Monica recently paid an homage of sorts to the late Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes by recreating her 1994 mugshot for Halloween.
Following the tribute, the rapper’s TLC bandmate Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins shared a secret regarding the iconic floral dress. Lopes, who had a tumultuous relationship with former Atlanta Falcons football player Andre Rison, was accused of burning down Rison’s Atlanta mansion in the early morning of June 9, 1994, following a night out with friends.
The event occurred after Lopes suspected that Rison had been out cheating on her before he returned to the residence at 5 a.m.
Upon his entrance, the pair got into a physical altercation, and Lopes decided to place sneakers he allegedly brought for other women in a tub and burn them. On June 10, 1994, Lopes turned herself in. Lopes was charged with arson and released on a $75,000 bond. The “No Scrubs” emcee would ultimately get five years probation and a $10,000 fine.
In the Instagram post shared on Oct. 30, Monica was seen sporting a similar floral dress and a half-up, half-down hairstyle that Lopes rocked in June 1994; the image also included a mugshot placard.
In addition to the images, the singer wrote the caption, “Lisa’ LeftEye’ Lopes Halloween 22.” As Watkins viewed the photos, she revealed that the dress Lopes wore in the mugshot was one she owned and let the rapper borrow.
While telling a brief story and praising Monica’s costume, the 52-year-old wrote, “Haaaaaaaa U crazy love it!!!! Funny story I dressed her that day…. And My Mama Said Why U Give Her That Ugly Ass Dress… And I Said That’s What She Picked But Like WHY Did I Hv That Dress In The First Place lol Miss My Sister. Funny … U Did That.”
Following Watkins’ response, a handful of individuals expressed how great of a story it was. Several people even mentioned that they had wondered where the dress came from for years.
“Not you gave her that dress I love it and I love you guys. Thanks for sharing that with us.”
“@therealtboz iconic. I always wondered where that dress came from as it seemed so un-lisa lol.”
“@therealtboz that story behind the dress!!! I wondered why for years!!”
“@therealtboz lmao I’m glad u said it, that dress was awful.”
“@therealtboz great story she’s definitely missed.”
In the past, Sandra “Pepa” Denton, from Salt-N-Pepa, revealed that she was one of the reasons why Lopes set Rison’s home on fire. In her 2008 autobiography “Let’s Talk About Pep,” Denton shared that although she wasn’t physically intimate with Rison, the pair did hang out numerous times.
Denton said in the book, “It just seemed that all of my problems revolved around men – even when it wasn’t my fault. Even when I wasn’t directly involved. One example of this was in 1994. I ended up in one of those National Enquirer type of magazines under a headline: ‘Is Pepa a Homewrecker?’ Remember the night Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes burned down the house of Andre Rison? Well, I was sort of in the middle of that.”
She added, “Andre and I never messed around. I’m innocent of that crime. I am so innocent. But I did know him, and we were really cool. Salt-n-Pepa used to do a lot of NFL spots for Monday night football, and we would do some NFL parties. I met Andre at one of those parties, and we hit it off. We went bowling and were bugging out and laughing. I would bump into him from time to time at different clubs, and that was it.”
Denton would also reveal that Rison confided in her about what happened that fateful night. She said that during the argument between the pair, Rison was talking to Lopes about how cool Denton was, which led the lyricist to believe he was cheating on her with the “Push It” singer.
Also, reportedly on the night of the fire, Pepa gave Lopes and Rison backstage passes to a Salt-N-Pepa concert in Atlanta, which added to the rapper’s suspicions.
