Jennifer Williams‘ promo for season 9 of “Basketball Wives” was derailed on Feb. 2 after Chicago Morning Show host Kendra G. asked the reality star why Ogom “O.G.” Chijindu was not on the show’s poster.
The promo included original cast members alongside Williams, Evelyn Lozada, Jackie Christie, Shaunie O’Neal, and Malaysia Pargo. The 46-year-old captioned the photo, “One week until @basketballwives premieres on @vh1 at 8 PM EST… #Countdown 🎬.”
Kendra told the “BBW” star although she loved her, she despised the cover. “Love you Jen!!! But I hate this cover because @iheartog isn’t on it. And I don’t understand why. 😡” Williams then responded, the reason behind Chijindu’s absence, “@kendragmedia this cover is the OGs (no pun intended) who started their respective franchises.”
Fans’ reactions were split about Williams’ response.
“That’s just a convenient excuse to leave OG off.”
“What does that even mean? OG is the OG! To be frank she made this lame ass show relevant again.”
“What that got to do with anything, she’s a paid regular cast member who should be on this cover, but never mind, let me mind my business.”
“Y’all just want something to b—h about. Kristen, CeCe, OG, & Feby are ALL NOT ON THE COVER. Literally just the originals. Y’all take whatever & run w it.”
“They are the OG’s so she is right…”
“Y’all really complain about everything. They been using the same promo pic for the past 3 seasons.”
Jennifer Williams’ Post
Jennifer Williams’ “Basketball Wives” promo gets sidetracked after radio personality Kendra G. asked the star why Ogom “O.G.” Chijindu wasn’t on the cover.
Jennifer Williams’ Response
Jennifer Williams Screenshot/Instagram
In 2019, the radio personality interviewed Chijindu and discussed various topics, including colorism, on the hit VH1 show. When Kendra asked the reality star about her initial comment following the season 8 reunion and when she experienced discrimination on set, Chijindu responded on mark 12:33, “every time I opened my mouth.”
The “BBW” star said, “I wasn’t allowed to voice my opinion at any time. Anytime I did voice my opinion, it was belittled … It was like ‘she don’t know what she’s talking about’ and it had nothing to do with anybody else.”
She added the other cast members didn’t receive the same type of treatment. “No one else got that same exact type of reaction when they spoke. Everyone else got to put their POV out there, and no one stopped them, no one shut them down. No one you know kind of like no girl don’t, and you know I’m not stupid. You know I’m an intelligent person, you know I know how to analyze things, and last time I checked, I was hired to voice my opinion that’s our job.”
Chijindu explained that as reality stars, everyone should be able to give “some type of analyzation” whether it is wrong or right, and not being provided that opportunity without reason was unjust.
She also mentioned on mark 17:20 although she didn’t want to initially talk about colorism — because it was an issue prior to her being born — she felt it was her duty because it was “happening.”
“I also have no problem touching on it because it’s happening and if you really like, listen to my choice of words. I said there is a colorism issue. I never said I feel as though this or I feel as though that because this is my job. There are no feelings. This is work I come I do my job, and I bounce. … My job has no feelings I come I work I don’t let things get under my skin and I move on, but if there’s room for improvement, you better believe I’m going to announce it, and I’m going to talk about it.”
Last season, the retired Legends Football League player was accused of being aggressive to both cast and crew members, something Chijindu claimed was brought up because of her skin color.
When addressing the issue on the season 8 reunion, “BBW” executive producer and star Shaunie O’Neal disputed those claims by stating her color and size wasn’t the problem and that she wasn’t the only “brown-skinned women on stage.” It was Chijindu’s temper that caused havoc on set. “What is different is that it’s almost every time we film.”
The new season of “Basketball Wives” is scheduled to premiere on Feb. 9 at 8 p.m.
