Chanté dishes on her issues with Stacy and why she REALLY asked for that one percent.
What dynamic do you think Brave and Stacy bring to the group that is different?
Brave came first and she was introduced to the group almost immediately which I thought was good. It gave us time to get to know her. She’s vavoom, like Brigette Bardot. She’s that young eye candy, that magnet for the boys. She’s smart, but she’s not a smart aleck. She’s not mean at all. She was pretty fearless in jumping out in getting to know everybody. She came in with a really great outlook. We all opened arms and embraced her immediately.
Initially we didn’t know Stacy was going to be a part of the show. When we did the awards show for the Rainbow Coalition and she sat at the table with us…at that point I knew she was a woman at the table who was receiving an award. I knew she was a singer. That was all the conversation that was had. None of us knew she was going to become a diva on the show.
It seems like she feels a little slighted. Is she really that misunderstood?
When she sat at the table and she said she felt it to be a strange thing, and that there was an elephant in the room, the elephant was silence and that’s it. No one had anything else they could speak about at the moment. So for there to immediately be presumed issues, I thought that was unwarranted and it came from nowhere.
When she walked in the first thing she did is put her finger in other people’s cookie jars. That was mainly what I think happened, from her stepping in at Michel’le’s birthday party; I think she was doing their friendship a disservice and doing herself a disservice. Immediately it was a source of being hurt and a source of contention. She had too much to say about other people’s issues and business. I don’t have time for that.
How did Chrisette’s decision to leave affect the group?
Last year there was a lot of drama. I think we’ve all had enough. At the beginning of this season we made peace. These people became my friends. It really did change me, up in the mountain. I didn’t want her to go because I thought we had positive things to continue to build as far as letting the world see women of color be positive with each other. She’s very respected in the unit. But I totally understood why she left.
How did you feel about the group denying your request for 1% of the benefit concert proceeds?
We’re all mothers who work really, really hard. I’m not just thinking of myself, I’m thinking of all of us. I didn’t think it to be something that was rude or insensitive or certainly not greedy. One percent is not greedy. I work with other people in charities. I know what happens. It’s not some uneducated thing that I flippantly said.
You’ve been very low key and even-keeled. What can audiences expect from you this season?
I wasn’t even-keeled. I had a great time with the girls, even when Stacy was there. Keep on watching.
