’21, 22 Leaving Your Kid at Home with No Food’: Mehgan James Tears Into Former ‘Basketball Wives’ Star Draya Michele After Being Asked About Her ‘Fupa’ Comment

TV personality Mehgan James may have just re-sparked her past beef with Draya Michele after James tore into her former “Basketball Wives: LA” co-star in a recent interview.

James, 33, is currently appearing in “Basketball Wives: Orlando,” the “BBW” franchise that is based in Orlando, Florida. The VH1 series follows the lives of her and eight other women who are girlfriends, wives, or have children with professional basketball and football players.

Trending Today:

Mehgan James speaks on Draya Michele's 8-year-old "fupa" comment.
Mehgan James (left) recently spoke on Draya Michele (right) and her “fupa” comment from eight years ago. (Photos: @mehganjames/Instagram, @drayamichele/Instagram)

Earlier this week, the “Bad Girls Club” star dished on her mindset going into this new project, which first premiered on Oct. 9, in an exclusive interview with Atlanta Black Star. 

“The majority of the cast has never done TV, so I had to film and help,” James said of her cast members. She said her mission was to make the newcomers feel welcomed, unlike her experience during season 4 of “BBW: LA.”

“I didn’t treat them how I was treated. I didn’t haze them or anything like that,” said James.

While recounting her short-lived time on the reality show “The Hollywood Group Chat,” the podcaster recalled an intense argument she had with Michele, 38, after the model made fun of James for having a “fupa” in 2015.

The salacious acronym stands for “fat upper p—y area.”

Watch the Full Video Here.

James said that dig didn’t “bother” her because she knew that she wasn’t a big girl. But she was taken aback by the former video vixen’s constant need to take a jab at her. 

“It was the fact that like you keep f—–g with me,” she said. “Like, if it’s not one thing it’s another, and, like, she was one of those girls that would always try to find something wrong with somebody that she didn’t like,” James continued.

The “Notorious Queens” star went on to accuse Michele of attempting to “turn other cast members” against her during their season without a specific reason for doing this. 

James then claimed that the “We Belong Together” actress had no business casting judgment or being critical of others when she had a history of her own. 

“What you was doing at 21, 22? Leaving your kids at home with no food,” she said. “So, there’s that.” 

Back in 2011, Michele was arrested and charged with child endangerment after leaving her then 7-year-old son, Kniko Howard, unattended in their home in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, while she went to work an hour away in Philadelphia

Elsewhere in the interview, James showed love to a few of her former “BBW:LA” cast members, including Malaysia Pargo, Brandi Maxiell, and Jackie Christie, the latter of whom is still on the show.

She said she wishes to work side-by-side with Brittany Renner, who is currently on season 11 of the first “BBW” franchise.

Fans can watch James and Renner every Monday on VH1 with “Basketball Wives: LA” at 9 p.m. Eastern Time and “BBW: Orlando” airing immediately afterward at 10 p.m

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Back to top