Tamar Braxton has chosen to double down on her recent comments after she seemingly defended Erica Mena’s act of calling Spice a “blue monkey.”
The Jamaican dancehall artist and “Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta” star is known for wearing a variation of blue hairstyles. In a recent episode of the VH1 series, Mena chose to hurl a racial slur at Spice after she accused Mena’s oldest child of not liking his mother.
The “Love and Hip Hop: New York” alum’s controversial insults sparked conversation all throughout social media and even found their way “Dish Nation” talk, where co-hosts Jessie Woo and Headkrack deemed Mena’s clapback as a racist rebuttal.
However, Braxton appeared to have felt otherwise and decided to play “devil’s advocate” by suggesting that “all bets are off” when a person’s child is brought up, Spice did with Mena’s child.
“Isn’t all bets off when somebody come for your kids,” said Braxton. “I’m sorry I’m not watching nothing I say out my mouth, okay? You tell me my son don’t love me? I’m going for your neck.”
She continued, “That doesn’t mean she’s racist; it just means that’s the first thing that came to her mind to defend herself.”
It was only a matter of time before the “So Mi Like It” artist received word of Braxton’s unpopular opinion and addressed it during a recent Instagram Live.
On Tuesday, Sept. 5, the “Love & War” singer joined Spice’s live broadcast, where she admitted she had not watched the entire “LHH” episode and was only speaking based on a clip that was plastered online.
“I didn’t see it. I don’t watch that show; we’ve talked about that,” the Grammy-nominated artist said. She then noted that if it wasn’t for her job as a talk-show host, she wouldn’t have spoken about the situation at all.
Braxton shared, “My job is to comment on what is being reported.” In response to Braxton, Spice noted that her job as a reality TV star also is to speak on situations that play out in the show.
“That was what was being talked about at the table,” Spice said.
The Queen of Dancehall also denied ever badmouthing Mena’s son,l. “I did not say anything bad about her son which was, you know, how you came off. You said ‘Anybody say anything about my son.’ I did not say anything bad about Erica’s son.”
Braxton then told Spice to direct all of her thoughts on how the scene was edited to the show’s producer, Mona Scott-Young.
“You can’t take that up with Tamar; you gotta take that up with Mona and her people. ‘Cause I didn’t; I didn’t do the edits,” Braxton said.
Before the former “The Real” host exited Spice’s live, she acknowledged how distasteful Mena’s comment was, stating that she had no intention of hurting Spice’s feelings with her opinion.
“No person deserved to be called a monkey or anything derogatory like that. You’re not a monkey; you’re a phenomenal artist, you’re a phenomenal woman, you’re a phenomenal mother,” said Braxton.
A snippet of their IG live was shared on The Shade Room’s Instagram page, where commenters, once again, were still on the fence about who they support more.
“Nothing triggers a racial slur except racism! Let’s bffr and stop it with the excuses.”
“All I know is if you speak on my son. I’m digging your dead grandma up and putting her on your porch.”
“Spice don’t let these people gaslight you! Under no circumstances does an argument warrant racial slurs! Stop engaging!”
“Spice wanna be the victim so bad , they both was wrong and both should be punished in my opinion but.”
One way Mena has been “punished” for her verbal attack on Spice is by being let go from the “LHH: ATL” franchise. The producers of the popular show announced that they were severing ties with the “Picture Me Dead” actress via a statement shared on Instagram and X. Afterward, the father of her two youngest children, Safaree Samuels, wrote on social media that the kids needed their mother.
