Friends may come and go, but family is forever. That might not be the case for two “Black Ink Crew: Chicago” stars.
Charmaine Bey called out her former brother, friend and boss, Ryan Henry, for hating on her success. The radio host accused Ryan of being “jealous” and “boring” on Instagram for reasons not stated.
Bey captioned the lengthy post, “It’s the narcissism for me. I never said one thing bad about you, but I see you’re big mad. Nothing new. Word on the street is you can’t stand my success. I never had a man be jealous of me until I met you. It’s gross. That’s your show now, so focus on how you’re going to keep it without me, buddy. Don’t hate on me.”
Despite his “female tendencies,” she said she has “nothing but respect” for how Ryan made himself a boss. But she’s confused why she’s been receiving so much hate since she opened her own tattoo shop in Chicago.
Bey continued, “Who does that? Now to hear you’re telling ppl that I wouldn’t have my success without you. You think VH1 bought the show because of your boring a—? No. We all built that together, and you rode our backs for the longest on ‘your’ show.”
She also took shots at Henry’s mental health throughout the post, claiming he had “meltdowns” while filming “Black Ink Crew: Chicago.”
She concluded, “Sucks that I had to do this because I truly love your family and your staff but you’re not about to continue to play me. Go have another tantrum about this post lol. Follow my tattoo shop, @2ndcityink.”
The Shade Room grabbed a screenshot of Henry’s response in the comments, where he called the matter “clown s–t.”
He said, “This is sad. You got my number and put that lame s–t from your plugs out there as fact. Hating? Meltdowns? Jealous? Not never. Like C’mon man, you know the only thing that ever came in between us was how you had to move with your husband.”
Henry said he was initially unaware of how Bey’s husband, entrepreneur Neek Bey, felt about him.
“I was just late to the party to find out I was pushed to the side unknowing cuz of how he felt about me and ant, yet I respected it and still loved you throughout,” he continued. “But this is clown s–t. Internet is the stomping grounds. Have at it though.”
Fans in the comments questioned whether the beef between Ryan and Charmaine was real or fake. Many felt like the drama was to drive ratings for the upcoming season of “Black Ink Crew: Chicago.”
Addressing Charmaine, one person wrote, “So is this drama for next season? If not just leave it alone. You evolved so much since the show started… if u ain’t got no haters u ain’t popping.”
Another said, “@charmainebey @ryanhenrytattoo you both have been friends too long to let Instagram trolls ruin the friendship. Ryan was at your baby shower in N.Y. Charmaine. Stop all this foolishness, it’s petty and childish… unless this is fake beef just to amp people up for the next season. In that case…carry on Lmao.”
Many expressed having high hopes that Charmaine and Ryan can make amends. One person said, “I hope @ryanhenrytattoo and @charmainebey can come together again because yall most definitely family.”
Charmaine and Ryan are pioneers of VH1’s “Black Ink Crew: Chicago,” which premiered in 2015. After six seasons, Bey decided to open 2nd City Ink tattoo shop. News about season eight has yet to be revealed, but Bey will no longer be the hit series. Last week, she told her one million Instagram followers that she quit the show.
“I quit the tv show blackinkcrew,” said Charmaine in the caption. “I’m no longer working with ‘TV tattoo artist,’ unfollowed any phony person I use[d] to deal with from the show, hired all dope tattoo artists who represent Chicago, and my haters will still say my shop isn’t legit.”
