Erica Mena Speaks On Racism Controversy & Being Fired From ‘L&HH,’ Issues Apology To The Black Community & Claims Spice Wasn’t Aware She Called Her A ‘Monkey’ Until Producers Told Her

Erica Mena, Spice

Erica Mena Speaks On Racism Controversy & Being Fired From ‘L&HH,’ Issues Apology To The Black Community & Claims Spice Wasn’t Aware She Called Her A ‘Monkey’ Until Producers Told Her

The long-awaited interview from Erica Mena has finally been released. 

In September, Erica Mena, 35, was fired from “Love & Hip Hop” after an episode aired of her calling her then-co-star Spice, real name Grace Hamilton,  a “blue monkey” during a verbal altercation. Subsequent to the episode being released, Erica Mena faced backlash from viewers who slammed her for the controversial remark.

Erica Mena

Today (Oct. 31) the second part of Erica’s tell-all interview with Carlos King dropped. During their chat, the reality TV star spoke candidly about her argument with Spice and not being fired until after the episode aired. According to Erica, there was a lot removed from the altercation, including footage of Spice, 41, coming to the window to taunt her and make additional comments about her son after they were separated and Erica was taken outside of the establishment. She continued,

“Honestly, it wasn’t anything but her banging on the window and her putting her a** up that reminded me of [a monkey] in that moment, not a race, an individual, her. The way she’s bantering me from inside putting her a** [on the window] and banging.”

She then said, 

“So, what do you think, like, you’re a f*cking animal. Was it the wrong choice of animal, yes. But in that moment I felt completely violated by a woman that I really respect.”

Erica later shared,

“I just want to take accountability and I just want people to know now more than ever the state of being mindful and more aware of the things I say and do is officially solidified in my life…but I’m not racist and I’m not a colorist and I’m sorry to the people who I offended.”

Despite issuing several apologies to her fans, the Black community, and watchers of “L&HH,” Erica made it very clear that she has no intentions of apologizing to Spice. According to Erica, she would say sorry to Spice if the dance hall artist was “genuinely broken” by what she said. However, after they filmed the crazy dispute, Erica said Spice took to IG live and alleged she had multiple STDs. She also claimed that Spice and other cast members were unaware of the “monkey” comment until producers told them.

She continued,

“I really feel like production went [and] they were like, ‘Oh my God, this is going to be great ratings, let’s go with it.’ And what they failed to realize is yeah, it brought ratings but it also brought backlash that you now have to save face for and probably lost a lot of sponsorship.”

While speaking on the timing of her firing, Erica expressed, 

“See, when it happened I knew I f*cked up that day. And I was filming for months and months and months and I just was like, okay, I knew this was coming, but I wasn’t expecting it to be this bad, and that’s okay.” 

She continued, 

“What’s not okay is how if this was as bad as the network says it is, why wasn’t I let go a long time ago?”

Erica Mena

What are your thoughts on this entire situation? Tell us in the comments below