Rapper Method Man is getting candid about his past struggles dealing with “low self-esteem” and how he unfairly treated the ladies of Destiny’s Child during an industry celebration. During a recent appearance on the “My Expert Opinion” podcast with host Math Hoffa, the rapper-turned actor reflected on his evolution as a hip-hop artist and how he narrowly severed numerous industry relationships due to his perspective at the time.
The New York native revealed that his personal struggles got so tough that he often found himself lashing out at loved ones and peers at his record label, Def Jam, before the incident he now views as a misunderstanding.
“I had met them overseas with Jay; we were all over there,” the rapper said about the then quartet made up of Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, LaTavia Roberson and LeToya Luckett at the UK’s MOBO Awards in 1999, alongside Jay-Z and Dame Dash.
The 51-year-old star said that “the girls were there — very nice,” before noting that this was “when it was still four of them, the original members.” He added they were “Very nice, very cordial and all that. I always kept that in my head, like these are some decent young ladies and sh-t.”
The “How High” star would later meet the ladies again, now a trio at Janet Jackson’s MTV Icon special in 2001. The “Built for This” emcee expressed that he initially thought he was being ignored when he attempted to greet the singers at the celebration.
“We were at Janet Jackson’s Icon, and I remember I had just come off stage, and where we were sitting, there were nothing but VIPs. We had *NSYNC up here, Destiny’s Child right there, Tommy Lee was over here, Pink. And I see the girls, so I kinda moseyed out of my seat to go over and say what’s up to them,” the emcee continued.
“Now, this is still me in my low self-esteem era. But I’m thinking like, comfort zone here; I’m gonna say what’s up to the girls. I love them, I’m just gonna say hi. I go over to say hi to them, and when I said hi, they didn’t even turn around and acknowledge me,” he added.
Method said he ultimately met the girls that night but said when “they put their hands out to shake, and I kept my hand here and was like, ‘Go ’head with that Hollywood sh-t.’ ”
The “Soul Plane” star admitted that he’s still hurt by how he treated the group. “But me being so miserable and in that f–king moment, I felt like they wasn’t treating me the way I should have been treated,” he explained. “Who am I to think that about these girls? They’re here to promote themselves and break records and things of that nature. And it was not about me; it was about Janet f–king Jackson. And to this day, man, I don’t think I’ve ever apologized for that.”
Method said he was dealing with low self-esteem and other internal issues at the time. “I didn’t like myself, so I didn’t like anybody f–king else. So that meant anything that would have come in my circumference at that point in time was gonna get it,” ” the emcee shared.
“My family went through a lot with my a– during that era, man. And I can admit that I did take a lot of my f–king misery out on them, and they did not deserve it. And I took some of my misery out on people at Def Jam that did not f–king deserve it.”
