Tami Roman may be booked and busy with new acting gigs and business ventures, but the star is still a current reality TV staple. However, that doesn’t mean she wants to give in to all the typical tropes that the genre brings. Namely, the “Basketball Wives” star aims to stay out of drama despite the fact that it makes for compelling television.
“That’s what people want to see. It’s everybody’s guilty pleasure,” she said on “The D.L. Hughley Show” Monday, July 15. “The responsibility that I took within myself is that I watch myself. I said, ‘OK, so, since you guys aren’t gonna show the other side and all the wonderful things that I do with philanthropy and my charities and my children and my relationship with my mom, then, I’m gonna make the changes, I’m gonna be in control of the narrative. I have to take responsibility for the imagery that I was putting out.
“We do have a right to say [something],” Roman continued before giving the example of why she walked off the set during the season 7 reunion filming last year. “Y’all acting crazy, y’all cursing, y’all doing that, I’m not staying.”
Earlier, Roman addressed co-host Jasmine Sanders’ concerns about the way Black women are portrayed on unscripted television. Sanders said there is “always this perpetual argument that Black women don’t get along and that we can’t be friends and we’re always angry.”
“We’re filming for six, seven months at a time and production’s waiting on that one moment [of conflict] so that that’s what they can use for the super trailer, that’s what they can make the whole season about. And it’s unfortunate because they don’t show enough balance of us getting along.”
Roman shared some footage from the interview on her Instagram page ahead of the sit-down airing. She wrote in part in the caption, “I’m no saint, I’ve contributed as much as the next person to the shenanigans. I just decided to make a conscious decision and put more effort towards change.”
Fans loved what she had to say about ditching the negativity.
“Ok! Step up then!!!”
“That’s right @tamiroman! You control the narrative over your life, great lesson! I’m applying this to my life, thank you! 🙏🏾”
“Keep it trucking Lady, love what ur doing😍😍❤️ “
However, some began debating about Sanders’ comments concerning the portrayal of Black women on reality TV and juxtaposed it with how white women are seen on the same kinds of shows.
“TAMI TAMI TAMI!!! TY for speaking facts but question… why does it seem like the white casted reality shows have no problem showing that ‘balance’ you were talking about?🧐 I think production loves feeding that angry black woman stereotype. They need a new angle.”
“I agree but like she said change the narrative if you want it to be different. They show black women fighting & angry all the time because it seems they are most of the time. Otherwise they wouldn’t have enough to show to make one think this way,” someone replied.
Things went left, however, when one user demanded Roman “should just call a spade a spade” and own up to her past on-screen fights and clashes.
“I love her but ppl get contracts for other stuff and forget they were ghetto about a week ago,” the Instagram user added.
Further, they said, “why say it was portrayed like and just call it what it is. I’m not downplaying her new life at all just don’t be out here like oh I never did that or they made me look bad. No you made you look bad and now you want to change and that’s good. I never said she needed to be in that space. Don’t put words into my mouth please just ask what I was trying to say . Everyones words and perceptions are different.”
The remark led Roman to jump into the comments and make herself perfectly clear.
“I never said I didn’t act a fool, hence my statement ‘I watched myself’ as well as my caption above… what I said was they don’t balance the BS with the other side of things,” the actress wrote. “I absolutely did what I did but once I became cognizant of the one dimensional presentation year after year, I opted to shift the narrative for myself (especially after my mom passed). People always try to skew what I say to be an attack on something that blessed me. It’s not. It’s me acknowledging I wasn’t flowing properly within the blessing and I wanted to be responsible and change… not only for me but for the people impacted thru viewing.”
