I will start this off by saying I have literally met hundreds of celebrities. Most of them were very cool and very down to earth. I can always understand someone having a bad day but there are 4 celebrities that come to mind when I think of people I don’t ever have to meet again.
WORST:
Don Cornelius: I met him at the Soul Train Awards about 10 years ago. Everybody was enjoying themselves and I came up to him and told him how much I loved Soul Train growing up and how much I admired his work. He snarled up his lip at me and growled like I was annoying him (laugh). Nobody else was around otherwise I would have roasted his old ass but I just laughed and walked away. I
knew someone who worked for him and I asked him was he really that much of an asshole and they told me “Most people don’t like him but he laughs and jokes around the office, I don’t think he trusts anyone.”
Q-Tip: Just an all around shitty attitude. Came up to Urban Network when I was the rap editor and was very distant and anti-social. When you feel like that, keep your ass at home.
The Late Gwen Guthrie: I was new to the industry and at the time her Smash hit Nothing Going on but the Rent was out. She was practically taking up an entire couch in a Jack the Rapper suite and I had no idea she was that big, but I told her how much I loved her music and she never said a word, she just smiled and nodded her head (laugh) with every compliment I gave her. I will excuse Gwen cause she looked like she didn’t want to be there and she looked uncomfortable.
Lisa Lisa: She gets Radio Facts and if she reads this … Oh well. She came up to Urban Network and was really nasty to a co worker who asked her about somebody she was supposed to be dating. The guys from Cult Jam were real down to earth and it was if they were trying to make up for her shitty attitude.
BEST:
LL Cool J – Really down to earth, extremely intelligent.
Queen Latifah – Dana has that “it” factor and she is one of the most down to earth people in the industry I have ever met. Very accommodating and warm.
Vanessa Wiliams – Somewhat edgy but humbled by her experiences and once she warms up to you she is a great person.
Brian McKnight – I know someone who used to work for him that said if they see him again they are going to kick his ass (laugh) but he was a great person when I met him.
Wendy Williams – I always liked Wendy and I could tell she was trying to figure her way out of the urban radio crab BOX. She was destined for greater things and Im glad she succeeded. Real down to earth and funny.
Bobby Brown – I love anyone who thinks out of the box and once during an interview with me and several other reporters, Bobby got bored and said, “Fuck this, y’all asking me all these stupid ass questions, I ain’t got time for this shit.” He looked around the room and looked at me and said “YOU!, let’s go have a drink at the bar.” It was all of 2pm and the other reporters were dumbfounded as we left. That was my introduction to Louis XIII De Remy Martin, Cognac at $150 a shot and he bought me 2 shots. I interviewed him at the bar and the interview was one of the best interviews I ever did but I didn’t run it out of respect for him and Whitney. I still have it. When we went back to the room, the other reporters were still there over an hour later and he said, “I don’t know if I have to fart or shit but I’m going to go and find out” and he went to the bathroom. I was on the floor laughing and the reporters were insulted. Then Bobby and Lee Bailey got into it and Bobby was imitating Lee and I thought I would never stop laughing. Whitney came out and hung out with us for a minute. A popular tabloid offered me $30,000 for the story and I didn’t give it to them. You may call me a fool but trust me… his label at the time MCA was my Number 1 client. $30,000 was a drop in the bucket. Bobby is for certain one of the most down to earth people I have ever met in the industry.
Cathy Hughes -SURPRISE (laugh). I was invited to a dinner a while back and met and talked to her for a while. Cathy was warm but you could see that iconic presence and the dues that she has paid under her warm exterior. I have never worked for her but from my one on one expereinces with her… I was impressed.
