During a recent appearance on The Real, female hip hop group Salt-N-Pepa members Cheryl “Salt” James, and Sandra “Pepa” Denton took the opportunity to clarify the recent drama surrounding their Lifetime biopic, Salt-N-Pepa (which premiered on Jan. 23).
Last month, former third member DJ Spinderella (née Deidra Roper) claimed that she was “wrongfully excluded” from the movie.
“I reached out to Spinderella; I feel like this is very unfortunate,” James mentioned. “We’ve come to a crossroads where we have decided to agree to disagree. I definitely am open, and Pepa’s open. We’ve talked about it, and our hearts are open, have always been open to Spinderella.”
James then further explained to the co-hosts that there were more layers to the story than what people realize.
“As far as the public is concerned, I’m really happy about the people who know that they don’t know everything. There’s six sides to every story,” she said. “We just hope that we can come to some sort of resolution in the future. You never know. You never know what God is doing.”
Denton noted that both she and James reached out to Spinderella regarding a particular part of the movie.
“I just wanted to add to that, but I do want to clear up, there is a part that when Spinderella did say we excluded her. That part, Salt and I did reach out to consult with the movie,” Denton said.
She added that the purpose for creating the movie was to highlight “the friendship of Sandy and Cheryl back in college.”
“But yes, Spinderella joined us, a part of it. We will always acknowledge her contribution that she’s done with us. She will always be our sister,” Denton continued. “We love her, but we have always made sure that she had the opportunity and the platform. We always encourage her to be Spinderella and be supportive of her, so that is important.”
During they’re The Real appearance, James stated, “Perception is not reality.”
The pair’s response to the recent criticism comes two weeks after Spinderella took to Twitter to call out the duo for not including her in “every aspect of development and production.”
“Sorry, but I gotta speak on this Lifetime special..” Spinderella tweeted.
“Too often, Black women who have made meaningful contributions in their industry are left out of historical narratives. Back when Salt n’ Pepa was building our legacy, which is rooted in empowering women, I could not have dreamed that this same group would one day disempower me.”
“Words cannot fully express my disappointment when I learned a decision was made to move forward with a Lifetime biopic that wrongfully excluded me from every aspect of development and production…all the while using my image throughout, given that I played an integral role in the group’s story and success,” she continued.
“I do, however, want to offer a huge congratulations to the talented actresses that represented us, including Monique Paul, who I wish would’ve been given an opportunity to share my true perspective with,” she said. “In reflection, I’m grateful I’ve managed to uphold a 30-year career of truly empowering women with my gift, against all odds. This will continue in my work and in my service.”
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