LHHA’s Mimi Faust Speaks Out on Boyfriend Stevie J, Joseline’s True Sexuality + Her View of Mona Scott-Young
Most of you have watched or at least heard about the first episode of VH1’s new “Love & Hip-Hop Atlanta”. And one of the stand-out characters on the show thus far, just happens to be Mimi Faust. According to the first episode, Mimi is in a relationship with producer Stevie J (they have a daughter together), who also happens to allegedly be in sexual relationship with his artist, Joseline. We spoke with Mimi about her relationship with Stevie and their history together, why she decided to do the show, her interaction with Joseline and the rumors surrounding Joseline’s sexuality and more. Peep a few excerpts:
“We have known each other for 15 years, we have had an on again, off again relationship and I really wanted to clear that up… When Stevie was in other relationships, we absolutely were not together.”
On if they were together when Stevie was with Eve:
“Absolutely not. When he was dealing with Alex we were not together. When he was in any other relationship, we were not together.”
“When I’m at home with my daughter, I don’t know what Stevie’s doing when he leaves the house. Stevie will say I’m going to the studio. I’m not going to the studio to check on Stevie, I’m at home with my daughter. So I had no idea who Joseline was, I had no idea she was his artist, I had no idea they were even working together… What everybody else was seeing, I wasn’t privy to. All I knew is he was going to work, and I’m at home with my daughter.”
On her emotions and how she felt in the club scene when she, Stevie and Joseline were together:
I thought it was absolutely ridiculous, I thought it was disrespectful. The realm of emotions that ran through me watching it; it was incredible.
On how long she’s known Joseline existed:
The first time I knew she existed was about two weeks before we started the show. It was all brand new to me, this was the first time I found out about her, her name, and all of that… I was living through it as we were taping.
On if she’s spoken to Joseline since the episode aired:
Absolutely not.
On if rumors that Joseline was born a man are true:
She’s not a man, she’s absolutely a woman. She was pregnant… She’s a woman.
On if she’s concerned that her 2-year-old daughter will think it’s acceptable to be treated by a man, how her father treated her on the show:
“I’m absolutely concerned about it, I’ve said it over and over again. You guys can see it in episodes coming up that’s definitely a concern of mine. The message that I will be sending to her, especially because she’s a little girl and she will grow up to be a woman, and I don’t want to send the wrong message to her or I don’t want her to think that what he’s doing is right and that’s the way a man should treat a woman. I’m absolutely concerned about this whole thing.”
On how she feels about critic that suggest Mona Scott-Young and LHHA negatively portray women of color on TV:
Actually, Mona is a genius. Because this was not scripted and she picked people; and during the course, she never knew that any of this would have transpired. Ever. None of the producers did. They were like, ‘we couldn’t have made this stuff up if someone paid a million dollars,’ so all Mona did was have the cameras shoot, and what transpired, transpired. It just happened to be a ridiculous, way-out-there situation, and that’s just what it was. This is a real life situation, so I can’t fault Mona or VH1 or whoever. It wasn’t their fault that what was going on with us was so off the wall. That’s really what it was. They were just capturing the moment.
Listen to the full interview below.
For all things Mimi, follow her at @MimiFaust. Tune into VH1, Monday nights at 8 p.m. EST.