Leela fills us in on why Chanté’s behavior took her over the edge.
Was your approach the best way to let Chanté she was no longer welcome?
First and foremost, no she hadn’t been participating. She also asked to receive a percentage of the proceeds of the charity project, which was not going to happen. It wasn’t about, oh we’re a bunch of girls, everyone is being mean to her and don’t want her on the song. No. She asked to be petty. Who gets paid for a charity project? We just didn’t want to risk that presenting any problems. At the end of the day it wasn’t about me. It’s about the greater good. Anybody standing in the way of that, they need to go. Just like Harriet Tubman said, “If you ain’t trying to leave the plantation, then you stay.”
How did you feel about Michel’le’s part of the song?
I know that Michel’le was dealing with a lot at the time. I love Michel’le regardless. We hadn’t had the opportunity to iron out exactly how we were going to do the song. We really only had a matter of a couple of days of pulling this whole thing off. We didn’t have a lot of studio time. We only had a couple of hours to record the song. It was a lot that was going on.
Anything or anybody that was resisting or causing problems for their own selfish agenda; I had a problem with them. It was personal. It was dear to me. Maybe you don’t like the way I went about standing for it but at the same time, I’m human. Don’t push me.
Why continue to have Chanté in the show?
Business and performing at a benefit are two different things. Once again, it’s not about being mean girls. This is business. You’re more than welcome to perform at the benefit. It wasn’t, “Oh we don’t like Chanté.” I don’t agree with a lot of the things she said and did, but this was also about business.
What was the highlight of the performance for you?
Clearly the highlight from day one was the fact that I was able to make my friend smile. It wasn’t about me doing any of my music. We sang together. It was a raw acapella moment. Our voices sang to the heavens.
What can the audience expect from the reunion episodes?
There was a lot that was said during the reunion, just like there was a lot that was said throughout the whole season. I will just say this, there was a lot of emotion.
