Speaker 1: She's like, yeah, have you seen Twitter? And I'm like no,
Speaker 1: and she says, well, I don't think you should look,
Speaker 1: but you know, apparently your mom's plane is missing. My
Speaker 1: family and I are not okay, my extended family should
Speaker 1: I say my siblings? And I think goodness were good.
Speaker 1: That's the way we can keep her alive is by
Speaker 1: listening to her music. Hello, guys, and welcome to another
Speaker 1: episode of cheek, Ease and Chill. I hope you all
Speaker 1: had a great weekend and your week is off to
Speaker 1: a really great start. If you're listening to me today,
Speaker 1: well I'm sure it will be. But thank you so
Speaker 1: much for tuning in. Today's episode is one that's near
Speaker 1: and dear to my heart. This podcast is very special
Speaker 1: to me for many reasons. I've talked about that before.
Speaker 1: It's a space where I can share very personal and
Speaker 1: intimate details with you, and that's exactly what I'm going
Speaker 1: to be doing today. It's dedicated to my mom. You guys,
Speaker 1: it's going to be nine years since my mother, Jenny Rivera,
Speaker 1: left us. So grab some tequila, some coffee, probably some tequila,
Speaker 1: and let's do it. Let's get into checks and Chill.
Speaker 1: So this Friday marks nine years since my mom died. UM.
Speaker 1: December nine, my mom and six others died in a
Speaker 1: plane crash in northern Mexico, and that day, yes the world,
Speaker 1: we all lost her, and it was a very difficult day.
Speaker 1: Those of you that know me, that I have read
Speaker 1: my book, know that I lost my mom on October two.
Speaker 1: I lost her before everyone else did her and I
Speaker 1: had a falling out, a misunderstanding. There were a lot
Speaker 1: of toxic voices around her at the time, and we
Speaker 1: weren't talking. This is a second time that she had
Speaker 1: done that to me. Um, she kind of just she
Speaker 1: was a woman that was very strong and said in
Speaker 1: her ways, so her lessons were always very tough. UM.
Speaker 1: So the first time she did that to me, and
Speaker 1: it was honestly two months as well, I was fourteen
Speaker 1: going into my to my fifteenth birthday. It was that
Speaker 1: summer of when I was fourteen. Um, we were ending
Speaker 1: school and you know during that time, you know, like
Speaker 1: at the end ever, you're doing all the tests and stuff.
Speaker 1: So I'm I went with my friends. Instead of telling her,
Speaker 1: I got out early. I remember it was a Monday
Speaker 1: as well, and instead of telling her, hey, Mom, I
Speaker 1: got out early. I went with my friends to go
Speaker 1: have a cheeseburger and fries across the street. I just thought, okay,
Speaker 1: I'll tell her that I'm off, you know, at twelve
Speaker 1: o'clock the rest of the week. So she thought I
Speaker 1: had lied to her. Well I kind of did in
Speaker 1: a way. So anyways, she kicked me out. It was
Speaker 1: a big thing. I explained all of it in my
Speaker 1: book Forgiveness or better than in Spanish. And she stopped
Speaker 1: talking to me for two months. And I'll never forget
Speaker 1: because for my fifteenth birthday I didn't get a call
Speaker 1: from her. Then later on, as I explained the book
Speaker 1: as well, how we started talking. You know, she just
Speaker 1: grabbed my little long because I was staying in my
Speaker 1: grandma's house, and she said, you know, I think it's
Speaker 1: time for you to come home. You've you've you've had
Speaker 1: a very nice time here at your grandma's house eating,
Speaker 1: so it's time for you to come home. And she
Speaker 1: put me on a diet and she fixed my hair
Speaker 1: because she had cut it. It's just so much, you know.
Speaker 1: So anyways, the second time that ever happened was in October.
Speaker 1: On October two, that was basically the last time I
Speaker 1: had heard from my mother in September, things got really weird.
Speaker 1: My mom was in a very weird place in her
Speaker 1: life um emotionally and mentally, I feel. And this is
Speaker 1: another thing that we've never talked about publicly because it
Speaker 1: was always just forbidden. But my mom wasn't wasn't doing
Speaker 1: too well, and I could tell, and all of us
Speaker 1: could tell, but no one could say anything because we
Speaker 1: were afraid to upset her. But things were getting kind
Speaker 1: of weird. And on October two, I did get the
Speaker 1: email and the subject said lights on. I believe it
Speaker 1: was lights on. And it was a long, long email,
Speaker 1: which maybe one day I'll share with you guys, very
Speaker 1: strong email, and basically what it said was that all
Speaker 1: everything came together and the lights were now on, that
Speaker 1: she could see clearly that I had been sleeping with
Speaker 1: her husband Estevan at the time. And I remember being
Speaker 1: at a dinner and I just dropped my phone. I
Speaker 1: said what I was in disbelief. I drove to my
Speaker 1: mom's house. I didn't even finished reading the entire email
Speaker 1: that night, but I drove to my mom's house. I
Speaker 1: had all the gate codes. Everything has changed, I remember,
Speaker 1: I don't know how I did it, but I pulled
Speaker 1: that gate open and I was knocking and on the door,
Speaker 1: banging on it. Everything was closed, the keys were changed
Speaker 1: on me. I was just like, what in the hell
Speaker 1: is going on? I fell to the floor. I was crying.
Speaker 1: I called my sister Jackie. I was confused. I was like,
Speaker 1: what the heck is going on? I tried my very
Speaker 1: best to contact her, and every way, through email, through
Speaker 1: her Twitter, she blocked me. Everywhere. She changed her email,
Speaker 1: she changed her number. I mean, coming from having all
Speaker 1: the access in the world to her to having none
Speaker 1: was devastating. And then my siblings had to forcefully be
Speaker 1: on her side because if not, it was an issue.
Speaker 1: So it was very hard for me. It was a
Speaker 1: woman that came into her life a couple of months
Speaker 1: before that started throwing Vaneno just evilness into her ear,
Speaker 1: and I don't know how just made up this whole store,
Speaker 1: and my mom again was not in the right place
Speaker 1: emotionally or mentally. Don't take my word for it. One
Speaker 1: day my siblings will talk and say the truth about
Speaker 1: what was going on during that time. I have actually
Speaker 1: on my evidence to show that that could have not happened.
Speaker 1: The night that she thought it happened. I had the
Speaker 1: phone record showing that when in the cameras it said that, Okay,
Speaker 1: maybe I was gone in the room with a Stevan,
Speaker 1: That's completely false. You could see my head in another camera.
Speaker 1: I have phone calls that I was actually on the
Speaker 1: phone with my uncle Juan and my ex boyfriend for
Speaker 1: thirty minutes during the time that she thought I was
Speaker 1: gone and couldn't see me in the cameras. So it's
Speaker 1: just I never had the opportunity. I tried to explain
Speaker 1: this to her many times, and to my aunt and
Speaker 1: everyone around tell her this, but she just wasn't She
Speaker 1: didn't want to listen. That's why it was so important
Speaker 1: to me to write Forgiveness and to explain this is
Speaker 1: my truth, for my future children, from my future husband,
Speaker 1: for the people my followers that knew me from chickens
Speaker 1: and control from chickens, and roxy from what I was
Speaker 1: already starting. I did not do this that I to me,
Speaker 1: it's accusing me of doing something like that is killing
Speaker 1: is like killing someone, is murdering someone. And I would
Speaker 1: never do that to my mother, first of all, as
Speaker 1: a woman, I just wouldn't do it, And secondly, I
Speaker 1: would be too damn scared to do that to my mom.
Speaker 1: I mean, I know my mother, like, there's no way,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. And I loved to Stepan
Speaker 1: as a stepfather, and I loved him because he loved
Speaker 1: my siblings, because he was so good to my mother.
Speaker 1: So no, it's completely false. And I invite you guys
Speaker 1: to read Forgiveness so that you guys can understand the
Speaker 1: entire story in detail. That's why I wrote the book.
Speaker 1: But that was what happened, and that's what that was,
Speaker 1: a falling out between my mom and I. But I
Speaker 1: always had a faith that we were going to talk,
Speaker 1: that we were going to talk and sit down and
Speaker 1: clear it up and everything was gonna be fine. But again,
Speaker 1: there wasn't enough time, and that's when I lost my mom.
Speaker 1: I remember going to therapy and the therapist told me,
Speaker 1: you know what, you are going to have to start
Speaker 1: living your life like if she was no longer here.
Speaker 1: And I remember saying, like, what do you mean. It
Speaker 1: was like, yeah, like if she had passed away. This
Speaker 1: was two weeks before December nine, and I'll never forget.
Speaker 1: And I looked and I looked at my therapist and
Speaker 1: I said, what it hit me and I cried and
Speaker 1: I cried and I said, you know what, Yes, I'm
Speaker 1: dying slowly inside. I had suicidal thoughts. I didn't have
Speaker 1: everything and everyone, my siblings, my mother that were so
Speaker 1: important to me. But of course I didn't understand that then.
Speaker 1: Now that I look back, now that I know how
Speaker 1: God works and now I know everything that I went
Speaker 1: through had a reason. But during that time it was
Speaker 1: it was horrible. So when December nine came and the
Speaker 1: world lost her, I was already a few steps into
Speaker 1: the healing process, so I was able to be there
Speaker 1: for my siblings. And like I said, everything does happen
Speaker 1: for a reason. God's plans are perfect. And it hurt
Speaker 1: me very much. Obviously I lost her twice. But who
Speaker 1: kept me alive were my siblings, all four of them,
Speaker 1: but more than anything, Johnny and Jensica. And my sister.
Speaker 1: Jennica was fifteen, she's now twenty three. Johnny was eleven,
Speaker 1: he's now about to be twenty one. So I took
Speaker 1: them under my wing and I said, I let's go.
Speaker 1: I'm going to take care of you. I'm not going
Speaker 1: to leave your side. And I didn't and I haven't.
Speaker 1: And that's the way that I honor my mother every
Speaker 1: single day since she passed. And yes, I was disinherited
Speaker 1: because of this whole fallout and this misunderstanding, and by
Speaker 1: the way, I gathered up all of my evidence to
Speaker 1: show my mom what is being said is not true,
Speaker 1: and she just kept saying that she needed time and
Speaker 1: time and time. And look, you know then there wasn't.
Speaker 1: Time just took its course and God had other plans.
Speaker 1: But anyways, I was disinherited. But I always say that
Speaker 1: the inheritance that my mother left me were my siblings.
Speaker 1: The most important and the biggest inheritance are my siblings.
Speaker 1: And that's how I honor her legacy every single day
Speaker 1: because I know how important her children. We're an art
Speaker 1: to her till this day. Because I feel her around,
Speaker 1: I feel her. I can't say because acio and that
Speaker 1: i've seen her. No, I've seen her twice in these
Speaker 1: past nine years. I've seen her twice in my dreams,
Speaker 1: and I get so sad the next day and for
Speaker 1: a few days that I feel she's like, I don't
Speaker 1: want to do that to her, so she doesn't come
Speaker 1: around in my dreams. As much anymore, because I'm pretty
Speaker 1: sure knowing her, she's busy in heaven doing her thing.
Speaker 1: I always talk to her though I took her Mom,
Speaker 1: I don't know where you're at, but I need you.
Speaker 1: So I just know that that's how I'm honoring her.
Speaker 1: And I know that her children. And she said in
Speaker 1: any interview, any Jenny Rivera fans out there know how
Speaker 1: important her children were to her. She said it any
Speaker 1: time and every time that she could, she said it,
Speaker 1: she said in her book. So to me, that's what
Speaker 1: I've done is I've done my best in every single
Speaker 1: way to be a good older sister, to be a
Speaker 1: good exam pulled to my siblings, to have their back,
Speaker 1: to keep us united. It's been tough sometimes because of
Speaker 1: outside noises, other toxic voices. It's made it a little
Speaker 1: difficult to have a peaceful relationship. But I've always said, hey,
Speaker 1: wait a second, let's come together. This is what Mom wants.
Speaker 1: She's always wanted this. She always told me, no matter what,
Speaker 1: you are the oldest, and I'm sorry that God made
Speaker 1: you the oldest, but you are the oldest for a reason,
Speaker 1: and you are too. Always keep your siblings united. Do
Speaker 1: not allow you and your siblings to be what my
Speaker 1: siblings and I are. She told me that countless times countless,
Speaker 1: and that's what I try to do. I do want
Speaker 1: to say that the day that I found out December
Speaker 1: that my mom was missing, because that's what it was
Speaker 1: at first, her plane was missing. It just disappeared out
Speaker 1: of the sky. I was in Las Vegas. We were
Speaker 1: celebrating my cousin Karina's wedding. She had gotten married on
Speaker 1: the eighth, so that was during the day and we
Speaker 1: all went to go eat, and then after we all
Speaker 1: went to go party, and I remember being at this
Speaker 1: roof top uh nightclub. I think it was called Voodoo,
Speaker 1: and I was fine. I had already kind of said okay,
Speaker 1: I took my therapists advice and said, okay, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: start living like my mom is no longer here. And
Speaker 1: I was feeling a little bit better emotionally and mentally.
Speaker 1: And I had just seen Johnny for the first time
Speaker 1: in months, in a few weeks, should I say, they're
Speaker 1: at my cousin's wedding. And it was so hard because
Speaker 1: it was just a weird energy. So it was kind
Speaker 1: of eating me up inside. So that night we went
Speaker 1: out and my friends and I were dancing on the
Speaker 1: dance floor. I was looking up at the sky and
Speaker 1: I felt this sadness come upon me that I can't
Speaker 1: explain that. I just felt like, oh, like I just
Speaker 1: I wanted to fall to the floor and I just
Speaker 1: started crying in the middle of the dance floor. I'm
Speaker 1: telling you, I was. We were on a rooftop, so
Speaker 1: I just said, you guys, I sat down and I
Speaker 1: was just bawling and bawling, like the sadness came over
Speaker 1: me and I didn't know why. So I remember just
Speaker 1: telling my friends, Hey, it was Gerald at the time
Speaker 1: in Brianna, and um. I said, let's just go back
Speaker 1: to the room, and we did, and we got McDonald's
Speaker 1: because food just you know, I've had an issue with
Speaker 1: food my whole life, so when I'm sad, I just
Speaker 1: want fatty stuff, you know, so um or should I
Speaker 1: say starchy foods. So I we had McDonald's. We sat
Speaker 1: on the floor, we ate it, and I fell asleep
Speaker 1: and at ten am in the morning, I was woken
Speaker 1: up by a phone call from my cousin Karina, who was,
Speaker 1: like I said, always also in Vegas with me, and
Speaker 1: she said, hey, cousin, we gotta go. I said, wait, well,
Speaker 1: we have plans to do. What do you mean we
Speaker 1: gotta go to They know we gotta go. My dad
Speaker 1: just called me and said it's an emergency. We have
Speaker 1: to drive down to Grandma's house like now. And I'm
Speaker 1: like what. She's like, yeah, have you seen Twitter? And
Speaker 1: I'm like no, And she says, well, I don't think
Speaker 1: you should look, but you know, apparently your mom's plane
Speaker 1: is missing. I'm like, what do you mean, Yeah, it's missing.
Speaker 1: They can't find it. So when I started, of course,
Speaker 1: I packed my stuff. I was driving a Prius at
Speaker 1: the time. I don't know how I did, and I
Speaker 1: don't recommend anyone to do this, but I got from
Speaker 1: Vegas to Lakewood, California in less than three hours. I
Speaker 1: was going so fast. After I read on Twitter Jenny,
Speaker 1: the late Jenny Rivera, like just so many things, like
Speaker 1: she had already she was gone, like she had already disappeared,
Speaker 1: like she was you know, I was like, wait a second,
Speaker 1: we don't even know what's going on. It was horrible.
Speaker 1: It was all over the radio. I couldn't listen to music.
Speaker 1: I was just in silence. The entire time crying and
Speaker 1: I'm like the whole time, Oh my god, you can't
Speaker 1: do this to me. No, you can't do this to me.
Speaker 1: Like that's what I kept just repeating. It felt like
Speaker 1: forever to get to my grandma's house, but I got
Speaker 1: there in less than three hours, which is crazy. I
Speaker 1: don't know how I did that. Again, I don't recommend
Speaker 1: anyone to do that. I was just so like in
Speaker 1: the need of getting to my siblings because during that time, again,
Speaker 1: I hadn't gotten a phone call from Jenica or Johnny.
Speaker 1: And they called me and they said, Jennica, call SI sister,
Speaker 1: where are you. I need you here. And when she
Speaker 1: said that, I was like, oh my god, Yes, they
Speaker 1: need me. And I felt so uncomfortable because I hadn't
Speaker 1: talked to none of my family and I was like,
Speaker 1: hardly going to receive me. And at that moment when
Speaker 1: I got that phone call, I didn't care. Everything you
Speaker 1: raced and I said, I have to be there for
Speaker 1: these kids. I don't care. I walked in there with
Speaker 1: my head held high and I got those kids and
Speaker 1: I'm like, these are my kids. I don't know what's
Speaker 1: going on with my mom. I still had a faith
Speaker 1: that my mom was going to come back. That was
Speaker 1: on a Sunday. I had faith Monday Tuesday until Wednesday.
Speaker 1: I got to my grandma's house. Like I said, I
Speaker 1: was like there for Johnny. We were sleeping on the floor.
Speaker 1: I mean, it was. It was chaotic at my grandma's house. UM.
Speaker 1: But on Wednesday, I told my uncle's you guys need
Speaker 1: to go find my mom. You need to find my mom.
Speaker 1: You guys, sorry, I don't trust the authorities in Mexico.
Speaker 1: I need someone from us, from our side to go
Speaker 1: and look for my mom physically, go on that mountain,
Speaker 1: find my mom. I had faith that maybe, yes, the
Speaker 1: plane had fallen, maybe she survived. I was thinking all
Speaker 1: kinds of things. But then when I saw some pictures
Speaker 1: on the internet that showed some of her remains, and
Speaker 1: I had asked Jenica, I said, Jenica, what now, polished?
Speaker 1: What color was Mom wearing? She says, oh, red? And
Speaker 1: I started looking at pictures and sure enough, yes, in
Speaker 1: her last concert at Monterey UM, because she was coming
Speaker 1: from Monterrey back to Mexico City to record lavos, she
Speaker 1: wanted to leave. And I knew my mom, so that's
Speaker 1: why she left at three thirty in the morning, so
Speaker 1: that when I was feeling that on the rooftop at
Speaker 1: one thirty, it was I think when everything was happening,
Speaker 1: when my mom had left, and I think she came
Speaker 1: to visit all of us. That's what I personally believe,
Speaker 1: so it all made sense afterwards, you know. So at
Speaker 1: three thirty am is when her her plane disappeared. I
Speaker 1: think that we all felt her that night. So anyways,
Speaker 1: I told my uncle's go find my mom. And that's
Speaker 1: when I asked Jessica about her nail polish and it
Speaker 1: was red and in her remains, I saw, like it's
Speaker 1: so tough to say this, but her toes and they
Speaker 1: were red, and I knew, like we lost her. And
Speaker 1: I know those feet because so many times when she
Speaker 1: was tired, I would put on her shoes, I would
Speaker 1: take them off. I would missage her feet and I said,
Speaker 1: these are my mom's feet, her toes, and um, that's
Speaker 1: when I knew, and I remember, I felt something in
Speaker 1: my heart. I'll never forget my safe place at my
Speaker 1: grandma's house because every corner of my grandma's house was
Speaker 1: full of just people. They're trying to comfort us, and
Speaker 1: outside everywhere. There was just so many people, her fans,
Speaker 1: which I'm so grateful for. But my only safe place
Speaker 1: was the restroom. And I remember grabbing a picture that
Speaker 1: my grandma had in the living room. I grabbed it
Speaker 1: and I knew I hadn't told the kids yet. I
Speaker 1: hadn't told anybody that I saw those pictures. I don't
Speaker 1: even know how I found them or who sent them
Speaker 1: to me, some evil person. I have no idea. But
Speaker 1: I went into the restroom and I held the picture tight,
Speaker 1: and I swear to you that I heard my mom's
Speaker 1: voice tell me you have to be strong for these kids.
Speaker 1: And from that moment, I was like okay, and I
Speaker 1: cried by myself, and I was like, okay, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: be strong, and I gotta tell them. I can't let
Speaker 1: them think anymore that she's here, because she's not. And
Speaker 1: I knew it, and I told them. I said, Johnny,
Speaker 1: I sat down, Johnny, and I said, Mommy is not
Speaker 1: coming back. So I just knew I had to tell them.
Speaker 1: And that's when I something came upon me and said
Speaker 1: I have to be resilient. I have to be strong.
Speaker 1: That's when it all started like making sense, like this
Speaker 1: is why everything happened. Because my mom and I were
Speaker 1: so close. We were sisters, we were husband and wife,
Speaker 1: we were so many things that if this hadn't happened,
Speaker 1: this interruption in our relationship, I wouldn't have been strong
Speaker 1: enough to sustain this pain. And I knew it was
Speaker 1: going to be hard because I would have to go
Speaker 1: out and defend and clean up my name in some way.
Speaker 1: But the most important thing for me at that time
Speaker 1: or my siblings, and I think the best way and
Speaker 1: right now that we're talking about her, because yes, the
Speaker 1: anniversary's coming up, is the best way that I can
Speaker 1: honor her is to continue being here from my siblings
Speaker 1: and and doing my best to be successful. For me,
Speaker 1: it's everything I do. Everything that I do, I think
Speaker 1: about siblings. I think about, Yes, they're okay, maybe financially
Speaker 1: they're okay right now, but what if they're not one day.
Speaker 1: I want them to know that their sister has their back,
Speaker 1: that they have a home that they can come to,
Speaker 1: that the doors will always be open. And it makes
Speaker 1: me just work harder, you know, which is why it
Speaker 1: makes me so sad. And this is the first time
Speaker 1: I talked about it. You guys, I'm going to talk
Speaker 1: about it with you. I haven't said in an interview,
Speaker 1: I haven't written it thoroughly. In my book that's coming
Speaker 1: on in February, I mentioned it, but I want to
Speaker 1: say it here with you, guys, because another way of
Speaker 1: honoring my mother is by being honest, because that's how
Speaker 1: she was. My family and I are not okay my
Speaker 1: extended family. Should I say my siblings and I think
Speaker 1: goodness were good. We have our disagreement into we have
Speaker 1: our discussions or arguments, but we always come back to
Speaker 1: each other. But there has always been issues in my family, unfortunately,
Speaker 1: because there are so many of us in the industry.
Speaker 1: Fortunately and unfortunately, I feel that we could have been
Speaker 1: a very successful dynasty together. But I feel like jealousy
Speaker 1: and ego and greed has ruined our family for years.
Speaker 1: And I'm now ready to say that, Yeah, I'm not okay,
Speaker 1: and I know some of my siblings, and I don't
Speaker 1: want to speak for them, are also not okay with
Speaker 1: most of our family members. Today I'll speak about myself
Speaker 1: and what I feel and how I feel and why
Speaker 1: it makes me so sad because my mom was really
Speaker 1: the glue to our family. And although for many years.
Speaker 1: She was also disappointed, and we have emails and conversations,
Speaker 1: and everyone knows this. My mom was also very vocal
Speaker 1: about things that she disagreed with with certain family members.
Speaker 1: So a lot of people have wondered why I haven't
Speaker 1: followed my grandmother. I did. Maybe it's a little silly,
Speaker 1: maybe it's childish. I didn't follow her on Instagram. I
Speaker 1: love my grandmother. I still honor her. I still thank
Speaker 1: her very much for everything she did for me, for
Speaker 1: helping raise me. I love her so much and I
Speaker 1: miss her. But it goes back to me honoring my
Speaker 1: mother and her legacy. And my siblings are the most
Speaker 1: important thing in my life, and when you hurt them,
Speaker 1: you hurt me. And unfortunately, my grandma has said a
Speaker 1: few things publicly that I don't agree with that I'm
Speaker 1: very hurt by about my siblings, Johnny and Jessica, mainly
Speaker 1: some things about me that I just feel are unfair
Speaker 1: to say without first telling us, so I don't agree
Speaker 1: with it being said publicly. So now I'm publicly stating that, yes,
Speaker 1: I have unfollowed her, and I'm okay with my decision,
Speaker 1: and I love her, and I still check up on her,
Speaker 1: but there are certain things on social media that I
Speaker 1: just don't want to see and I don't want them
Speaker 1: to hurt me. I could have muted her, yes, but
Speaker 1: I I decided to unfollow her because I'm also tired
Speaker 1: of pretending. I'm I'm ready for the world to know
Speaker 1: that we're not okay. I also don't follow my uncle Juan,
Speaker 1: and I don't follow my aunt Rosie, and I'm sure
Speaker 1: to them it doesn't doesn't matter, but to me, it's
Speaker 1: just I'm ready to show the world that there are
Speaker 1: bigger issues. You know, we have always had some type
Speaker 1: of issue or tension in our family for years, because again,
Speaker 1: we're all in the same industry. What really I think
Speaker 1: broke the camel's back, Como Lison, is when my brother Johnny,
Speaker 1: he had been asking me to do this since was
Speaker 1: sixteen years old, when he was still under my custody.
Speaker 1: Johnny asked me to look into the finances. He said,
Speaker 1: you know what, I'm just a little worried. There's some
Speaker 1: certain things that worry me, and I just think that
Speaker 1: we should know I never did it, because I'm like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, I just I already know they're going
Speaker 1: to think that it's me, And of course I had
Speaker 1: my doubts. Don't get me wrong, I had my doubts
Speaker 1: about it, but I just didn't want to open up
Speaker 1: a kind of worms. I had a feeling it was
Speaker 1: going to start an issue. So when Johnny turned twenty,
Speaker 1: he said, you need to help me. Actually, this January,
Speaker 1: he said, I need you to help me get an attorney.
Speaker 1: I really want to do this. And I said, okay, fine.
Speaker 1: I told him. He asked me in in November and
Speaker 1: I said, wait, give me a few months, let me
Speaker 1: pray about it. And when he came back in January,
Speaker 1: he said, okay, I want to do it and I'm sure,
Speaker 1: and I said, okay, I have your back. So I
Speaker 1: hooked him up with an attorney. He spoke to them.
Speaker 1: He's been dealing with it himself. I can't even talk
Speaker 1: to the attorney without his permission. So it's all been
Speaker 1: him wanting to just know what's up with the estate,
Speaker 1: with the finances, with our trust, with the businesses, and
Speaker 1: it has caused chaos. It's caused so much, even more
Speaker 1: tension in our family, and I still don't know why.
Speaker 1: But that's the truth of the matter, and I want
Speaker 1: to clear that up because it's not an audit. An
Speaker 1: audit comes from it comes legally. We didn't audit anybody.
Speaker 1: We just asked for an accounting. Johnny asked for an accounting,
Speaker 1: as as a beneficiary, he has the right to ask
Speaker 1: for an accounting and my aunt was supposed to give
Speaker 1: that to him annually and hasn't for the past nine years.
Speaker 1: So he asked for that, and it became this big ruckus.
Speaker 1: And I don't understand why this accounting was asked for
Speaker 1: in what month, Johnny. This accounting was asked for in
Speaker 1: April of this year, and everything has gone to ship
Speaker 1: since then, worse than it it has been. I feel
Speaker 1: that we have the right to know how much money
Speaker 1: was in the account when my mom left, how much
Speaker 1: money has been made um how much money they have
Speaker 1: made for the enterprises, for my January River enterprises. We
Speaker 1: have a right, We have a right to ask how
Speaker 1: much people are getting paid. And I include myself in
Speaker 1: this because yes, I was disinherited, but I'm still a daughter,
Speaker 1: I'm still the oldest, I'm still the one that helped
Speaker 1: my mom build this empire, and I still have the
Speaker 1: right as a sister to ask what's going on with
Speaker 1: my siblings, with their with their finances. So let me
Speaker 1: tell you the businesses. My mom's businesses are completely separate
Speaker 1: from the trust that's where my mom left for my siblings.
Speaker 1: The accounting was delivered months later, literally Johnny's right here.
Speaker 1: So a hundred and ninety two days later they asked
Speaker 1: for extensions. For a while, we hadn't heard from them.
Speaker 1: I was like, wait, if we have everything in order,
Speaker 1: we have a good c p A for the company,
Speaker 1: we have a good financial advisor, why aren't we getting
Speaker 1: these things in a time we matter. I just don't understand,
Speaker 1: and there's so many things that I can say, but
Speaker 1: I just I want to be respectful to my siblings
Speaker 1: and to still my family, because even though I love
Speaker 1: them and I love them from Afar, I wish them well.
Speaker 1: I'm better off without them, and I'm sure they are
Speaker 1: as well without us or without me. Should I say?
Speaker 1: And my heart is sad, my heart is hurt. But
Speaker 1: sometimes it's better to love people from Afar and not
Speaker 1: be angry at them. Because I'm not angry, I'm disappointed.
Speaker 1: I'm disappointed because this didn't have to turn out this way.
Speaker 1: And I just felt that today talking about my mom.
Speaker 1: The best way I can honor her is by being honest. Again,
Speaker 1: I thought about this over and over about talking about this,
Speaker 1: but you know what, because I thought about my cousins,
Speaker 1: their children. I don't want to affect anybody in any way. Ever.
Speaker 1: God knows my intentions. God knows that I wish with
Speaker 1: all my heart that we were okay with my family
Speaker 1: and that we could all just be united and be
Speaker 1: a strong force together. But that is not our case,
Speaker 1: that is not our truth. Sadly, and you know what,
Speaker 1: everyone kind of has to just own up two certain things.
Speaker 1: And it's sad because ever since my mom left the
Speaker 1: way Johnny says it, we've been living in hell. I
Speaker 1: see it a little different. It has been very difficult.
Speaker 1: I have tried my very best to be okay with
Speaker 1: my family, to gain their approval, to show them, hey,
Speaker 1: I'm working, I'm doing my thing, like are you proud?
Speaker 1: You know, it's been very difficult to get that. And
Speaker 1: it's just sad when you lose such a strong pillar
Speaker 1: in your family, how things just start crumbling down. And
Speaker 1: now that I look back to these nine years, it's
Speaker 1: just we were in so much pain. We just trusted blindly.
Speaker 1: We were too hurt and dealing with our pain and
Speaker 1: with life and how to live life without my mom,
Speaker 1: without parents In reality that we didn't really care much
Speaker 1: or not care, but we just didn't have the energy
Speaker 1: or the mental space to deal with all these things.
Speaker 1: And I feel like we finally woke up and we're like, oh,
Speaker 1: wait a second, what's going on? I feel like that them,
Speaker 1: so what's the problem. You know? I wish with all
Speaker 1: my heart that we could spend this anniversary together as
Speaker 1: a family and Grandma's house, with my uncle's, with my aunt,
Speaker 1: with my cousins. It makes me sad, but I've accepted
Speaker 1: that this is my reality, my new reality, and I've
Speaker 1: come to peace with it and moving forward. It's just
Speaker 1: really coming together as siblings is what we want to
Speaker 1: do once my sister Jackie becomes CEO, to just continue
Speaker 1: my mother's legacy, us having the control and as a
Speaker 1: team making decisions from my mom's brand, from my mother's music.
Speaker 1: We want a movie. We have so many ideas that
Speaker 1: I think that the best now that we're a little
Speaker 1: more healed, we're a little more mature, I think we
Speaker 1: all can just come together and make it happen, and
Speaker 1: that's what I'm hopeful for, and I'm hopeful that this
Speaker 1: doesn't get any nastier and that we could just come
Speaker 1: together and coming to an agreement, maybe agree to disagree,
Speaker 1: for the sake of my mother and her legacy and
Speaker 1: all that she worked hard for, because she did for
Speaker 1: her children mainly and mostly, and everyone that knows her,
Speaker 1: especially her family, knows that. So that's why I'm so
Speaker 1: confused today. I want to honor my mother and ask
Speaker 1: you all, if you haven't heard her music, if you
Speaker 1: have heard it, to just please listen to it every
Speaker 1: single day. Go to any app that you guys use
Speaker 1: to listen to music. That's the way we can keep
Speaker 1: her alive is by listening to her music and just
Speaker 1: honor her in that way. For me, it's the favor
Speaker 1: that I ask you guys. And I'm little really looking
Speaker 1: forward to the future and doing this kind of being
Speaker 1: under the umbrella again of just helping, you know, because
Speaker 1: I can't be added to the will or anything, and
Speaker 1: nor do I want to. I want my siblings to
Speaker 1: be Okay. I'm working hard and I'm doing my thing,
Speaker 1: so I just want to be able to be a
Speaker 1: part of it again and really have a real say,
Speaker 1: you know, in my mom's stuff. And I know my
Speaker 1: siblings feel the same way. We want a movie. Imagine
Speaker 1: a movie of Jenny Rivera's life in English with a
Speaker 1: little bit of Spanish or vice versa. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I just wanted to be like the real Jenny, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean, what she was all about. A
Speaker 1: movie just telling the story of a woman that worked
Speaker 1: her ass off to leave the imprint that she has
Speaker 1: left forever, and what she did for her kids as
Speaker 1: a single mother, everything that she went through, things that
Speaker 1: you guys may not even know, things that we've never
Speaker 1: talked about that we're ready to talk about now. We
Speaker 1: want movies. We want just huge We have huge plans.
Speaker 1: So I think it's to be beautiful to be together
Speaker 1: at a table with my siblings and discussing everything that
Speaker 1: we want to do for my mom and how we
Speaker 1: want her music to sound. I think we're ready. We're ready,
Speaker 1: and I'm excited for my sister Jackie, who is stepping
Speaker 1: up like no other. I admire her so much. I
Speaker 1: don't know how she juggles being a mother of four,
Speaker 1: a wife, a business owner, and now dealing with all
Speaker 1: of this with Jenny Rivera Enterprises, and I'm excited to
Speaker 1: see her in this new position. And she does everything
Speaker 1: with such with such grace and so peacefully, and she
Speaker 1: has the best intentions and the best interests at heart
Speaker 1: for everyone. So I think she's gonna be an amazing CEO,
Speaker 1: and I can't wait to see that. It's nice to
Speaker 1: know that Mom and I started all of this, because
Speaker 1: it was really Mom and I we um. We started
Speaker 1: from the ground up. I was at home with the kids, cleaning, cooking,
Speaker 1: making sure everything was good, pay in the bills, and
Speaker 1: then later on I helped her with the businesses and
Speaker 1: helped her build her empire, and every idea that she had,
Speaker 1: I did my best to execute it. And to know
Speaker 1: that it's become this and to know that now my
Speaker 1: sister is going to take over is awesome. And I
Speaker 1: also want to take this time in the space to
Speaker 1: thank my uncle and my aunt for everything they did.
Speaker 1: I know that they tried their best, and I know
Speaker 1: that this was thrown on my aunt from one day
Speaker 1: to another, and she really didn't know and never wanted
Speaker 1: anything to do with the music industry. So I've always
Speaker 1: been very compassionate about that and understanding and for so long.
Speaker 1: She expressed that she wasn't happy in her position and
Speaker 1: that it has ruined her her her relationship with her kids,
Speaker 1: with her with her husband. My uncle Juan felt the
Speaker 1: same way, and again, my uncle Juan wasn't left in charge.
Speaker 1: She just took that responsibility I and wanted to help.
Speaker 1: And I am grateful for that. Believe me, I appreciate
Speaker 1: everything that they did, but there are certain things that
Speaker 1: I just feel I don't agree with, but I am
Speaker 1: grateful and I do want them to be happy, and
Speaker 1: I want them to be okay with their family and
Speaker 1: live their best life. And I'm sorry if you know
Speaker 1: all of this has caused pain, you know, the way
Speaker 1: that we think about their feelings and their life. I
Speaker 1: would love for them to take a moment and do
Speaker 1: the same for us, you know, And I know they have.
Speaker 1: I just don't know what happened throughout these nine years,
Speaker 1: and things have just gotten worse and worse, and it's
Speaker 1: just what happened, you know, we just asked questions. I
Speaker 1: want you guys to remember her for yes, her music,
Speaker 1: because she definitely broke barriers. She has paved the path
Speaker 1: for all women, I think in general, especially in you know,
Speaker 1: the regional Mexican genre, but also for the woman for
Speaker 1: that lucona courageous, fearless woman that she was. She always said,
Speaker 1: if they close the door in my face, it's okay,
Speaker 1: I'm going to find a window and I'm going to
Speaker 1: crawl through it and I'm gonna make sure I get
Speaker 1: what I want. So she was just tenacious and so
Speaker 1: strong and strong willed. I want you guys to remember
Speaker 1: her for that, for the single mother of five that
Speaker 1: didn't let anyone get in her way of feeding those children.
Speaker 1: For me, even if I wasn't her daughter, I would
Speaker 1: still be a fan of her music. I would still
Speaker 1: be a fan of the woman because she's definitely a
Speaker 1: woman that represents us so well, especially latinas that when
Speaker 1: there is a will, there is a way, easy said boy.
Speaker 1: Then she's definitely that woman. And it really was who
Speaker 1: she was, really like the person that you saw on stage,
Speaker 1: the person that you saw on interviews, That was my
Speaker 1: mother off stage in her core, she was a very
Speaker 1: passionate woman and anything and everything that she did passionate. Loving. Um,
Speaker 1: she was moody, you know, but and when she was wrong,
Speaker 1: she would eventually come around and say, I apologize, I'm
Speaker 1: sorry I was wrong. It would take her a little
Speaker 1: bit of time, but she would. She would always come
Speaker 1: around and and apologize. She was a woman that did
Speaker 1: her best to read the Bible every single day, at
Speaker 1: least averse to make sure she was honoring God and
Speaker 1: putting him first, something that to me is super important
Speaker 1: now because I saw it so much growing up, that
Speaker 1: woman that you guys know, it's really it wasn't It
Speaker 1: wasn't a facade. It was really her and the good
Speaker 1: and the bad. Like she would say, you know, flaws
Speaker 1: and all either fect those. She really did own it
Speaker 1: in every aspect. And I am so proud and honored
Speaker 1: and it's such a privilege and a blessing to be
Speaker 1: her daughter, to be her firstborn. It's like, Wow, that's
Speaker 1: my mama. You know, she's a badass in every sense
Speaker 1: of the word. And it's crazy because I know this,
Speaker 1: but I think I'm so engulfed in doing what I
Speaker 1: gotta do and being the best example that I can
Speaker 1: to my siblings of doing working and that sometimes not
Speaker 1: that I forget, it's just now that I'm talking about her,
Speaker 1: I'm just like Damn, that's my mom. It's so tight,
Speaker 1: you know, And I'm so grateful and I thank God,
Speaker 1: and I hope that one day, when I have a daughter,
Speaker 1: she could be half the woman my mother was. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna name her Jenny. It might be her middle name,
Speaker 1: but it has to be Jenny. And just the way
Speaker 1: I asked you guys to listen to her music, to
Speaker 1: my mother's music and honor her and you know, keep
Speaker 1: her alive, keep her legacy alive. I also do the same.
Speaker 1: I listen to her music a lot, especially when I
Speaker 1: need that motivation or I'm gonna go I'm gonna walk
Speaker 1: into a meeting, or when I was going through a heartbreak,
Speaker 1: I would listen too, like all those songs. Usually, what
Speaker 1: we like to do on December nine is eat your
Speaker 1: favorite foods. She liked the cookies, Nutter butters, she loved
Speaker 1: Diet coke, she loved pork rinds, and just sit there
Speaker 1: and watch her favorite movies, one of them being Life.
Speaker 1: The movie Life, if you guys haven't watched today, highly recommended.
Speaker 1: It's super funny. Um So that's what we're gonna do.
Speaker 1: Hopefully we can be together. It's gone to a point
Speaker 1: where now. I respect my siblings are a lot older,
Speaker 1: so if they feel like they need to be alone,
Speaker 1: especially Mikey, he's the one that's always like, you know what,
Speaker 1: I want to take my time. I want to do
Speaker 1: this by myself. I respect that I would love for
Speaker 1: all of us to be together in my new home hopefully,
Speaker 1: but if not, then I'm going to do my best
Speaker 1: to do what I do and listen to her music
Speaker 1: loud and proud, and and just remember her because I
Speaker 1: do miss her very much. It doesn't matter how old
Speaker 1: I get, I still need my mom's hugs. I still
Speaker 1: need her kisses. I still she had the best hugs ever.
Speaker 1: She was the best hugger. She always smells so good.
Speaker 1: She had this certain cent that I'm never going to forget,
Speaker 1: and her advice. I just I need her, you know,
Speaker 1: I still need her to me. It's yeah, it's been
Speaker 1: nine years, it's gonna be ten, but it still feels
Speaker 1: like it was yesterday. And if I can give you
Speaker 1: guys a piece of advice before um we go and
Speaker 1: we close up, is honor your parents. Don't wait for
Speaker 1: a special holiday for their birthday, for Christmas, for Mother's Day,
Speaker 1: for Father's Day, to say hi, I love you, to
Speaker 1: send them flowers randomly. You just never know what will happen.
Speaker 1: You never know when you won't see them again. So
Speaker 1: that's my advice to you guys, to appreciate and value
Speaker 1: your loved ones, to take the time to spend time
Speaker 1: with them, to call them now and then. I still
Speaker 1: do with my grandma, even though I'm hurt. If she's sick,
Speaker 1: I call her, I send her text messages. I want
Speaker 1: to make sure she knows that I'm there because I'm
Speaker 1: still grateful for everything she did for me. Things have
Speaker 1: just changed. But that's my advice to you guys. Take
Speaker 1: care of those that you love and keep their legacy
Speaker 1: alive once they're gone. So, guys, sorry for it's a
Speaker 1: very touchy subject. It's something that I thought I was
Speaker 1: not going to talk about everything that we talked about here,
Speaker 1: but this is a safe place and a way for
Speaker 1: me to express myself and share with you guys on
Speaker 1: a deeper level, like my thoughts, my heart and my mind,
Speaker 1: my soul, everything that I go through. I hope you
Speaker 1: guys enjoyed this episode and again December nine, let's not
Speaker 1: be sad. Yes, we miss her, but all the Jenny
Speaker 1: Rivera fans out there. Let's celebrate her life and what
Speaker 1: she taught us. Thank you guys so much. I will
Speaker 1: talk to you next week and have a beautiful, wonderful,
Speaker 1: productive week. This is a production of I Heart Radio
Speaker 1: and Michael podcast Network. Follow us on Instagram at Michael
Speaker 1: da Podcasts and follow me checks that's c h i
Speaker 1: q u i s. For more podcasts from my heart,
Speaker 1: visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever
Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.