Draya Michele was recently interviewed by Wendy Williams (oh Lawd!) in the “Hot Topics” segment of her talk show and I have to say Draya totally held her own against Wendy’s digs. The two actually played well off one another… perhaps Draya could be the Andy Richter to Wendy’s Conan O’Brien.
Right from the start of the interview, Wendy asks Draya how she made it on Basketball Wives: L.A. given that she’s not even dating a basketball player, much less married to one. Um, has Wendy seen the show? I once saw Michael Jordan play minor league baseball (yes, it was during that career hiccup) and had a teacher in high school who played college ball with him at Chapel Hill. That pretty much qualifies me as a Basketball “Wife.”
Wendy follows up by calling her guest “slutty” and questions Draya about that pesky rumor that Laura Govan’s ex boyfriend and baby daddy Gilbert Arenas had his way with her in a locker room before passing her off to a couple of teammates? (Keeping it classy, Gilbs!) Draya handles herself with humor, responding,“I would have millions [of ball players] by now if I were doing crazy, wild stuff like that.” She continues, “The three basketball players… I haven’t even been with three basketball players in one month, let alone day.” Jokingly, Draya adds, “I like to space them out a little bit.”
Wendy refers to her guest, saying, “This girl has gotten around.” Draya takes the show’s host in stride. She claims it’s been over three years since she has dated a basketball player. After being asked if she fears future suitors will see her as nothing more than a trick due to the public nature of her escapades, Draya explains to Wendy, “Anything you do in your past can be cleaned up.”
Draya also doesn’t get visibly rattled when asked about the child endangerment charges which have been alleged against her. Draya responds, “I discussed it in 2010. I discussed it on the show, and it’s just like, I just want to move on with my life and show the people that I’m not this person that they created me out to be.” She then changes the subject by telling Wendy she sees a bug in her hair (it’s hilarious). When the twenty-six-year-old Draya is asked her son’s age (he’s nine), Draya laughs that it is no time to start with mathematics.
Discussing her nine month relationship with hip-hop star Chris Brown, Draya says it occurred post Rihanna and that he was never violent towards her. She reveals, “We really didn’t discuss her. I saw a different Chris Brown.”
When it comes to her stripping past, Draya is brutally honest when she states: “I stripped for a few years. Kinda like off and on just whenever I needed something.”
After receiving backlash for the interview, Wendy Williams spoke up, citing Draya’s refusal to answer her inquiries as questionable. Wendy states, “If you’re going to continue to be on your back and only exemplify behavior that we saw on ‘Basketball Wives,’ or defensive, nasty behavior — which I don’t think you were nasty yesterday. I actually liked meeting you, and I loved your Fendi dress — but I don’t think that you did anything to defend your reputation of coming up lying down. That’s all.”
The host continues, comparing and contrasting Draya’s celebrity to that of Kimmie Kardashian. She says, “Both of you have had your come-up on your backs. Here’s the difference, Draya, Draya’s people and Draya’s fans: Kim owns how she came up. Kim then got a machine behind her, led by her mother and the rest of her family, and has swapped America with some Jedi mind trick where we now love the Kardashians for good, for bad or indifferent.”
I can’t tell if that’s a slam against Draya or a slam against Kimmie and momager Kris Jenner! But at least Draya can take comfort in the fact that Wendy Williams liked her wardrobe. Personally, I thought the interview was equal parts snark and side-stepping, with both ladies holding their own. I don’t think that Draya was portrayed as a victim any more than Wendy came across as a bully (well, maybe a little…). I’d still like to see the pair collaborate with their own gig.
The video interview is below!
Photo Credit: Koi Sojer / PR Photos
YOUR THOUGHTS? DID WENDY OVERSTEP ANY BOUNDARIES IN THE INTERVIEW? DO YOU THINK DRAYA SHOULD HAVE ANSWERED THE QUESTIONS MORE DIRECTLY?
