On Monday March 25th, I made my way down to a high rise complex for a meet & greet with Tv Producer Mona Scott-Young. Those that know me well, know that I don’t hold my tongue, so here it goes! I pre-jugdged this woman that I didn’t even know. I wanted to dislike Mona because of all the ratchet things I see her produce on television. When I got to the building at Atlantic Station, I was thinking to myself on the ride up in the elevator to the 40th floor, how I was going to be tough on her and ask hard questions. I said to myself I was going to ask her “why do you portray black people like that or why don’t you do this and that”. All those thoughts were in my head. Once I got to sit down and actually hear her out, I had a whole new perception of this very hard working womenpreneur. I do apologize for judging her! Never judge someone till you have walked in their shoes, or been where they have gone. It’s pretty hard to do I know but after meeting Mona, I really understood her point of view and a lot of other things better. She is Haitian born and worked in the entertainment business for over 20 years. She is married with two kids and she says her husband really holds it down while she tries to make all her dreams come true!
She went on to explain how she had no clue that ‘Love & Hip Hop’ would be perceived but felt like ‘we’ needed to share our stories. She said she was not here to judge people, people’s lives are real and we all know someone that lives this way. It’s their stories and their lives, who are we to judge. Their stories deserve to be told! ‘We as a society can be a bit narrow minded’ she stated. I asked her what does she look for when casting these people and she said that most of the time it’s either referrals or some of the cast members giving her leads. Take for example Joseline Hernandez (who’s a break-out star from Love & Hip Hop Atl) that was pure luck! Joseline dropped off Stevie J to a hotel to meet up with Mona for an interview with then girlfriend at the time Mimi Faust. Someone saw Stevie J making out with Joseline in the parking lot. That’s how she was casted, I can’t right now lol.
She then talked about really understanding reality tv. If you are going to do it, you have to be honest, open, vulnerble, relatable, engaging and more to make for great tv. So in other words, if you are boring don’t even bother. You can also take the platform and do great things if you are smart. She has seen cast members change their lives and most of the time happy endings come out of doing them. Reality tv is like the new “HipOpera” as Mona liked to put it lol. She has many projects coming out too, like her new business venture with Myx Fusion. It’s a new moscato brand that she co-owns and is available now in New Jersey, New York, Los Angeles. She wanted a wine that you could ‘take to the head’ but look elegant and classy while doing so lol. She is also launching a new reality show called, ‘Taking Atlanta’ that will air on Bravo, where people chase their dreams and try to make it in the city. Then she has ‘Gossip Games’ coming to Vh1 soon where they shadow women in the world of blogging, celebrity news and scoop. If the show does well, they are considering doing another show here in Atlanta, since we have all the scoop too! This show will focus on the girls everyday lives balancing career, families and gossip. One of my guilty pleasures is ofcourse watching Love & Hip Hop Atlanta. It will be returning on April 22nd with 14 new episodes! ALL the cast will be returning forget the rumors you heard she said. She really wants you guys to know that this will be the BEST season yet and you will want to watch! We almost got a chance to see the super-trailer but then a hater pr person told her no and to wait. I was mad as hell!! I almost passed out in the room lol. I can’t wait to tune in and it was such a pleasure meeting Ms.Mona. xoxo
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