Joie Chavis is getting in mama bear mode for her daughter Shai Moss.
The 14-year-old’s attendance at the BET Awards with her father Bow Wow was supposed to be a fun father-daughter moment but turned into online backlash about her. A clip of Bow Wow interviewing Shai at the June 9 event went viral when fans noticed a cutout in the teen’s outfit. Immediately fans reacted by scolding Shai’s parents for allowing her to go out in what they deemed a revealing outfit. But her mother was quick to respond by hopping on a livestream to come to her daughter’s defense.
The Shade Room reposted a screenshot of the livestream on June 13, with Chavis stating what she thought the initial outfit was when she was sent a photo of it.
“It looks like a long-sleeve dress that has jewels on it and a thing hanging on the side. I was like ‘Oh my God. So cute.’” Shai’s outfit was actually a long-sleeve bodysuit with what appeared to be a bejeweled skirt that was tied on. But while she was doing the interview with her father, fans could see that there was a cutout around her hip-thigh area – which is something Chavis claims she wasn’t initially aware of.
“At no point did we know there was a cutout. But whoever was styling her should’ve said ‘Hey there’s a cutout’ and that’s all I’m going to say about that.’”
However, the dancer didn’t stop there. She claims once the team realized the mishap, they knew there was a conflict because they didn’t have any other additional outfits for her to switch to.
Chavis explained that Shai also felt awkward in the outfit because she had to stand a certain way to try to hide the cutout. Unfortunately, her efforts fell short because the cutout could still be seen.
“She just felt kind of like, weird and uncomfortable,” Chavis said, “and I was like ‘Well, yeah, because it’s inappropriate.’”
“She had to deal with thousands of grown-ass people talking about her saying you know her mama put her in …’ Her mama ain’t do a motherf-cking thing. Mama was not in attendance. Mama was not around, OK?” she added. Explaining what she would’ve done if she had been present, she said, “If I was there I would’ve went to the closest whatever or Instacarted some little black shorts to put underneath. But that’s just a mistake, it’s not going to happen ever again.”
Responding to a fan on IG Live, she said, “Of course I’m clearing it up because a lot of these people are trying it. It’s cool you have your comments, I had my comments. I saw it when y’all saw it.” She explained that everything moved so fast that she didn’t have time to speak to her daughter before she went out to the event. So she only got to see the aftermath online.
Fans responded in the comments of The Shade Room’s post.
One person said, “Why yall ain’t blaming the daddy ? he was there.”
Another person who felt the same way said, “Her dad was right there! Why did mom get all of the smoke.”
A sympathetic fan said, “We live and we learn but at least we know she didn’t send her baby out there like that on purpose! Cut mama and Shai some slack.”
A fourth wrote, “Leave that baby alone.”
In a different live, Shai joined her mother, off camera, to respond to fans’ reaction. After confirming that the stylist didn’t realize the outfit had a cutout until after she put it on, Shai said, “I think you can tell that I was like a little bit uncomfortable but that’s OK. Everything happens for a reason.”
Keeping up the positive response, she added, “I think people just misunderstand because I think I am a little mature, but it’s OK, guys. Things happen, people are going to hate.”
Bow Wow and Chavis welcomed Shai in April 2011. She is the first child for both parents. The rapper later welcomed his son Stone Moss with Instagram model Olivia Sky in 2020. As for Chavis, she gave birth to her son, Hendrix, in 2018 and shares him with rapper Future. Then, last August, she gave birth to her daughter Harlo Rose, whom she had with NFL player Trevon Diggs.
