Bow Wow, Phaedra Parks and Mo’Nique needing hugs and attention

Why do so many celebrities feel the need to fake the funk? I’ve been mulling this thought over in my mind here lately. I mean, I know why people like Kim Kardashian and her family do it, but I’m talking about reasons beyond the need to attention whore. Within the last week, two relatively big name stars, well within the black community at least, have come under fire because they were caught in major lies. We all know that in the world of Hollywood, things aren’t what they seem and there is no doubt that lying, stretching the truth, whatever you want to call it, is a part of the game. But when it comes to certain things these stars lie about, my question is why take the chance of being found out and clowned over something that really means nothing in the grand scheme of things?

I know that it is all about appearances in the entertainment industry. You have to look the part and act the part to be the part. I’ve never been one to really take to that notion because it breeds a shallow and self-centered paradigm of the world. Nonetheless, that’s the way things go. Rapper Bow Wow and lawyer turned reality TV star Phaedra Parks found out the hard way that faking the funk, indeed, can backfire in horribly damaging ways. As the smoke continues to clear on both of their situations, it sheds a light on the extent that celebrities will go to remain relevant or appear to be something and someone they are not. And when you look at it from that perspective, they aren’t that different from us regulars.

bow wow fake news hitter

With Bow Wow, we found out he didn’t travel to NYC for press rounds on a private jet as he insinuated he did on Instagram. The guy then turns around and proclaims he never said he was taking the private jet. He said in an interview,

“Off the top, I love it. Because people don’t really understand the scientific method to my madness.  Number one, I’m about to have the biggest show on WE TV. Period. Period. I’m saying that right now. Period. You gotta just watch the show.”

Was it all a publicity stunt for his new reality TV show Growing Up Hip Hop? I don’t believe it was. But somebody as arrogant and self-deluded as Shad Moss will never admit he’s screwed up or lied. That is called denial, which is the same route Phaedra Parks tried to take when it was found out that she started a heinous rumor about Kandi Buress and her husband Todd. According to Ms. Parks, her former bestie and her mate wanted to drug Porsha Williams and take her back to their sex dungeon on the Real Housewives of Atlanta (RHOA).

Parks’ lie brings a lot more into question than just her credibility. People are left wondering what else she’s lied about over the last few years. But her pattern of behavior and that of Bow Wow’s is a trend that leads common folk astray. People are running around here, nearly breaking their necks and their bank accounts, trying to aspire to be and have what these people seem to have. The culture in Hollywood breeds this kind of behavior, and maybe that is why Mo’Nique went off the way she did over the weekend. Let’s talk about Mo’Nique.

Her rant, in which she accuses heavy hitters Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry and Lee Daniels of “whiteballing” her (and tells them to suck her dick), has gotten a lot of attention. Many of the initial fan reactions accused her of being bitter. But maybe she’s just tired of the Hollywood bullshit and is finally saying something about it. Instead of faking the funk and trying to be someone she’s not, she’s being true to herself. Is that really so bad?

phaedra parks lies

Famous people are so worried about losing something that they become lost themselves. In the case of Parks her lying, which reportedly got her fired from RHOA, was bound to come out because there were too many other people involved in her fib. Bow Wow, on the other hand, was called out by a man flying on his Delta flight during the time he wanted us all to believe he was on a private jet. Social media is powerful and it is right at the tips of our fingers. Let us continue, by working harder, to keep these stars from not floating too far off the ground. Money and power have a way of making you feel like you are invincible and that you can do anything you want. But just like I implore people to hold politicians and law makers accountable for what they are doing, call these celebrities out on their bullshit too.

Look, as fans we pay too much damn money and give too much energy to what some of these celebrities are doing to just let them get away with stuff. Is it really so hard to tell the truth and be with that?

When it comes down to it, lying to the extent that Parks and Bow Wow did are desperate pleas for relevancy. And if relevancy and a few bylines were worth their brands taking major hits, then mission accomplished.