In the mid-’90s, Brandy was sitting on top of the world as one of the fasting-rising stars in music and television. Outside of her wildly successful self-titled debut album, the young performer was also the star of her own UPN sitcom, “Moesha,” one of the handful of shows that launched the network that lasted for 11 years from 1995 to 2006. Part of Moesha’s success was the on-screen chemistry between Brandy and her co-star, Countess Vaughn.
However, for years, people have speculated that the two did not get along off the set. In a new interview with The Art of Dialogue, rapper-turned-actor Fredo Starr shared that the rumors may have been true.
“Why did Moesha end?” they asked Starr, who played Quinton “Q” Brooks in 49 episodes between 1996 and 2000. The rapper was then asked to confirm the longtime rumors that Brandy and Countess had beef during the show’s run.
“I mean there was definitely friction… definitely,” the Onyx member said. “There was times on the set where they had an argument once or twice. They got over it, you know.”
He also noted that Vaughn, in her role as Kim Parker on the show, had enough leverage to publicly challenge Brandy at that time. This was unlike others such as Sheryl Lee Ralph, who have openly discussed their challenges with Brandy while portraying Brandy’s mother on the show.
“I’m gonna keep it real, Countess Vaughn was funny. She was hilarious, and they needed her on the show, so she had a right to beef. She had a right to speak her mind. She had a right to,” Starr explained.
He continued, “Whatever happened, I’m sure that she was frustrated enough to where it exploded.”
Fredo Starr was only on the show for two seasons, playing Moesha’s boyfriend Q, but he and the producers knew that Vaughn had the chops to be a principal on her own.
“Countess was so dope and so much of a great actress … they gave her own show,” Starr continued. “They said, ‘You know what, they’re not getting along. Let’s give her her own show. She talking like she could hold it down,’ and she rocked for five years. She did 100 episodes. All she gotta do is check her mailbox.”
Starr added, “You know, sometimes beefing is good. They was able to get two shows out of it it.”
As the interview continued, Starr came to a revelation that the on-set beef could have possibly been an act between two talented actresses who wanted to milk the series into another lucrative spinoff.
“They’re actresses, right? They could have been they could have been acting. That could have been a whole act. and they just milked them,” said Starr. “I didn’t even think about it. ‘The Parkers’ was the the next move after ‘Moesha.’ The writers had another job. The producers had another job.”
“That rumor was true,” Starr concluded. “But like I said, they’re actresses. They probably was acting. Great f—king job!”
The conflict between the two ingenues has been spoken of frequently over the years and, according to the stars, it did get nasty.
In 1998, a year before Vaughn left the show, Brandy told Vibe magazine, “I think she’s very funny, very talented. I just feel like she wants to be in the position I’m in. People tell her, ‘You’re the reason why the show’s successful.’ And she’s told me that before. And she’s called me a b—h to my face. She said, ‘I’m the reason why the show is successful, b—.’ In front of a lot of people.”
Brandy went on to say, “She wakes up and looks at herself in the mirror and she gets disgusted. I don’t.”
People were quick to weigh in on the comments section of the video post.
“Brandy has had too many beefs for her not to be the problem. It’s been DECADES of beef,” one person wrote.
Another person wrote, “I remember Brandy being on Tavis Smiley’s show and being asked about the beef. She said that the rumors were true and it wasn’t a big deal. They just didn’t get along. She also added that there’s people at our jobs we don’t care for as well, but no one cares because we aren’t celebrities.”
The two have since made up, publicly celebrating each other.
One person celebrated both ladies maturing, commenting, “They were all so young. It’s nice to see the ladies move beyond teenage beef.”
Vaughn, who has an estimated net worth of $1.5 million according to Celebrity Net Worth, is doing more than just getting up and collecting checks in the mail. Over the last few years, despite appearing on a few reality shows, she has been battling a thyroid disease that has been causing complications in her life.
Also, her sitcom mother, Mo’Nique, has filed a lawsuit against the production company and showrunners of “The Parkers,” hoping to secure more compensation for the work that she and Faughn did on the show to make it a hit.
