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Mona Scott-Young thinks that the argument made against how women of color are portrayed on her shows is a narrow-minded cop out. “When I handed Joseline [Hernandez, of Love and Hip Hop Atlanta] her first check, she cried,” she tells Hip-Hop Wired, “It was the first time she’d ever seen her name printed on a check. So don’t tell me I’m not doing anything for these women.”

As Scott-Young prepares for the second season of Love and Hip Hop Atlanta and her new show The Gossip Game, she recently sat down to a roundtable discussion in Atlanta where at least twenty bloggers and journalists prodded her to give details on the controversy surrounding her Love & Hip Hop (LHH) franchise as well as details on the new series on Bravo and other ventures like a moscato she is promoting. But the issue of how women are represented on her shows is one that hangs heavy in the balance.

“It’s about trying to present a total picture,” the producer shares, “I’m not here to judge them or to decide what aspects of their life should or should not make it onto television.”

 “It’s that cousin that you love at the family barbeque but you don’t wanna bring to the company picnic.”

The former music manager is very aware of what the world thinks of her affinity to put so-called “ratchet” behavior in the spotlight and the idea that she manipulates it all for ratings- it’s a notion that she shrugs off confidently, making one of the most profound statements heard on the subject all day. “This is Love and Hip Hop,” she says simply, “I have navigated this world for twenty years of my career so I am probably as qualified as most to talk about what happens in this world. I’ve witnessed it.”

“I’ve experienced it,” she continues, “There’s no one really of this world that can say with clear conscience that this stuff does not happen or exist. So what are we saying exactly? Not that this isn’t true, but that we should sweep it under the rug and act like it don’t exist. It’s that cousin that you love at the family barbeque but you don’t wanna bring to the company picnic. Stop it!”

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Photo: Monami

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