Yesterday I received an email containing a “pre-bridal” video of ‘Basketball Wives‘ cast member Evelyn Lozada preparing for her manufactured wedding to NFL player Chad Ochocinco this Summer.
I immediately sent the email to the trash bin without viewing the video. But Essence magazine posted the video on the front page of their website, where my good blog friend Gina viewed it.
Gina, owner of Whataboutourdaughters.com, wrote a scathing editorial about Essence magazine’s decision to post the video on its front page.
In her post, Gina blasted Essence.com for promoting a “bridal” photo shoot of Evelyn Lozada on the front page of the website. Gina referred to Lozada as “a hyperviolent, Black woman hating, foul mouth scourge.” And she asked where was the logic in highlighting the non-black Ms. Lozada on a website whose tag line is “Where Black women come first.”
Gina wrote:
Never mind that the entire wedding is a fiction concocted by Ms Lozada and her publicity hungry fiance. Never mind that this woman is just a VILE human being – but she was the only woman of color getting married? And let’s not forget Ocho Cinco publically stating he wasn’t interested in dating any women who subscribe to ESSENCE magazine?
She added:
Yes, young Black girls, you too can aspire to be on national television screaming about punching people in their $#(*%#&)* face. Yes you too can aspire to throw wine bottles at people! Yes, this woman hopped across a table to “fight.”
So those of you who were wondering if Constance White was going to take ESSENCE in a new direction, the answer is YES!
In response to the heavy criticism from Gina and Essence.com readers, the editor posted this message on the Essence website:
Ladies, to clarify: Evelyn Lozada is not on the cover of ESSENCE magazine and ESSENCE did not shoot her. We were simply sharing photos from a private shoot that international styling house November Lily did with Ms. Lozada privately. This is not a cover, nor a feature in the magazine. That news was poorly-reported by multiple blog sites. Thank you. Charli Penn
Did she say poorly reported by multiple blog sites? How are the blogs to blame when Essence used poor judgment in spotlighting a negative, violent, arrogant, slutty, foul mouthed, non-black reality show character on the front page of their so-called positive black women’s website?
