race-ethnicity. She was born in Ann Arbor Michigan on November 19, 1963, and married Brad Kaaya Sr. a former screenwriter who wrote for COUSIN SKEETER, MAD TV, DAMON, and the movie O. They have a son Brad Kaaya Jr. who is a former quarterback for the University of Miami and currently a QB for the Indianapolis Colts.

There is speculation that the Kaya's might be separated or divorced as they have not been seen together in public in quite a while. It's also possible that perhaps the couple is simply private. Angela is an entrepreneur as well as a vegan chef and began acting in 1992 and has a number of memorable roles under her belt.

In addition to playing Felicia, Angela Means Kaaya portrayed Veda in HOUSE PARTY 3 and Aunt Vanessa in the TV series COUSIN SKEETER. At the age of 19, she became a model for Bill Blass and Bob Mackie. In March 2019 Sheryl Lee Ralph interviewed Angela Means Kaaya for the “Diva Defined” podcast show on KTLA5. She addressed the "Bye Felisha." phenomenon saying that she found out it had even caught on in Germany when she went on vacation.

In FRIDAY, there is a scene where Kaaya's character allegedly took money from the pocket of the neighborhood bully Deebo. (Tiny Lister). He beat her up and when her sister Debbie, (Nia Long) saw her bruised and battered face she called Deebo out on beating her sister and he responded by hitting Debbie. Craig defended her by telling Deebo not to hit a female and the two men get into a fight.

The neighbors, including Debbie and Felicia watch as the big bully, seems to be getting the best of Craig. Eventually, Ice Cube's character comes around knocks Deebo out, and other men in the neighborhood decide to get their licks in. One man reclaims a gold chain from around the bully's neck that he says belonged to his grandmother. Smokey talks trash as he takes cash from Deebos pocket.

During a 2015 interview with BUZZFEED on the 20th anniversary of FRIDAY, Ice Cube said that the fight scene was based on an incident that actually happened in the neighborhood where he grew up. It had been reported that Angela Means Kaaya had retired from acting but in 2018 she portrayed Raven in the TV series THE AMERICAN FAMILY DREAMERS. Dreamers”. She was also in the 2020 film THE REGIMENT.