Speaker 1: Welcome to Reality the King. It's me Carlos King, the
Speaker 1: King of Reality TV and one of the most sought
Speaker 1: after executive producers in reality television with over ten years
Speaker 1: of production experience. Twice a week on Reality with the King,
Speaker 1: we'll sit down with my friends across the entertainment industry,
Speaker 1: recap our favorite reality shows and revisit unforgettable moments that
Speaker 1: we are still talking and tweeting about. Ladies, Gelamen and
Speaker 1: Day cause you know, we gotta be all inclusive, right.
Speaker 1: I am here with my Libra brother, my sister, my friend,
Speaker 1: my love icon, legendary baby Acto Okay in the number
Speaker 1: one movie out right now on Netflix, starring with Academy
Speaker 1: Award winners and nominees Glenn Close, Monique and for Day
Speaker 1: and my best says give it up for the One
Speaker 1: the only no last name needed baby, Miss Lauren.
Speaker 2: Hello, it's so good to see you. I miss you.
Speaker 2: Do you really? I really do miss you too?
Speaker 1: No, you are I feel like we all started together.
Speaker 2: Yes we did.
Speaker 1: And what I want to say to you is I
Speaker 1: am very proud of you. Thank you and the reason
Speaker 1: why I'm proud of you. And we'll get to the
Speaker 1: episode later I'm proud of you because you had a
Speaker 1: dream and you never allowed it to waiver. What you
Speaker 1: are doing right now in this space with Lee Daniels. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's something that I know through our personal conversations that
Speaker 1: you always wanted to do and the fact that you
Speaker 1: are living out your wildest dreams. I just want to
Speaker 1: say to you on the record, in front of the world.
Speaker 1: I know firsthand the sacrifices you've made. I know firsthand
Speaker 1: how and we'll get into this too, how you've had
Speaker 1: some stressful, depressing moments in your life, right, yes, and
Speaker 1: you are faith based human and God is the reason
Speaker 1: why you were able to go through it, flow through
Speaker 1: it and come.
Speaker 2: Out of it unscathed. So I just want to say,
Speaker 2: ron of applause, say talk This ain't easy, yea. And
Speaker 2: I have to say it was a dream or wasn't
Speaker 2: an idea that I didn't think would ever come to
Speaker 2: fruition are come to pass? Right? And how I even
Speaker 2: ended up, how we even got a chance to meet
Speaker 2: you know, it's because I abandoned the side of me
Speaker 2: that belonged to the arts, the side of me that
Speaker 2: belonged to the acting world, the singing world, the dance world,
Speaker 2: all around arts. I abandoned that and I became a
Speaker 2: hairstylist and it was through my gift of being a hairstylist,
Speaker 2: which is also artistry, that led me to us meeting.
Speaker 2: But I have to say that it you know, it
Speaker 2: was nothing. I never thought that I would be where
Speaker 2: I am, and yes it has. I have had some
Speaker 2: extremely dark days. Because the more you know, the more
Speaker 2: you weigh. The more you learn, the more you weigh,
Speaker 2: the more things weigh you down. The more the truth
Speaker 2: about society, the you know, the truth about this game,
Speaker 2: this industry, it will weigh you down. So when I say,
Speaker 2: the more you know and the more you learn, the
Speaker 2: more you weigh. But I wouldn't change any of it
Speaker 2: for the for the world. What I would do is
Speaker 2: is if I had if I had an idea and
Speaker 2: someone gave me a heads up, I would have better prepared.
Speaker 2: I would have better prepared. But it's it's been it's
Speaker 2: been a journey so far, and I'm I'm still just
Speaker 2: scratching the surface, but it has definitely been a journey.
Speaker 1: Well, let's let's get from the Let's start in the beginning.
Speaker 1: Because you are a preacher's kid, no, I.
Speaker 2: Thought you I grew up in church. You grew up ink,
Speaker 2: But I grew up in church. Yes, I did talk
Speaker 2: to me about being a black being in church. Did
Speaker 2: and you also were in sports. I played football when
Speaker 2: I was little. You know, that was during that discovery
Speaker 2: era of my parents, right when they were discovering on
Speaker 2: how to be the best parent, when they saw the
Speaker 2: infeminite ways in which I had, you know, trying to
Speaker 2: turn me into that American dream child or that American
Speaker 2: little boy. So they put me in football. And because
Speaker 2: I just kind of have an innate passion to excel
Speaker 2: and be the best at anything that I do, I
Speaker 2: was really good at it. I did not want to
Speaker 2: do it. I would have much rather been on the
Speaker 2: sidelines with the cheerleaders or you know, all the other
Speaker 2: drill team girls and stuff like that. But I did
Speaker 2: really well at playing football. I played football for the
Speaker 2: College Park Rams. Shout out to the College Park Rams.
Speaker 2: I was a linebacker, and the most fascinating thing was
Speaker 2: seeing looking at all the boys. And I was really good.
Speaker 2: I was so good and so much so that the
Speaker 2: following season, the coach reached out to my father and
Speaker 2: was like, you know, we want them back as the quarterback,
Speaker 2: and I was like, I'm not doing that again. I
Speaker 2: don't give damn how good I was. I'm not doing
Speaker 2: that again. Now, y'all tried, and I'm still around here
Speaker 2: walking with a broken wrist, and I'm still walking around
Speaker 2: here walking with a twist and a broken hill and
Speaker 2: I'm just comfortable with that. So the football trick didn't work,
Speaker 2: so I'm not gonna go do it again. How old
Speaker 2: were you when you did the football thing?
Speaker 1: Oh?
Speaker 2: I don't remember. I was so little. I was young.
Speaker 2: I was really young. I don't remember. I really don't.
Speaker 2: When did you know that you were gay? As far
Speaker 2: as I can remember, I knew that boys. Men just
Speaker 2: did something for me, you know what I mean? Yeah,
Speaker 2: But when I learned what love looks like that moment,
Speaker 2: it had nothing to do with a man or a woman.
Speaker 2: Love showed me everything that I needed to know to
Speaker 2: get through life. So while my attractions and my desire
Speaker 2: for men still to this day is what I want
Speaker 2: because I am gay, but what I what I hope
Speaker 2: and I pray, especially for my straight community, is that
Speaker 2: they learn that love has nothing to do with gender.
Speaker 2: It has absolutely nothing to do with gender. Yes you
Speaker 2: will be same gender loving, but that doesn't mean that
Speaker 2: that type of love is different from heterosexual love, you
Speaker 2: know what I mean? And I learned that when I
Speaker 2: found my love for black women, when I learned that
Speaker 2: we were inseparable, when I was became enamored by their beauty,
Speaker 2: which led me to getting into the beauty industry. It's
Speaker 2: an indescribable feeling, you know. When I learned that black
Speaker 2: women were my safe haven, starting with my mother, my sister, grandmother,
Speaker 2: you name it, and just wanting to be around them,
Speaker 2: wanting to protect them, and that they protected my emotions
Speaker 2: and what I thought of myself, which I later discovered
Speaker 2: they were. Black women were the first allies for me.
Speaker 2: That's when I knew that love really has nothing to
Speaker 2: do with gender. And I want people to learn that.
Speaker 1: Did your mother as a kid protect you from people
Speaker 1: who may have thought you were different?
Speaker 2: Or were you bullied or teased or like what? I never?
Speaker 2: I have to be honest, I don't. I never got bullied.
Speaker 2: I don't think that I can remember. I never. I
Speaker 2: never got bullied. Yeah, people would, I've heard every slur
Speaker 2: you can think of, you know, but I never got bullied.
Speaker 2: I never got like beat up or I never got
Speaker 2: that because I was one that would fight and I
Speaker 2: knew how to thank God for my big family that
Speaker 2: I have, But I didn't. I didn't have that problem.
Speaker 2: I have to be honest with you, I did not
Speaker 2: have that problem. While I know it exists and I
Speaker 2: know it was treacherous back in the day, it was
Speaker 2: terrible some some of some of the girls, some of
Speaker 2: us didn't make it out because of it. So and
Speaker 2: we still have a lot of work to do to
Speaker 2: erradical hate that. But that was not my experience. I
Speaker 2: think most of my trauma came from emotional and mental trauma.
Speaker 2: You know. That actually didn't happen until later again, when
Speaker 2: I became an aware individual. Because growing up, I always
Speaker 2: had my talents that would be celebrated. I was always
Speaker 2: a good dancer. I was always the one that would
Speaker 2: dance at the school pep rallies or you know, I
Speaker 2: was always the one in high school I could do hair,
Speaker 2: so all the girls, they all lived for me. I
Speaker 2: had the baddest girls. That was always my closest friends.
Speaker 2: So the boys always loved me because they knew I
Speaker 2: came with the girls. I didn't have that I didn't have.
Speaker 2: I didn't have a problem, and you know, it didn't
Speaker 2: come until later when I had this idea that I
Speaker 2: could take my rightful place and shape in society as
Speaker 2: I am, that I would later be shunned out of
Speaker 2: places because it wasn't fully accepted. And that's when I'm like, wait,
Speaker 2: what is this? You know? And then I had to
Speaker 2: go do some studying and I had to do some
Speaker 2: unlearning and some relearning or learn or whatever that I
Speaker 2: discovered where our discontents were in our culture as black people.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I want to get into that because I first
Speaker 1: met you on the set of The Real Housewives of
Speaker 1: Atlanta in two thousand and eight. Right, I was living
Speaker 1: in New York City at the time, and you and
Speaker 1: I don't think we ever talked about this. So in
Speaker 1: New York City there were these this is like before
Speaker 1: social media. Yeah, there were these pictures floating around on
Speaker 1: blogs of you and Derek Jy in Atlanta Brain Hills.
Speaker 1: And this is two thousand and eight, and it was
Speaker 1: a whole thing about like black men wearing heels like
Speaker 1: this phenomenon. Right, So here I am leaving New York City,
Speaker 1: I go to Atlanta, to do this reality show right.
Speaker 2: And I get to Chara's home and I see you.
Speaker 1: And all black and the highest of the high heels
Speaker 1: and me growing up in Detroit, Michigan, same experience as yours.
Speaker 1: I wasn't, you know, physically bullied or anything like that.
Speaker 1: Obviously lived in New York City. Everybody New York City
Speaker 1: is different, but really never really saw gay black men
Speaker 1: in hells. And I remember looking at you, like, that's
Speaker 1: the guy whose pictures are floating all around these blogs,
Speaker 1: and you were so this is the funny thing about it.
Speaker 2: I'm like, he is the most beautiful, confident man I
Speaker 2: have ever seen. And we are around again.
Speaker 1: This is two thousand and eight, the upper Eeschenol, black
Speaker 1: folks in Atlanta, white people, too, straight people, and you
Speaker 1: appeared to fit in like a glove. When did you
Speaker 1: decide for yourself when you talk about the space you
Speaker 1: wanted to be in this world? When did that decision
Speaker 1: come to being like I'm gonna make up and some
Speaker 1: heels and it's gonna be me.
Speaker 2: You know what. It's weird because it wasn't like a decision.
Speaker 2: It wasn't like, Okay, this is the moment, this is
Speaker 2: what I I have to credit all of it to
Speaker 2: the beauty industry. I've been wearing heels or pumps or whatever,
Speaker 2: thigh haaboots, you name it since probably what two thousand
Speaker 2: and three, two thousand and four. Prior to that, I
Speaker 2: graduated from high school in two thousand and one. I'm
Speaker 2: not ashamed of my age. I graduated from high school
Speaker 2: in two thousand and one. And even in high school,
Speaker 2: while I didn't wear heels, I wore like cowboy boots,
Speaker 2: but I would have like the heel of them extended.
Speaker 2: I would like, oh, ask some more, the padding of
Speaker 2: the soul, make the soul thicker, because I wanted it higher,
Speaker 2: because it did something so satisfying for me. It wasn't
Speaker 2: for attention, it was it was it was internal. It
Speaker 2: was what I felt, you know. And I was probably
Speaker 2: the only person in high school walking around like that.
Speaker 2: And I mean I was wearing hair back then. By
Speaker 2: the time y'all met me, I had slightly toned it
Speaker 2: down because prior y'all was walking around with booty shorts.
Speaker 2: What ass out the cowboy slash cowgirl boots? You yeah,
Speaker 2: a juicy conture sweat suits with the timberlands, you know, yeah,
Speaker 2: very very baby fat about it, very baby fat about it.
Speaker 2: So by the time I could y'all met me a lot,
Speaker 2: I had come out of that era and I had
Speaker 2: gone into grown into like the Manolo Blonics and the
Speaker 2: Captain Melandrinos of it all. The blouse says, you know.
Speaker 2: So there was never this this moment, this defining moment
Speaker 2: where I'm like, oh, I'm gonna wear makeup. It was
Speaker 2: just what I felt. It felt good when I started
Speaker 2: being I started in the salon as an assistant when
Speaker 2: I was fifteen years old. I worked downtown at the salon,
Speaker 2: and it just felt natural to go in, you know,
Speaker 2: put a little dust of powder on my face. Didn't
Speaker 2: know what the hell I was doing. It was a
Speaker 2: disaster back then, but it felt I felt good about it,
Speaker 2: and I was celebrated for it because I was good
Speaker 2: at what I did. I was the best shampooor you know,
Speaker 2: I was the best assistant. Everyone left with a smile
Speaker 2: and felt good. So I was always celebrated just as
Speaker 2: I was. And so as I got older and I
Speaker 2: became my own, you know, became a hairstylist for myself,
Speaker 2: and I got into doing hair shows, and I remember
Speaker 2: in two thousand and five, which was a defining moment.
Speaker 2: In two thousand and five, I did the Brono Brother
Speaker 2: Hair Battle Royale. I was a rookie at the time.
Speaker 2: I had been invited to compete because the person that
Speaker 2: was over that reached out to me she had seen
Speaker 2: me at the Monique's Hair Show movie premiere. I think
Speaker 2: it was called Monique's Hair Show or the Hair Show
Speaker 2: or some beauty shot premiere, some kind of movie premiere
Speaker 2: center around hair and Monique was in it. And I
Speaker 2: had gone and I had this Gion Franco Foray labels
Speaker 2: Gion Franco Foray tennis skirt on with the matching boots
Speaker 2: and the top. And I had a set of cards
Speaker 2: that said that had my information on it and it
Speaker 2: said the card said she she ostentatiously stylish and deliberately chic,
Speaker 2: and it was a picture of my work on there.
Speaker 2: And I got a phone call some week, maybe a
Speaker 2: week or two later from Lord bless Us Soul Mami
Speaker 2: bell Uh at the time, and she said, we saw
Speaker 2: you at the at the at the Hair Show premiere,
Speaker 2: and we want to invite you to compete. And the
Speaker 2: prestigious Hair Battle Royale, you will be the first of
Speaker 2: the youngest to ever do it. But the way she said,
Speaker 2: the way you came to that premiere, we know you
Speaker 2: were put on a show. And I went and Honey destroyed,
Speaker 2: destroyed the hair battle. I will forever say that I won.
Speaker 2: I will. I will tell you, I will to my
Speaker 2: last day, I wist say I won. But they didn't
Speaker 2: let me win because I came out there and I
Speaker 2: had on some thigh high Gion Marco Gion Marco Lorenzi
Speaker 2: boots and they were thigh hide and I had the
Speaker 2: the high waist pants. It was over. Then I had
Speaker 2: one of my girlfriends on the stage and she was
Speaker 2: one of the girls Honey, and I mean the room
Speaker 2: went ballistic. They had never and mind you, Brunn a
Speaker 2: brother at the time, and they still aren't assuming the
Speaker 2: very religious hair company they were. They're very faith based
Speaker 2: and at that time, what I was walking around representing
Speaker 2: and presenting was not acceptable. And that was one of
Speaker 2: the first times that I felt denied because of who
Speaker 2: I was. And so I will forever say that I
Speaker 2: won that battle. However, they just didn't give it to me.
Speaker 2: And that's okay because later they made their wrong right.
Speaker 2: They've reached out to me several times to come and
Speaker 2: host and excuse me to come and judge the hair battles,
Speaker 2: and they've had to pay me triple what I would
Speaker 2: have won. So delay is not denial, but that going back,
Speaker 2: that was one of the first times that I ever
Speaker 2: felt like I was shunned because of how I chose
Speaker 2: to show up, you know. So I can't say that
Speaker 2: there is a defiance any moment. It's just I just
Speaker 2: walked into and honored and honored my destiny and my journey,
Speaker 2: and that just so happened to come with makeup. It
Speaker 2: just so happened to come with the heels. It just
Speaker 2: don't happened to come with the blouse or skirt, you know.
Speaker 2: And here we are, decades later, and I still extract
Speaker 2: from that person that I was then, not so much
Speaker 2: as now because I like being a little more comfortable now.
Speaker 2: I'm not trying to walk around with you know, A
Speaker 2: excuse this term, but it is what it is. It's
Speaker 2: called a gaff. A gaf is like a little thing that,
Speaker 2: you know, keep you tucked and right in place, so
Speaker 2: you ain't riding here bulging all over the place. I
Speaker 2: don't want to walk around all that stuff on no more.
Speaker 2: I don't feel like my feet hurting no more. I
Speaker 2: don't feel like none of it no more. So I
Speaker 2: want to do it if it colls for that AKA,
Speaker 2: if I'm working, yes, you know, yeah, Okay.
Speaker 1: So the thing is is, back then, when I came
Speaker 1: to Atlanta in two thousand and eight, I was.
Speaker 2: Impressed and.
Speaker 1: So like enamored with Atlanta in the social scene. You know,
Speaker 1: Atlanta now is different, you know, I think it's very different.
Speaker 1: In two thousand and eight, I felt like baby Atlanta
Speaker 1: was the place to be. Talk to me about because
Speaker 1: me and Takara spoke about New York City in the
Speaker 1: very amazing decade of two thousand through twenty ten, and
Speaker 1: now New York at the same anymore.
Speaker 2: Talk me through what that era was like in Atlanta.
Speaker 1: I just I just remember these beautiful, rich, wealthy, successful
Speaker 1: black people who were inter mingling with white society on
Speaker 1: this same level. And you fit like a glove. You
Speaker 1: are not a sore thumb. You know, we were following
Speaker 1: these housewives, right, but you had something What was it
Speaker 1: about Atlanta at that time where it was like this
Speaker 1: is like nothing we've ever seen.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna tell you what makes Atlanta so magical, and
Speaker 2: it has nothing to do with us, but it has
Speaker 2: everything to do with our civil rights heroes and ancestors.
Speaker 2: When you look at where black people at large has
Speaker 2: been able to do become doctors, become lawyers, become CEOs,
Speaker 2: become music executives, become film directors, you name it, it
Speaker 2: is because of the work of our civil rights heroes,
Speaker 2: and the civil rights era started in Atlanta, Georgia. This
Speaker 2: is the birthplace of the civil rights movement. By way
Speaker 2: of doctor King, by way of Bayard Rustin, who was
Speaker 2: an openly black gay man. They worked with their white
Speaker 2: counterparts to create change. They work with each other, whether
Speaker 2: they are straight, and I think what we are living
Speaker 2: right now is their wildest dream and I don't think
Speaker 2: people even realize that. That is what makes Atlanta so magical,
Speaker 2: the fact that you can walk around and you can
Speaker 2: take inventory of the people that are in this amazing city.
Speaker 2: Some are black and gay, extremely successful, living on the
Speaker 2: same street as the governor, building homes around the corner
Speaker 2: from the Governor. You see black women living the same
Speaker 2: way their white counterparts, you know, live, and black men
Speaker 2: doing their things. That is what the dream was and
Speaker 2: it got started right here. And I think that is
Speaker 2: what people. That is what you see, that is what
Speaker 2: you get. We have our own type of love language
Speaker 2: here in Atlanta. We say what we want when we
Speaker 2: get ready, and we're unbothered by how someone feels about it.
Speaker 2: Because again, when Doctor King, when Bayard, when Andy Young,
Speaker 2: when John Lewis, when those people spoke and they spoke
Speaker 2: the truth, they didn't care what nobody thought. They spoke
Speaker 2: and did and said what needed to be said and
Speaker 2: what needed to be done. And that is what makes
Speaker 2: it magical. That is what you felt in two thousand
Speaker 2: and eight when you came here.
Speaker 1: When Bravo came to do this reality show. Did you
Speaker 1: think it would be the big phenomena it is today?
Speaker 2: Hell no, I didn't know.
Speaker 3: No.
Speaker 2: First of all, none of us knew. None of us
Speaker 2: knew what was happening. Schara and I were friends. Schara
Speaker 2: reached out to me one day and she said, you know,
Speaker 2: I always have to talk like I can't help it. No,
Speaker 2: I love you. Something that happens, I just I love her.
Speaker 2: You mock the girls and out to me. Now, mind you.
Speaker 2: She might not have even been around anybody. But because
Speaker 2: SCHARAA and Scharay, she always is going to make sure
Speaker 2: no one hears her. She probably wasn't even around anybody,
Speaker 2: but about imagining that. The conversation, if I can visualize her,
Speaker 2: when she called me, it was this, hey, so uh ah,
Speaker 2: they're doing the show real you have seen Real Housewives
Speaker 2: of Orange County. So yeah, so they're trying to do
Speaker 2: something like that here. They want like me needed kim
Speaker 2: uh at lista, so they I gotta have it, want
Speaker 2: to have people around me. I was thinking you could
Speaker 2: come on there with me and you know, maybe you
Speaker 2: could do my hair something like that. I said, okay, I.
Speaker 3: Said, okay, that was good if you not straight personally,
Speaker 3: you note that he nailed it.
Speaker 2: Continue So I'm like, okay, I didn't think nothing of it.
Speaker 2: I'm like, okay, so let me do your hair on
Speaker 2: the show. They're gonna record you. Were you her regular
Speaker 2: hairstylist at that time, I was not. We were just
Speaker 2: good friends. I Charia and I met. I used to
Speaker 2: shop in her store that she had here called Bella
Speaker 2: Azul and it was a really nice boutique, high end boutique,
Speaker 2: and she sold she had the stuff in there. Honey.
Speaker 2: She had the things, Chloe. I mean, she had the
Speaker 2: stuff in there. And I would go in there and
Speaker 2: I because you know, I had coins. I was dating
Speaker 2: somebody that had coins back then. So I would go
Speaker 2: in there. I would baby, I would drop bags. And
Speaker 2: I didn't learn until later she thought that I was
Speaker 2: a stylist, that I was shopping for somebody until one
Speaker 2: day I asked for a dressing room and she and
Speaker 2: she said, are you about drine his own? I said yeah,
Speaker 2: she said, oh shit, okay. So that's that is what's
Speaker 2: what sparked the magic and what became later a really good,
Speaker 2: genuine friendship. And we started going out and hanging out.
Speaker 2: We would go to Sweet Lounge all the time, and
Speaker 2: Nini would call because she introduced me to Nini. This
Speaker 2: is before Housewolives was even a thought. She would introduce
Speaker 2: me to Nini. I would see Kim Zosiac and Niemas.
Speaker 2: She would go on Nimas and shut the store completely down.
Speaker 2: She was that, you know, Charai was that girl. The
Speaker 2: girls were the girls, and it's no shape. The girls
Speaker 2: were the girls. And you know that's how I I
Speaker 2: That's how Shara and I became friends and then when
Speaker 2: they reached out to her about the show, she asked
Speaker 2: me to come on the show with her and do
Speaker 2: her hair. I'm like, okay, yeah, cool, because she was like,
Speaker 2: I need new hairstylus anyway, And so that's that's how
Speaker 2: that happened. And you know, I didn't know what I
Speaker 2: was doing. I don't think any of us knew what
Speaker 2: we were doing, and unbeknownst to me, I became a
Speaker 2: fan favorite. What I didn't know was the business side.
Speaker 2: I didn't know the business. So what the first two
Speaker 2: or maybe even three seasons, I don't know. I didn't
Speaker 2: get paid a dime. I didn't know what the hell
Speaker 2: was going. I didn't have an attorney, I didn't have
Speaker 2: a manager. I didn't know. I didn't know anything, you know,
Speaker 2: until I later discovered. I'm like, okay, wait a minute,
Speaker 2: So this person on here they getting paid, and I
Speaker 2: kind of heard around town what the people was getting paid.
Speaker 3: I'm like, well, wait a minute, nah.
Speaker 2: So anyway, that's how that happened. And yeah, now you
Speaker 2: start getting paid season four, I think so, and then
Speaker 2: that was pennies as well. Again, I didn't know any better.
Speaker 2: Did you know how much we're getting paid season four.
Speaker 2: Oh it m it was probably like an It was
Speaker 2: probably like enough for a pair of shoes for me,
Speaker 2: you know. And I think the reason why I didn't
Speaker 2: trip at first is because I was an extremely successful
Speaker 2: and well sought after hairstylist. So I mean, I was
Speaker 2: clearing six figures back then as a hairstylist. So I'm
Speaker 2: just like, okay, this is But then when it started
Speaker 2: to affect my schedule at the salon and you know
Speaker 2: all that kind of stuff, I'm like, I then, wait
Speaker 2: a minute, now, now this is making most sense for Charae.
Speaker 2: It's making a lot of sense for the Niinnes and
Speaker 2: the the Shawn Snows and the Kim Zosi, but this
Speaker 2: ain't really making that much sense for me, huh. You know.
Speaker 2: So then that's when you know, I kind of sought
Speaker 2: guidance and I got someone to kind of help me
Speaker 2: with asking for some type of contractual agreement in exchange
Speaker 2: for payment. And so I first just accepted what was
Speaker 2: what was given to me, and then I later learned
Speaker 2: that there were people also a part of the show
Speaker 2: that were on my same level, what they classify as
Speaker 2: B characters, that was getting significantly more than me. And
Speaker 2: I did not understand that, but you know it it
Speaker 2: it ended up turning out decent because because of the
Speaker 2: fans and the people that appreciated me and liked me,
Speaker 2: they you know, that led me to a spin off,
Speaker 2: which was Fashion Queens, and and and Andy Cohen reached
Speaker 2: out and offer me Fashion Queens, and so I felt
Speaker 2: like I was somewhat vindicated there. I felt like I
Speaker 2: was somewhat vindicated there, but it was still I still
Speaker 2: developed a lot of I guess PTSD behind again because
Speaker 2: I felt like because of who I was, and when
Speaker 2: you take account to I guess society and where we
Speaker 2: all fall on the human spectrum and you look at
Speaker 2: a black queer, super effeminate gay man, you know, I
Speaker 2: do think that there are a lot of questions as
Speaker 2: to what the value is and why would we really
Speaker 2: take care of this person and change this person's life
Speaker 2: the way we're doing these straight people. That is what
Speaker 2: I later discovered, And so that was very painful and
Speaker 2: I ended up getting you know, I somewhat got out
Speaker 2: of it, you know, mentally, but you know, it came
Speaker 2: back a couple of times, and then you know, later
Speaker 2: on with the show, when I decided to part ways
Speaker 2: with the show. You know that that definitely played a
Speaker 2: factor in it. And then a lot of the things
Speaker 2: that I was seeing that I just did not like,
Speaker 2: you know, in particular, and I will always mention this
Speaker 2: when when Kenya's friend Brandon came on the show and
Speaker 2: he had that big physical altercation. I did not appreciate
Speaker 2: the way that that was handled. I did not appreciate it.
Speaker 2: And one thing that I am absolutely in love with
Speaker 2: and I am crazy about that is my community, the
Speaker 2: black LGBTQ community, as well as the black community, the
Speaker 2: black straight community. I did not like the way that
Speaker 2: that was handled and I didn't appreciate it, and I
Speaker 2: expressed that concern with the powers that be, and they
Speaker 2: asked me several times to you know, come back, reconsider,
Speaker 2: and I honestly I had mentally and spiritually moved on
Speaker 2: and I just didn't see. I didn't see what other
Speaker 2: purpose I could serve and what other purpose it could
Speaker 2: serve me, and so and so I left. Yeah, and
Speaker 2: I hated I hated it because I love you know,
Speaker 2: Kenya's my sister, that's my big sister. I love Marlowe,
Speaker 2: I love Charae is because of charade that people even
Speaker 2: noticed me. She brought me on the show, but I
Speaker 2: hated the direction that it was. It stopped being fun
Speaker 2: and it stopped being funny for me, and I didn't appreciate.
Speaker 1: That you made a comment publicly in the past when
Speaker 1: some of the world, you know, you talk about the
Speaker 1: branded thing. It's when Brandon Apollo got to the altercation.
Speaker 1: Brandon had on risks of pajamas and there were these
Speaker 1: tons of names being on his direction, you.
Speaker 2: Know girl, you know your whatever, And a lot of.
Speaker 1: The audience in the gay community felt like, wait, are
Speaker 1: we witnessing some sort of.
Speaker 2: Homophobia in this.
Speaker 1: Are some of you women making fun of him and
Speaker 1: his sexuality? And they just started questioning, like, y'all love
Speaker 1: the gay boys, but are your allies for the gay boys?
Speaker 1: It's a difference. A lot of people felt that way.
Speaker 1: Did you feel that some of the cast members.
Speaker 2: Were not.
Speaker 1: The gay allies that they presented they presented themselves to be.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna here's the thing. A lot of people don't
Speaker 2: really know what it means to be an ally. I
Speaker 2: don't think some of the cast members knew that they
Speaker 2: weren't an ally or that they were you know. I
Speaker 2: won't say that they are homophobic. That I won't say.
Speaker 2: What I do know is, you know, we will perish
Speaker 2: for the lack of knowledge. Right. What I do know
Speaker 2: is that if you're not taught, and if you're not
Speaker 2: educated on what to say, what not to say, what's
Speaker 2: offensive and what's not offensive, you will offend. And I
Speaker 2: think that is what happened in that moment. The gripe
Speaker 2: that I have is that there wasn't a moment after
Speaker 2: that to give it space to be a teachable moment
Speaker 2: for anybody. And that was my biggest gripe. That was
Speaker 2: my biggest gripe. I think what I want people to
Speaker 2: understand about when you say, when people loosely say that
Speaker 2: they're allies, it's not enough to be an ally without
Speaker 2: being an accomplice, you know, be an agent of change.
Speaker 2: Stand in on my have when you're in rooms and
Speaker 2: when you're in spaces where we are still very undervalued,
Speaker 2: where your value have might have might have increased in
Speaker 2: that space, but we're we are still standing here very undervalue.
Speaker 2: So if your value has appreciated, standing the gap, standing
Speaker 2: the gap, and I think that is what was missing.
Speaker 2: Got it?
Speaker 1: When you go back to the show and you're just there.
Speaker 1: Sar recalled you. You're like, okay, I'll do what I
Speaker 1: gotta do whatever, and the show became a huge hit.
Speaker 2: Were you.
Speaker 1: Surprised by the instant success of Ninni Leeks, who said
Speaker 1: on my podcast she always when she first entered this
Speaker 1: space amongst these women, she felt she was the underdog
Speaker 1: based on the socio economic status of some of her
Speaker 1: becast Were you surprised and were some of the other
Speaker 1: girls to you surprised that the breakout star became Niini Leaks?
Speaker 2: No, I wasn't surprised. First of all, the underdogs always win, okay.
Speaker 2: And let me say this, I've said this a million
Speaker 2: times to people. When you go back to season one,
Speaker 2: I don't know if it was episode one or not.
Speaker 2: What started reality TV or or or what changed the
Speaker 2: trajectory of reality TV and what we know of today.
Speaker 2: It started from when Charie left Nini's name off the
Speaker 2: list episode one. Bottom line, that is what fueled the drama.
Speaker 2: That is when that thing called, oh we gotta have drama,
Speaker 2: we gotta have a storyline. That was the defining moment.
Speaker 2: And so here is the note when you talk about
Speaker 2: the underdogs always win. It's not a bad thing always
Speaker 2: to not have your name on the list. Because she
Speaker 2: became the first icon out of that franchise. Now, many
Speaker 2: became iconic afterwards. But Lonethi Aliks and it is no shade,
Speaker 2: is iconic. In the reality TV show World, she is iconic.
Speaker 2: Chara is legendary, she is iconic. Kenya Moore is legendary, iconic,
Speaker 2: She's been an icon. Marlow Hampton household name, Candy's already
Speaker 2: been legendary. But when you talk about the one that
Speaker 2: they didn't see coming, it's Ninny Leaks and it's no shade. Now,
Speaker 2: she by charade will always be the way. Yes, Marlowehampton
Speaker 2: will always be a that can slay. Kenya Moore is
Speaker 2: Kenya Moore. You can't get her. You're not gonna get her.
Speaker 2: Forget about it. It's never happened. It's never happened. Nine
Speaker 2: leeks did what needed to be done. And then I'm
Speaker 2: always mother And you know that because you know what
Speaker 2: the girl you you know, you know I was the
Speaker 2: one behind the scenes giving girls say this girl, say
Speaker 2: that did do this child. We are just getting started.
Speaker 1: This is reality with the King, and I'm Carlos King,
Speaker 1: Let's get back into the show.
Speaker 2: Let's have a real conversation.
Speaker 1: I know for a fact that some of these reads
Speaker 1: you gave the girls, you gave the girls to read
Speaker 1: to saying her interviews.
Speaker 2: I know for a fact you coached some of these girls.
Speaker 2: Come here, go ahead, and.
Speaker 1: I remember, I'm not gonna say to day unless you
Speaker 1: want to. Okay, let's see averrale bras were in the
Speaker 1: same person. I remember being on set one day and
Speaker 1: it was two housewives in the same room and you
Speaker 1: looked at one and said, and she follows suit read
Speaker 1: and we had a good seed. I you were the
Speaker 1: one this this is public and she and she and
Speaker 1: she admitted this one. You're the one who told Kenya
Speaker 1: to get a problem. You taught that the fan that
Speaker 1: Kenya has season five reunion. Not only did you tell
Speaker 1: her to do that, to to do the fan, you
Speaker 1: taught her how to pop it, pop it.
Speaker 2: You taught her what was it like?
Speaker 1: Did you have like less than you say, come over
Speaker 1: and you like did you Was it really a teaching
Speaker 1: moment with the fan?
Speaker 2: You know? I I to think about the key ingredient
Speaker 2: what we now know in all reality TV. You can't
Speaker 2: have good reality TV without having shade, right and from
Speaker 2: my world, when you talk about ballroom, when you talk
Speaker 2: about the black LGBTQ community, we gave the recipe, We
Speaker 2: created the recipe. We knew what popping a fan on
Speaker 2: somebody meant, you know. We knew how to read without
Speaker 2: using a lot of words. We knew how to read
Speaker 2: and shade without saying a word. You know. And to
Speaker 2: your point, when it's your girlfriend, when it is your sister,
Speaker 2: you want them to be the best. And when you
Speaker 2: talk about being competitive, because that's what it is, it's
Speaker 2: all the compet It's a big competition on them shows.
Speaker 2: It's a big competition. You want your girl and wind,
Speaker 2: you want your best to win, honey, And so you
Speaker 2: give them the tools, you give them the knowledge, and
Speaker 2: you tell them to go. Now. I don't do that
Speaker 2: anymore because it backfired. When I look at I said,
Speaker 2: well that wait a minute. Back here, I'm telling you
Speaker 2: do this and them holes want to give me five
Speaker 2: dollars and y'all getting what? Oh? No, bye, No, ma'am.
Speaker 1: Did you feel like sometimes these girls should have given
Speaker 1: you something extra?
Speaker 2: No, it's not that. No, I'm not going to put
Speaker 2: that on them. Okay, I'm not gonna put that on them. No, no, no,
Speaker 2: I wouldn't do that, no mm hmm.
Speaker 1: But for people to know that you were an engine
Speaker 1: because one they always say to people. And this is
Speaker 1: just me being honest. When you look at the biggest
Speaker 1: divas in the world, whether a singer, an actress, or
Speaker 1: reality star, and this is no shade, and you stop
Speaker 1: me if I'm wrong. Oftentimes there is a gay man
Speaker 1: it is who is ushering them to greatness with the
Speaker 1: confidence and the tool that they need in order to
Speaker 1: become the stars that they are.
Speaker 2: It's a very reciprocated relationship, right when you talk about
Speaker 2: the divas of the world, when you talk about the
Speaker 2: legendary girls, you know, whether the world knows them or
Speaker 2: if they're just legendary to you, you give them your
Speaker 2: all because going back to what I said, when you
Speaker 2: talk about black women, they were some of our first allies.
Speaker 2: They were some of the first ones to say we
Speaker 2: see you. And so it's a give and it's a take.
Speaker 2: It's a reciprocated relationship. And so I think we innately
Speaker 2: want to see each other win and want to see
Speaker 2: each other be the best versions of ourselves that we
Speaker 2: can be. When I decided to leave the show, Kenya
Speaker 2: was very support it. She didn't want me to, of course,
Speaker 2: but she was very supportive and she understood that is
Speaker 2: what it means to me to say I see you,
Speaker 2: I feel you, and I understand. It wasn't much she
Speaker 2: could do about it. She not running network, she's not
Speaker 2: over the budget or anything like that. You understand what
Speaker 2: I'm saying. But just the fact that she understood that
Speaker 2: meant a lot to me. And she wasn't selfish in saying, oh, no,
Speaker 2: I need you to stay because I need this or
Speaker 2: I need no. She supported me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you referred Marlon Hampton to the show, Yes, why?
Speaker 2: But she deserved to be on there. During that time
Speaker 2: in Atlanta, I knew what I knew what you all
Speaker 2: wanted esthetically, I knew what you all wanted in terms
Speaker 2: of all the material stuff, what you all wanted for
Speaker 2: a housewife. And it's no shade. At that time, Marlowe
Speaker 2: would run circles around all all the girls, and she
Speaker 2: deserved to be on there. What I hate is that
Speaker 2: Marlowe had such a very deep story in her personal
Speaker 2: life and her personal journey that I feel like that
Speaker 2: was never shown or highlighted in its best light because
Speaker 2: there was a lot too, and a lot behind the labels.
Speaker 2: It was a lot behind the cars. It was a
Speaker 2: lot behind that that I know personally that I feel
Speaker 2: like the viewers didn't get a chance to see. Now
Speaker 2: the drama between the girls, I understand all of that.
Speaker 2: You know, they they all slay each other, they are
Speaker 2: and I never got in between any of that. I
Speaker 2: would if I if I tell one or I'm not
Speaker 2: having this conversation about Kenya or Keny, I'm not having
Speaker 2: this conversation about Marlowe, or I'm not having this conversation
Speaker 2: by charade with you and vice versa, I wouldn't do it.
Speaker 2: That is what That is where I drew the line.
Speaker 2: But Marlowe deserved to be there, and I do feel
Speaker 2: like she added a lot to the show when she
Speaker 2: came on. She hard headed as hell because she wouldn't
Speaker 2: let me, She would not let me mentor her the
Speaker 2: way that I like to, so she wouldn't have run
Speaker 2: at all them problems on there. But nevertheless, I thought
Speaker 2: she was a great addition at in the beginning. Were
Speaker 2: you upset when she dropped the f bom. I was surprised.
Speaker 2: So let me say that was a that was a
Speaker 2: part of a Marlowe that was new to me. That
Speaker 2: was a part that I had never heard her her
Speaker 2: say that. But what I appreciated was that she although
Speaker 2: she lied about it at first, that which was a
Speaker 2: key And I honestly think the only reason why she
Speaker 2: lied about it at first was to not give Charay
Speaker 2: what she wanted. I don't think I had anything to
Speaker 2: do with me. I don't think I had anything to
Speaker 2: do with the culture, with the black gay culture. I
Speaker 2: don't think that. But what I appreciated is that she
Speaker 2: set still and listened to the lesson to be learned
Speaker 2: from it, and she apologized, and that's all it takes.
Speaker 2: I don't expect you to know, Ane, I don't expect
Speaker 2: everybody to be politically correct or to know what's appropriation
Speaker 2: or what's appropriated, or what you should and should not know.
Speaker 2: Because we're all this ship comes up new every month,
Speaker 2: every year, is something new that you can and can
Speaker 2: not say, so we will forever evolve when it comes
Speaker 2: to being culturally and socially sensitive and accurate. So I
Speaker 2: appreciate when someone is willing to say Okay, Now where
Speaker 2: did I go wrong? Because this is all I knew
Speaker 2: my whole life, so I'd never been told that that
Speaker 2: was wrong. So tell me. And when you do that
Speaker 2: to me, that shows contrition, That shows that you know
Speaker 2: you are genuinely wanting to learn and genuinely wanting to
Speaker 2: build a stronger bridge.
Speaker 1: Yeah, season four, you were emerging as a top B
Speaker 1: character on that on that season, so much so that
Speaker 1: Candy wrote a song called Closet Freak that to this day,
Speaker 1: I play it.
Speaker 2: I Closet Freak.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's an amazing song and your vocals, I
Speaker 1: mean I had no idea you can sing like that.
Speaker 1: It was the range for me, you know, like it
Speaker 1: was it was the The song became.
Speaker 2: Bigger and bigger and bigger.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and we all loved it, but we also saw
Speaker 1: that it was never released commercially right, And there were
Speaker 1: conversations about, you know, you didn't feel the deal was
Speaker 1: right that Candy was presenting to you. What happened to
Speaker 1: the point where you had this amazing song, it was
Speaker 1: featured on the show.
Speaker 2: And you two never worked again. It was just it
Speaker 2: was it was business. I didn't I didn't like the deal.
Speaker 2: It was a three sixty deal that she offered Ken
Speaker 2: offered with her entertainment company, Candy Code Entertainment. I didn't
Speaker 2: like it because when I when I read up and
Speaker 2: learned about three sixty deals. Three sixty deals are usually
Speaker 2: given to artists that are created, in my opinion, that
Speaker 2: are created, meaning you aid and establish their image, their name,
Speaker 2: their sound, all of that. Right, So yes, you give,
Speaker 2: you give the label or whatever, a percentage of every
Speaker 2: single thing that you have. Now, for me, I felt
Speaker 2: like I was already becoming somewhat of a household name.
Speaker 2: People you know, knew me, they knew who Miss Lawrence was.
Speaker 2: The image was already established, the sound was already kind
Speaker 2: of established, and so I I didn't feel like it
Speaker 2: was worth entering into a three sixty deal. And so
Speaker 2: for that, it just didn't work out. And it's unfortunate
Speaker 2: because it was unfortunate because it was a great song
Speaker 2: and people's to this day still talk about Closet Free.
Speaker 2: Candy is immensely talented, you know, that's her world that
Speaker 2: she knows what to do in it. So it was
Speaker 2: just I wasn't willing to be contractually tied down in
Speaker 2: that way to Candy coated entertainment. As you could probably see,
Speaker 2: I've not missed out on much. You're doing good, Yeah, no,
Speaker 2: you are.
Speaker 1: And what was interesting is even when you left Housewives,
Speaker 1: it was around a time where you Derrek Jy and
Speaker 1: Mother of our Mother, Debby Smith, had this amazing halfower.
Speaker 1: I like to call it a comedy show that was
Speaker 1: that half fashion conversation because you three had such great chemistry.
Speaker 1: It was called Fashion Queen, Yes right, and it was
Speaker 1: a ratings hit.
Speaker 2: The ratings were good through the roof. The show was.
Speaker 1: Good and everything appeared to be going in the right direction.
Speaker 2: But then it got canceled out the blue. Why did
Speaker 2: Fashion Queens get canceled? And the ratings were so solid,
Speaker 2: We've never been given a real explanation as to why.
Speaker 2: And here's a note to all of our Fashion Queens
Speaker 2: fans and supporters. You know, everybody said, oh Andy Cohen,
Speaker 2: I was not Andy Cohen. I think it was like
Speaker 2: beyond Bravo and beyond obviously Andy Cohen. I think it was.
Speaker 2: You know, that was during the time when we lost
Speaker 2: Joan Rivers the Icon and you know her show was
Speaker 2: Fashion Police, and you know our shows were similar in
Speaker 2: terms of content, and I I don't know this for sure,
Speaker 2: but I can't help but think that it has something
Speaker 2: to do with needing our audience, because you know, they
Speaker 2: Fashion Police had lost John Rivers and which was a
Speaker 2: huge chunk of the Fashion Police and I and this
Speaker 2: is just me speculating. I'm must because it just didn't
Speaker 2: make sense to any of us. I think they might
Speaker 2: have needed our audience. Yeah, so I'm not saying that
Speaker 2: is what happened, but that is just what I felt
Speaker 2: of what we felt, because it didn't add up. Fashion
Speaker 2: Queens was a number one show coming on at eleven
Speaker 2: thirty PM on a Sunday night, which is unheard of
Speaker 2: to do the numbers that we did. So yeah, it
Speaker 2: was it was a little engine that could it and
Speaker 2: it did and it did. But you know, I saw
Speaker 2: a water underbridge. Everything thing is as it should be.
Speaker 2: Bevy was able to go on and do incredible stuff
Speaker 2: work on multiple shows. She's also now an actress. You know,
Speaker 2: I became an actor thanks to Lee Daniels, who was
Speaker 2: a fan of Fashion Queens, who noticed me from Fashion Queens.
Speaker 2: And you know, Derek Jay is doing his thing making
Speaker 2: all the money in the world, you know, working behind
Speaker 2: the scenes on shows. So I think everything is as
Speaker 2: it should be, and everything served its purpose while we
Speaker 2: miss it. While that was the very first show that
Speaker 2: I ever was a part of where the production company
Speaker 2: shouts out to embassy row. That showed me how I
Speaker 2: should be treated as talent. That really made me feel appreciated.
Speaker 2: You know, that is an that is an experience that
Speaker 2: will forever be attached to my heart and unforgettable.
Speaker 1: When you look at the Real Housewives of Atlanta today,
Speaker 1: what do you think of the show now in terms
Speaker 1: of what has become.
Speaker 2: I've watched, I watched last season. I enjoyed it. I'm sorry,
Speaker 2: I enjoyed last season. I'm gonna be honest. I think
Speaker 2: a lot of the girls get in a lot of
Speaker 2: the girl's way. I think if everybody can go back
Speaker 2: to the original formula and the original mindset, I think
Speaker 2: if everybody will stop trying to stifle other people's paychecks
Speaker 2: and other people's jobs, I think you would probably have
Speaker 2: the exact same cast that you had from the beginning,
Speaker 2: or from that golden era of housewives. You know, I
Speaker 2: think everybody in their own right became stars, and I
Speaker 2: don't know who, I don't know what organization. I don't
Speaker 2: know what entity, but somewhere, somehow, the powers that be
Speaker 2: gave a lot of the girls this false sense of
Speaker 2: entitlement that some of them could dictate who gets to
Speaker 2: be what and do what. And I think that's where
Speaker 2: it feels short. I think that's where it feels short.
Speaker 2: I think people became extremely celebrity driven and so celebrated
Speaker 2: by the fans that they no longer wanted to be
Speaker 2: seen as the person that could be read. That they
Speaker 2: no longer wanted to be seen as the person that
Speaker 2: could possibly get trampled on, you know, And so they
Speaker 2: have this urgency to stand up and vindicate themselves, but
Speaker 2: not on film, to the networks, to get whatever person
Speaker 2: did whatever taken out. And it's all derived from ego.
Speaker 2: And it's clear as day when I watched the show now,
Speaker 2: while I still enjoyed it last season, yeah, I wish
Speaker 2: everyone could have a moment and get recentered and go
Speaker 2: make your fucking money. Go make your coin. It's that simple.
Speaker 2: I've heard from other people in other reality show spaces
Speaker 2: how much money they make and I'm like what, And
Speaker 2: I know what the girls was making on House, and
Speaker 2: I'm like, can y'all talking about because this person said,
Speaker 2: if you don't shut up and get your coin, get
Speaker 2: your coin. Some people on them other shows they would
Speaker 2: they would love to be in the in those seats
Speaker 2: and to just let it go like that. I'm like,
Speaker 2: oh my god, are you serious. And they're all stronger
Speaker 2: with each other. But the problem I think came in
Speaker 2: when they thought they were becoming weaker because one seemed
Speaker 2: to be stronger. That's all a false perception. They were
Speaker 2: all very strong and super strong together. What happened to
Speaker 2: what you just said?
Speaker 1: Season one, episode one, Charae admitted on my podcast she
Speaker 1: purposefully left Nini's off the list. She said, they wanted
Speaker 1: her to be at my house. I said, I know
Speaker 1: what y'all producers want. That's my house and it's gonna happen.
Speaker 1: I'm going to purposefully leave her name off the list.
Speaker 2: She did it on purpose.
Speaker 1: Nini Leags had no idea, gave a great scene that
Speaker 1: entire season one was Charai versus Meedi because they both
Speaker 1: lived in the reality of this is my life. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna do that and it made for great television and
Speaker 1: the rest is history. So I cannot agree with you more.
Speaker 1: There was a time, though Lawrence, where you were approached
Speaker 1: to be a housewife of Atlanta, you were approached to
Speaker 1: have a peach.
Speaker 2: What happened, I do not know. I went through a
Speaker 2: couple of interviews. Maybe we never got around to like filming,
Speaker 2: but I remember some of the producers or scouts whatever
Speaker 2: came looked at my place, my condo. They already knew
Speaker 2: I was successful. Now. What I was told when it
Speaker 2: got back to the higher higher ups was that they
Speaker 2: were not ready to go in that direction. That was
Speaker 2: what I was told. And I think that was one
Speaker 2: of the things that they tried, because I think they
Speaker 2: could kind of sense that I was kind of drifting away,
Speaker 2: and I really, I really, I can't think of who
Speaker 2: it was that saw fit for me to be like
Speaker 2: the first openly gay individual to have to be a
Speaker 2: peace holder. But they advocated hard, and when it got
Speaker 2: to the higher ups, I was told that they were
Speaker 2: told they weren't really ready to go in that direction
Speaker 2: just yet. Yeah, And that was another thing that made
Speaker 2: me be like, Okay, there's really nothing else else here
Speaker 2: for me to do. You ain't ever giving me no peach.
Speaker 2: I ain't getting there. One of them multimillion dollar pay checks.
Speaker 2: You know, did y'all give the girls? Not pumping y'all teas,
Speaker 2: But it is what it is. I know you ain't
Speaker 2: want to go give me that shit. So I'm like, well, honey,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna take these five dollars y'all and gave me
Speaker 2: thus far, and I'm gonna go in and make it
Speaker 2: do what it do, you know. And so yeah, when you.
Speaker 1: Left the show and then Fashion Queens got canceled, did
Speaker 1: you go through a dark period in your life?
Speaker 2: I did not even have time. As soon as Fashion
Speaker 2: Queens was canceled, I was already in the Lee Daniels network.
Speaker 2: So right after Fashion Queens that last the third season,
Speaker 2: I got invited to come on to Empire, and I
Speaker 2: shot a couple of episodes of Empire. And right after Empire,
Speaker 2: Lee was in the process of developing and creating the
Speaker 2: show Star that became also a hit on Fox, and
Speaker 2: this time I was a series regular. He created this character,
Speaker 2: Miss Bruce for me, and so I went right into that.
Speaker 2: So I was I was heartbroken because I I loved
Speaker 2: Fashion Queens. I mean it was it was a joy
Speaker 2: to go to work every week and be with Bevy
Speaker 2: and Derek and the whole Embassy Row family, you know,
Speaker 2: Deirdrew Connelly and you know, it was it was a joy,
Speaker 2: and so I was very heartbroken. It felt like a breakup,
Speaker 2: like a bad breakup, although it wasn't a bad breakup.
Speaker 2: But I felt like that just left me. That's how
Speaker 2: I thought he left me. That's how I felt. But
Speaker 2: I didn't have too much time to weep because I
Speaker 2: went straight into into my acting career, which is is
Speaker 2: funny because that was my original one of my original
Speaker 2: passions when I was younger. Again, like I said, from
Speaker 2: the beginning, being a part of the arts. And so
Speaker 2: my biggest note to people is nurture the gifts that
Speaker 2: you've been given, give it one hundred and ten percent
Speaker 2: and allow that to make room. And if it had
Speaker 2: it not been for the beauty industry, me becoming Charaise hairstylist,
Speaker 2: you know, excuse me, me becoming Charaise hairstylist, you know,
Speaker 2: tracking through the Housewolves of Atlanta days to fashion queens,
Speaker 2: I wouldn't have gotten noticed by one of the most
Speaker 2: important and most incredible filmmakers that we know today, which
Speaker 2: is Lee Daniels, and I wouldn't be sitting here as
Speaker 2: an actor now, you know, talking about my latest project,
Speaker 2: The Deliverance. How has Lee Daniels changed your life?
Speaker 1: Like talk to me about because you know, one thing
Speaker 1: that I love about you is the fact that you
Speaker 1: give credit where credit is due. And I feel like
Speaker 1: there's something that happened along the way with some celebrities.
Speaker 1: They no longer want to give the profit of the
Speaker 1: person who gave them the opportunity.
Speaker 2: And it's very dangerous. That's very dangerous to do right
Speaker 2: because none of our victories happened solely because of us.
Speaker 2: Somebody had to be put in place. There was a
Speaker 2: vessel somewhere that God said, I need you to go
Speaker 2: do this on my behalf for this person. So who
Speaker 2: am I to not say ay, to not give it
Speaker 2: all counted, all joy and give God the glory and
Speaker 2: to recognize those that He used to bring the glory.
Speaker 2: I can't. I cannot do that in good consciousness. That's
Speaker 2: that is I'm not I'm not built like that. Lee Daniels.
Speaker 2: You know, he was in charge of opening a portal
Speaker 2: for me that I did not think was possible. I
Speaker 2: did not think that I would ever be able to
Speaker 2: utilize my gift as an actor, you know, or any
Speaker 2: of it. You know. I didn't think that I would
Speaker 2: be on the same screen as powerhouse vets in the industry,
Speaker 2: from Queen Latifah to Glenn Close, to Monique to Patty LaBelle,
Speaker 2: to Gladys Knight to Benjamin Brad Andrew Day, who's a
Speaker 2: real gem. The relationships that I have created because of
Speaker 2: Lee Daniels that are life lasting, My relationships with my
Speaker 2: brother Tyler Williams, who was also on the United States
Speaker 2: Versus Billie Holiday with Me, Davine and Joy Randolph, you know,
Speaker 2: you name it. I wouldn't have any of this had
Speaker 2: it not been for Lee Daniels, who saw my potential,
Speaker 2: who saw and recognized my gifts, and who told God, yes,
Speaker 2: I got them. And I will forever be grateful. I
Speaker 2: am now at a point where I am now learning
Speaker 2: the business side of this side of the industry. So
Speaker 2: it's interesting, but it is it is still very rewarding.
Speaker 2: It's more than what the guy was making on Housewives,
Speaker 2: on Fashion Queens, I'll tell you that much.
Speaker 1: But the thing, you know, what's so funny is it
Speaker 1: warms my spirit when I see you at the award shows. Yeah,
Speaker 1: when I see on the red carpet, because, like I said,
Speaker 1: you and I have to have personal conversations, and I
Speaker 1: know there's just been moments where you're trying to figure
Speaker 1: things out, like we're all trying to do today, right.
Speaker 1: So to see that you're so successful in a genre
Speaker 1: that is just so that you're you're really good, like
Speaker 1: you're really you're a really good actor. I mean the Deliverance,
Speaker 1: I mean number one movie on Netflix. The movie is everything.
Speaker 1: Your comedy Chops is everything, your acting ability is everything.
Speaker 2: And even the fact that you know you know how
Speaker 2: to like roll some dice. So do you really know
Speaker 2: how to roll dice? I have no idea. I had
Speaker 2: to like study, I had to.
Speaker 1: Do you have to study how to So wait, so
Speaker 1: I don't my legs?
Speaker 2: So do you like do you like I don't play dice?
Speaker 2: Like ginger and casino? Like? How what did you the
Speaker 2: way you talk Kenya how to like do the fan
Speaker 2: to roll dice? So you know you you go in
Speaker 2: for me. When I read the script and learned that, okay,
Speaker 2: Asia is playing dice or gambling with the kids, I'm like, okay,
Speaker 2: now let me go on YouTube and see, how do
Speaker 2: you do that? You know what I'm saying. You know,
Speaker 2: I have played scraps? Is it s craps? Is it craps? Craps? Craps?
Speaker 2: I have played Okay, I have played crap. It's craps.
Speaker 2: It's craps, It's craps. I have played craps for so
Speaker 2: I know a little bit, right, But I wanted to
Speaker 2: make sure that it was real. So I went and studied.
Speaker 2: I wanted to study what does that look like? I
Speaker 2: want to study the terminology, you know? But what I
Speaker 2: you know, what's genius and what's what's so good about Lee?
Speaker 2: Lee gives you space to show up as yourself first, right,
Speaker 2: and then he strips you. It's important that you show
Speaker 2: up as yourself first because you need to find yourself
Speaker 2: in the character. Then you're stripped, you get stripped, and
Speaker 2: then you become this new character with yourself in it,
Speaker 2: you know. And I think that's what makes Lee so
Speaker 2: so genius. And I think that's why he gets the
Speaker 2: best work out of artists and out of actors. You
Speaker 2: just you show up, and you know, I think it's
Speaker 2: it helps with your working relationship as well, because when
Speaker 2: you show up as yourself to your director. They get
Speaker 2: to learn and know who you are, which opens the
Speaker 2: door for them to show you who they are. And
Speaker 2: then you develop that level of trust. And when you
Speaker 2: trust your director, that's when that's when the magic happens.
Speaker 2: When Lee says do something, you just do it. I
Speaker 2: have to tell this story. When I was shooting Billie Holliday,
Speaker 2: there was a scene. It did not make the movie
Speaker 2: for fortunately, but there was a scene where he told
Speaker 2: me to I had to I was eating I had
Speaker 2: to be eating something. And it was well over midnight
Speaker 2: when we were shooting, so everything was closed. He originally
Speaker 2: wanted me to be eating fried chicken, but they couldn't
Speaker 2: get fried chicken anywhere. He insisted, but they was like, okay,
Speaker 2: there's no fried chicken anywhere. So he's like, okay, he
Speaker 2: needs to be eating something. He needs, Okay, give him banana.
Speaker 2: Eat the banana. So they bring me a banana and
Speaker 2: I'm eating the banana. He comes over and he whispers
Speaker 2: in my ear. He said, I need you to eat
Speaker 2: this banana with urgency. You know what I mean. I
Speaker 2: need you to eat it with urgency. And I looked
Speaker 2: at Tyler because my brother Tyler was right there. I said,
Speaker 2: what the don't you eat a banana? Word? Now, I
Speaker 2: am skillful a kind of you eat a banana with urgency.
Speaker 2: So Tyler like, Chad, just do it. Yeah, because we
Speaker 2: had time to figure out shit out is just just
Speaker 2: just eat it. So baby, I had took de banana
Speaker 2: and I had I had a debonaam And after we
Speaker 2: finished the scene, lisaid, come here, I want to show
Speaker 2: you something. And I went to the monitor and the
Speaker 2: way that it translated was magic. I was like, you
Speaker 2: would never think from that note that you're going to
Speaker 2: get that performance. That's what makes them the icon. That's
Speaker 2: why he breeds Oscar winners and Golden Globe winners, that's
Speaker 2: why to go inside his head, which I don't think
Speaker 2: anybody will be able to do, it's indescribable. It's indescribable.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, say this is Glenn J.
Speaker 1: Blange is what the social media girls are calling her now.
Speaker 1: I mean, I mean, what was that like to work
Speaker 1: with Glenn clothes and her black scent and the wigs.
Speaker 1: I mean, listen, I didn't know when I learned that
Speaker 1: I was gonna be in a scene with her, because
Speaker 1: I shot several scenes. But you know, cutting room Florida
Speaker 1: Da Da, and I was like, Oh, I'm gonna be
Speaker 1: a scene with Glenn.
Speaker 2: I was like, oh my god, what to expect. You know,
Speaker 2: this is you know, this is the krim de la
Speaker 2: Cruseel Honey. When I say the most beautiful, humble down
Speaker 2: the earth, I mean person that you can think of.
Speaker 2: I mean it's no extra bells and whistles, which fascinates
Speaker 2: me because here's this woman who is one of the
Speaker 2: most decorated women in Hollywood, who doesn't require all of that.
Speaker 2: And then you meet a reality star and us they
Speaker 2: got ten assistants, and I just I think it is
Speaker 2: a key and I'm not reading them, but I think
Speaker 2: it's fascinating.
Speaker 1: No, no read them, because no read read them because
Speaker 1: I listen. I always tell the girls, and my girls
Speaker 1: are the reality girls. I always tell them, like, this
Speaker 1: is not going to end well for you, because to
Speaker 1: have an ego of this magnitude and this diva quality
Speaker 1: of being late, showing them when you feel like it,
Speaker 1: disrespecting the crew, talking to the producers any kind of way,
Speaker 1: shading your producers on social media because you don't like
Speaker 1: the way the episode, or whatever the case may be
Speaker 1: going against everybody around you.
Speaker 2: That's not going to end well for you.
Speaker 1: So when you have someone like Glenn Close, who, like
Speaker 1: you said, is one of the most decorated women in
Speaker 1: the world, who shows up, does her job and goes
Speaker 1: home and doesn't require a lot.
Speaker 2: And is a team player, you know, wants the best
Speaker 2: for the scene, wants the best for everybody in the scene.
Speaker 2: On the on the during the birthday party and we
Speaker 2: were singing Happy Birthday. What they didn't show is that
Speaker 2: we went into the black version of Happy Birthday, Happy
Speaker 2: Birthday to you, and Glenn was like, hey, can you
Speaker 2: help me out, Like, how does it go? Can you
Speaker 2: teach it to me? Really quick? I got to teach
Speaker 2: Glenn Close how to do the black version of Happy Birthday,
Speaker 2: and honey, she did it. Oh, I bet she did.
Speaker 2: She did it. You know they didn't that part didn't
Speaker 2: make the cut, but she did it. And I mean,
Speaker 2: you know, just and just down to her wanting to
Speaker 2: make sure that she got you know, some of our
Speaker 2: sound right, you know the diction, you know, Glenn Close
Speaker 2: asking me, and I'm just like wow. So it's those
Speaker 2: opportunities that I've been afforded that I wouldn't. It's priceless.
Speaker 2: It's priceless. Yeah, So what's next for you? Well, what's
Speaker 2: next for miss Lawrence? Well, there was a show on
Speaker 2: the horizon, like a TV show. There's a scripted drama
Speaker 2: TV show on the horizon. I don't know if I
Speaker 2: can talk too too much about it, but it's been
Speaker 2: in the work for maybe three four years now, so
Speaker 2: we are extremely close to starting on a big network.
Speaker 2: I will I think this time. I think this time,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna be number one on the call. She number
Speaker 2: one the call show I'm starting in. This will be
Speaker 2: the star if it is a Lead Daniel's production, Lee
Speaker 2: Daniels production. I'm super super excited about it. I can't
Speaker 2: tell you this is that I will be a detective.
Speaker 2: I will be a detective. Yeah, so my work is
Speaker 2: cut out for me. So I got to be running,
Speaker 2: I gotta be jumping, chasing after I gotta do all
Speaker 2: that and I am so ready. Don't make me cry. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm I'm super excited about that. So that is what
Speaker 2: is in the near future. That's what's next. You deserve
Speaker 2: all this plus more. You really you you, you have
Speaker 2: never changed.
Speaker 1: You are the same missus Lawrence since two thousand and
Speaker 1: eight that they have met you. You haven't allowed this
Speaker 1: fame to come to your head. You went to Charay's
Speaker 1: fashion show to support her because you knew what a
Speaker 1: big deal that was for Charae even recently hasn't obviously
Speaker 1: this season hasn't, this upcoming season has not aired. But
Speaker 1: obviously Kenya Moore had a hair showing her salon and
Speaker 1: you were, you know, there. What can you say to
Speaker 1: the world about how Kenya is doing because you were
Speaker 1: actually there when that whole thing went down.
Speaker 2: You know what's funny, I wasn't there when that happened.
Speaker 2: I was there. I did the part Kenya asked me
Speaker 2: to do, which was judge a hair show with Cynthia
Speaker 2: was there and I left right afterwards. Now, everything that
Speaker 2: happened at I was like, what happened? I couldn't believe
Speaker 2: all this. I didn't know. I was like, well, I
Speaker 2: didn't see none of that, So I don't know what
Speaker 2: y'all talking about. But yeah, I don't know. And I
Speaker 2: talked to Kenya maybe maybe a month after that happened.
Speaker 2: King is good, Kenya is good. I learned that the
Speaker 2: rumors were not true that she wasn't fired, that she
Speaker 2: wasn't suspended. They, to my understanding, had just paused her
Speaker 2: part of our side of the production. That's That's pretty
Speaker 2: much all that I know. Do I think it's fair? No,
Speaker 2: I don't, because the show was built off of the
Speaker 2: shadiest and nastiest drama and shade and reading you could
Speaker 2: possibly think of. So I was very surprised and taken
Speaker 2: back that, you know, she had to suffer in whatever
Speaker 2: way because of what transpired and what is what exactly transpired.
Speaker 2: I have no idea the severity of whatever the repercussions were.
Speaker 2: I have no idea, but just based on what I've read,
Speaker 2: I'm like, oh, that's not fair if what they're saying
Speaker 2: is true. And what I what I love about Kenya.
Speaker 2: When she and I talked, we spend more time about
Speaker 2: her wanting to know if I'm okay and how things
Speaker 2: are going with me. So we talked very briefly about
Speaker 2: the show. We talk about Brooklyn, you know, stuff like that.
Speaker 2: So it But to answer your question, I think Kenya
Speaker 2: is doing I think she's doing quite well. Yeah, I
Speaker 2: think Kenya has surpassed what her original goal was in
Speaker 2: terms of being a part of Housewives of Atlanta. I
Speaker 2: don't think she intended to stay this long. So I
Speaker 2: think she's doing well. You know, and sometimes, you know,
Speaker 2: when things get shaken up, it is time to go
Speaker 2: on and figure out what's next. And sometimes if you
Speaker 2: don't do it, the universe will make you or God
Speaker 2: will make you. Baby.
Speaker 1: Yes, and then you have to accept the reality of
Speaker 1: the situation. Yeah, don't feel bad for yourself. And no,
Speaker 1: this is this is true. You're living proof of it.
Speaker 1: So in my in terms of God will stop an
Speaker 1: opportunity for you because there.
Speaker 2: We will block it to bless it. Oh, He'll block
Speaker 2: it to bless it. He will block it to bless it. No,
Speaker 2: I received that. I received that. Are you in love?
Speaker 2: Are you dating? Oh? I mean I have a very
Speaker 2: strong situationship. What does that mean? That's all I say.
Speaker 2: I have a very strong situationship.
Speaker 1: How long has this strong situationship been in effect?
Speaker 2: A long time? That's all I can say. Yeah, I'm
Speaker 2: not going into that next question. No, I'm just saying,
Speaker 2: but you are happy? I am. I'm comfortable. Yeah, I'm comfortable.
Speaker 2: Look at you. You vision it for the water. Okay,
Speaker 2: I'm comfortable. I'm comfortable, no complaints. I don't have any complaints.
Speaker 2: I'm not I am. I am still. I am still
Speaker 2: driven and excited about where I'm going and what I
Speaker 2: know has been promised to me, and so I don't
Speaker 2: want to be too too distracted. So I think where
Speaker 2: I am in my situation is perfect.
Speaker 1: And as a fellow Libra, I could not agree with
Speaker 1: you more same obviously very private people. The relationship part.
Speaker 1: I just think that's just something that is over there
Speaker 1: and what it does not that you need my advice
Speaker 1: because you don't, because you're very wise for your young age.
Speaker 1: But I would say keep it that way and it
Speaker 1: has worked out for you. I have known this man
Speaker 1: since two thousand and eight. I have never seen him
Speaker 1: on a date. I have never seen I have never
Speaker 1: ever ever.
Speaker 2: He's you know, So I love it about you.
Speaker 1: You really keep that separate and that's amazing.
Speaker 2: You know. Historically speaking, you know this from all your
Speaker 2: girls on the show. Every time a couple is introduced
Speaker 2: by it is not long lived on them shows, and
Speaker 2: it's a rap. Keep that shit to yourself, now, I get,
Speaker 2: And like when you talk about reality shows, that's a
Speaker 2: part of it. They want to know who your significant others,
Speaker 2: so that's a part of it. So I honestly don't
Speaker 2: even have any advice for people that are going into
Speaker 2: reality shows and you know, you know, getting match made
Speaker 2: and all that kind of stuff, because I don't know
Speaker 2: what it would take to keep that type of unionship,
Speaker 2: our relationship or courtship or whatever together in the face
Speaker 2: of the camera and everything that comes with that camera.
Speaker 2: I don't know. No. I told.
Speaker 1: Somebody recently that be happy that you're down on the
Speaker 1: show anymore, because I think your husband is waiting for you.
Speaker 1: And I said, in my opinion, I don't think you
Speaker 1: will ever meet a man being on the show. And
Speaker 1: what's interesting is you low key don't want a man
Speaker 1: who's too eager to film on the show.
Speaker 2: No, because it's not real, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: I said, so take this opportunity to find possibly you're
Speaker 1: happily ever after, and I do believe that for this person.
Speaker 2: Thank you, miss Lawrence. This was everything a long time coming.
Speaker 3: I'm actually several times, but this is the perfect time
Speaker 3: to do it, and I like the fact that we
Speaker 3: can do it in person, one on one, in this setting,
Speaker 3: celebrating you having the number one movie on Netflix for
Speaker 3: over a week.
Speaker 2: Yes, two weeks, now two weeks. Think, yeah for two weeks.
Speaker 2: So congratulations, I love you. I love you too. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Give it up for miss Lauren. Thank you for listening
Speaker 2: to Reality with the Kings.
Speaker 1: New episodes drop on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Share, comment, follow,
Speaker 1: and subscribe to Reality with the King Wherever you get
Speaker 1: your podcast, visit Reality withthe King dot com and be
Speaker 1: sure to follow me at the Carlos King Underscore on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok,
Speaker 1: and Yes, Baby, my YouTube channel where you can get
Speaker 1: all of my visuals, baby, my expressions. Yeah, and don't
Speaker 1: forget tweet me your thoughts and hot takes about this
Speaker 1: episode using the hashtag Reality with the King. Reality with
Speaker 1: the King is a production of Kingdom Rain Entertainment, an
Speaker 1: executive produced by Me Carlos King, Kingdom Rain Entertainment, Baby,