Popcorn ⏤ Vol 40
Let's gossip! Early 2000s couples, the rise and downfall of some of our favs!
Heyyyy Friend!
How are you? I am making it over here with our new family addition. We finally feel like we know what we are doing a little bit, but he is always switching it up on us.
We have hit another milestone! Welcome to our 40th lunch date! I can’t believe it.
To celebrate 20 lunch dates, we ki-ki’ed about some 90s gossip. So to celebrate another 20 (I think this will be a trend), it’s time for another gossip chat.
This time, let’s talk about the rise and fall of a few couples of the early 2000s. We were rooting for some of these couples, and others we were like “why”, either way, grab your popcorn and let’s get into it.
Mel B & Eddie Murphy
The Spice Girls were my fave girl group when I lived my best yt life in Arizona. They came out at the right time in my life. Their debut album, Spice, was released in 1996, and I was just about to enter the 7th grade in a completely different state. I was Baltimore through and through, but now I had to make friends with folks who didn’t know anything about the world I had just come from. The one link that we could connect with was the Spice Girls.
Melanie B, aka Scary Spice, was my favorite member. When the group broke up, I continued to follow her, and I was shocked when I found out she was in a situation with Eddie Murphy.
Shortly after Eddie & Nicole divorced in 2006, he met Melanie at a party in Beverly Hills. These two were canoodling all over town, being very affectionate in public.
Mel claimed it was love at first sight, often labeling Eddie as the love of her life. It must have been because, by December ‘06, she was pregnant with his 6th child.
So when this fool publicly tried to say he was unsure that the baby Mel was carrying was his, it was a major slap in her face. I knew the moment she said she was pregnant that that baby was his. He probably thought he could be out here dipping and diving fresh off an 18-year relationship/marriage without a care in the world.
Ironically Mel gave birth to their daughter on Eddie’s [46th] birthday, and two months later, the DNA test said
Then he had the nerve to not even try and be a dad to his daughter for at least four years.
If he wasn’t into Mel, he had a crazy way of showing it. When they were dating, he insisted she move into his mansion, she declined. Then he gave her a credit card and said, “it would make me happy if you would use it.” She took the card for a few weeks but gave it back. I hope she ran a check UP.
Then, they didn’t even sleep together for six weeks to put the icing on the cake. So when she popped up and said she was pregnant, his reaction should have been much better than what it was. So to me, that doesn’t sound like this was just a fling.
In late 2020 Mel went to court again to file for more child support due to the pandemic impacting her coins. At the time, she was getting almost $28,000 a month from Murphy. I wonder what Sis is getting now.
If you are a Spice Girl fan, they have a 4-part documentary released in 2021 that is available to stream for free.
Fav Spice Girls Song: Say You’ll Be There
Fav Eddie Murphy movie: Boomerang, duh!
Kelis & Nas
When this couple hit the scene in the early 00s, everyone gasped for air. These two met in 2002 at an MTV Music Video Awards after-party hosted by none other than Puffy.
Everyone was rooting for this couple because we just came off the high that Jay-Z and Beyoncé were a thing in 2001. Adding another Hip-Hop legend and R&B singer to the #BlackLove line-up was just what we needed.
In 2005 they married at Morningside Baptist Church in Atlanta which is rather strange because they are from New York. But hey, everyone loves Atlanta, lol.
The talk of the wedding was this bright lime/seafoam green tool-looking dress that she decided to wear instead of a traditional gown.
That jawn was ugly. Early 00s fashion was terrible, and this dress falls right in line with it.
In 2012 Nas claims he found Kelis's wedding dress in his house and said, “I found [the dress] in my house and thought, it’s going somewhere. Either on the cover of my album or burning in a garbage can.”
Now maybe this is the dress without all the extra tool stuffing in it, but to me, it doesn’t look like the dress she wore, but what do I know.
Less than three years after they got married, rumors started swirling about Nas dipping. Nas lived a very private life then and still now, so there wasn’t much in the early blogs that provided much proof, but something had to happen because Kelis filed for divorce when she was seven months pregnant.
Do you know what kind of hurt and pain you have to be in to file for divorce from someone in your third trimester?! All the energy you had in the second trimester is gone. You are getting bigger and bigger each day. Your mobility is limited. Your hot, uncomfortable, sleep-deprived, and miserable, or at least that was my experience.
So for Kelis to make that move, something for sure was up.
In 2018, she finally spoke out about the mental and physical abuse she endured during her marriage to Nas and even stated that seeing the domestic abuse Rihanna endured from Chris Brown influenced her decision to leave Nas back then.
Black Twitter blew up after this news hit, defending her for coming forward and speaking her truth.
Of course, Nas defended his name very quickly. Then the allegations just fizzled out, leaving folks almost to choose a side which means a lot of folks didn’t believe Kelis’ experience, which is NOT surprising.
To slap more expired icing on this Kelis & Nas wedding cake, Kelis says she didn’t see a dime of child support until 2012 from Nas. That means from 2009-2012, Sis was carrying & supporting their son with her coin.
Interestingly enough, Nas has put out music every 2 to 3 years since his debut album Illmatic dropped in 1994. His first gap was between 2008-2012. He barely made music and released NO albums.
And then…
In September 2009, the IRS filed a federal tax lien against Nas for over $2.5 million, seeking unpaid taxes dating back to 2006. By early 2011 this figure had ballooned to over $6.4 million. I wonder if this had something to do with him not paying her any child support.
It was a super sad day when this couple called it quits. We had high hopes for these two. But clearly the separation was for the best.
Fav Kelis song: Caught Out There — The blond curls with pink ombré was everything in this video.
Fav Nas song: Affirmative Action
P.S. Did we know that Yara Shahidi and Nas are cousins?!
Also sending love and light to Kelis as she recently lost her husband to cancer last week. A tragic ending to her beautiful love story.
50 Cent & Vivica Fox
Vivica’s career began in 1983 when she was a dancer on soul train. Five years later, she landed her first acting gig on Days of our Lives in 1988.
The 90s were Vivica’s glory years. She cameoed or starred in some of our favorite TV shows and movies — The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Independence Day, Don’t Be a Menace, Booty Call, Soul Food, Why Do Fools Fall in Love, Family Matters, Martin (that episode was hilarious), Living Single, The Hughley’s and many more.
She even made another daytime soap opera stint on Young and the Restless from 1994-95.
By the early 00s, Vivica’s acting career started to slow down a tad. She went from starring in major [Black] films and popular TV shows to only appearing in a few. Between 2000-2004 her most notable films were Kingdom Come, Two Can Play that Game (probably her last great movie), and Kill Bill 1 & 2. She did a few others, but I mean Juwanna Mann??
Looking back at the timeline, I believe that Vivica knew she needed to stay relevant, and what better way to do that than to get a uber-famous hip-hop boyfriend to keep her name in everyone’s ear.
In January 2003, In Da Club was released, and 50 became the new guy on the block.
At the 2003 BET Awards, 50 shot his shot when he was on stage, saying, “And I’d like to thank Vivica Fox for wearing that dress.” Next thing you know, his people reached out to her people, and they were chatting over the phone. Then they walked the red carpet together at the 2003 VMAs. That’s when their short-lived relationship began.
Not sure how long they dated (you can’t get a straight answer on any of the blogs), but it was always described as short-lived. Vivica went on The Tyra Banks show in 2005 to talk about the relationship and fall out; so clearly, it didn’t last that long.
While their relationship probably lasted less than a year, Viv says he was and still is the love of her life, and this is coming from someone who divorced her husband in 2002.
Both 50 & Vivica think going public with their relationship too fast caused the downfall. This could be true, but I think not.
The narrative that I have always believed is that Viv was a little too clingy to the rapper, who was 11 years younger than her. She had been in the industry since the late 80s, and Curtis just jumped on the scene. Now he got this woman breathing down his back, talking about she love him and shit months after they met. That’s what drove him away, not the damn public.
I mean maaaaybeeeee it was real love. But if Vivica is anything like how she appears on TV, and I’m not talking about the characters she plays, then I stand by my narrative.
What makes this couple so interesting is how their feud lasted for YEARS, well over a decade. There should be no reason you keep someone’s name in your mouth that long when you have only been with them for some months.
But baaabbbyyyy Vivica went to war with the wrong one. I guess she didn’t think petty 50 would come for her, but he sure did.
Vivica made accusations that 50 was gay, calling him a booty snatcher when he appeared on the November 2010 cover of XXL with Soulja Boy. He clapped back and said, “you just saying that cause I let you lick my butt.”
They rivaled over their “competing” shows, 50 with Power and Viv with Empire. While we know Power was a gazillion times better than Empire.
50 Cent shared unflattering photos of her on social media, including one of her wearing a low-cut dress with the words “really bad boob job!” written over the picture. And he also revealed that Viv was not a fan of Halle Berry, stating she used to bad mouth Halle saying she could have played all of her roles better than her.
Vivica lost a role to Ms. Berry in 1989. She was cast in a sitcom called Living Dolls, a spin-off of Who’s the Boss?. Vivica was in the pilot episode, but after that one episode, they re-cast the role with Halle Berry Halle Berry *in my Hurricane Chris voice*. I guess Viv still is holding a grudge.
But let’s be serious, ain’t NO WAY Vivica could have played any of Halle’s roles better than her. Can you image Vivica A. Fox in Monster’s Ball, riding Billy Bob Thornton. Vivica could not pull off Storm in X-Men. Let alone be a Bond girl.
Chiillleee Viv needs to have several seats with this Halle slander.
Now Viv could have played Vivian, the crackhead Halle played in Jungle Fever in ’91. Let me stop. I love Vivica ghetto fabulous behind.
I wonder how well they played with each other when filming Why Do Fools Fall in Love, especially during that scene when Vivica was up in her Hollywood Hills house basking in her pool.
Anywho, in my opinion, Viv kept 50 name in her mouth and stirred the pot all these years to keep her name relevant. Her career has not been the same since the late 90s/early 00s. And while she had an amazing run, I don’t think she is okay with it.
I mean, think about it, Sis is doing CarShield insurance commercials now. Halle would NEVA!
Fav Vivica movie: Set it Off
Fav 50 cent song: Wanna Get To Know You — this is technically a G-Unit song, but it’s my favorite song 50 is on.
Halle Berry & Eric Benét
Halle & Eric met in ’97 at a concert at the House of Blues in LA.
Eric was on her from the jump, but Halle wasn’t that interested at first. It took her a year of chit-chatting and emailing back and forth to “realize” that she loved him. I understand people can grow into loving someone, but I have tried that ish, and it don’t work.
Three years after they first met, they were engaged in her hometown of Cleveland, OH, at HBO’s Dorothy Dandridge premier.
In January of 2001, the couple wed, and Halle’s career began to skyrocket.
In 2001 Berry rocked the world when she went topless in Swordfish and had a very, very believable sex scene in Monster’s Ball. Her role as Leticia Musgrove earned Halle an Academy Award for Best Actress, making her the first Black female to win this award.
*sidenote* did we forget that Puffy played Halle's husband in this movie?!
Then Ms. Berry appeared in everyone’s favorite orange swimsuit in Die Another Day, a James Bond film, in 2002. We all were excited to see a Black Bond girl.
But then the rumor mill started swirling that her R&B husband was out, HEAVY in these streets. Being a loyal wife, she refused to believe the rumors and stood by her man. At one point, Halle was ready to sue the gossip magazines for defamation and printing false stories about her husband. But soon enough, Eric’s extra circular activities were brought to light.
They say within the first couple years of their marriage, Eric had slept with ten other women. Once he publicly admitted his infidelity, he blamed his cheating on a sex addiction and was checking into rehab. Halle tried to work through this with her husband, treating his “addiction” like a disease similar to drug & alcohol abuse.
Listen, sex addiction is real, not knocking it. But ain’t no working through that with me, OKAY.
Halle was climbing to the top of her game during this time, and the fact that she chose to stick by her husband is very commendable. Especially when the whole “sex addict” was a cover-up story.
Eric came out many years later saying it was Halle’s idea to use that line to excuse him using his thang outside their marriage. He has done a few interviews over the years, claiming that he was never a sex addict.
I don’t know about you, but I never believed the sex addict line. I always thought something was off about it. I think Eric felt untouchable because he had the most beautiful woman ever as his wife, so he just went out here and was feeling himself a little too much, thinking he could get away with whatever.
After she divorced Eric, we didn’t see Ms. Halle with a Black man for YEARS! Until Van Hunt, her new boo stepped into her life in 2020. We were all shook she was dating a brotha.
Well Ms. Berry, I hope you have found your happily ever after, and if not, keep on trying, boo.
Fav Halle Movie: B.A.P.S.
Fav Eric Benét song: Meh, I don’t have one. I can’t name a song of his outside of Spend My Life with You featuring Tamia, and if you ask me, Tamia makes this song. The hyperlink isn’t the music video. It’s a 2000 performance at an award show where he serenaded Halle in front of a packed house. I can’t believe he messed this up!
Did you enjoy today’s gossip sesh? Our gossip lunch dates are some of my favorites. Have a topic or person you want to gossip about next time? Reply or leave a comment, and I will include it in the next one (Vol 60).
See you next month friend!
xo, Jemia