Instagram-based, The Shade Room offers celebrity and trending news on an hourly basis, predominantly within the African American community; The New York Times called it the "TMZ of Instagram".

[citation needed] In June 2016, Cosmopolitan reported that The Shade Room's followers across platforms totaled more than eight million people.

On October 10, 2015, The Shade Room was one of the first to report that Lamar Odom was found at Dennis Hoff's Love Ranch in Nevada.

The Shade Room was the first to report the apology with platforms like Vibe, Black Entertainment Television and Rolling Out Magazine covering the story shortly thereafter.

[9] Recognizing founder Nwandu on its 2016 30 Under 30 list, Forbes said she "revolutionized celebrity gossip" with the founding of The Shade Room.