Latest / Reality with The King / The Emancipation of Mimi: An Exclusive with Mariah Huq

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The Emancipation of Mimi: An Exclusive with Mariah Huq · Reality with The King

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Speaker 1: Squad was my best friend, Like I saw something in
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Speaker 1: her and I wanted to share the stage with all
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Speaker 1: of them, but especially her.
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Speaker 2: Stay tuned. We'll get into my conversation with Mariah huck
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Speaker 2: right after these quick ads. Welcome to Reality with the King.
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Speaker 2: It's me Carlos King, the King of Reality TV and
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Speaker 2: one of the most sought after executive producers in reality television.
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Speaker 2: With over ten years a production experience, I've executive produced
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Speaker 2: top rated programs such as eight seasons of the Real
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Speaker 2: House Spots of Atlanta. Additionally, I have created shows such
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Speaker 2: as Netflix Is Styling, Hollywood Owns number one rated Love
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Speaker 2: and Marriage Franchise, and TV ones Hollywood Divas, just to
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Speaker 2: name a few. So y'all know I have many jobs, child, Okay,
1:04
Speaker 2: just saying. New episodes of Reality with the King will
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Speaker 2: air once a week on Wednesdays, will resume airing twice
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Speaker 2: a week in June. In the meantime, make sure you
1:17
Speaker 2: catch my new late night talk show, The Night Capain
1:20
Speaker 2: Carlos King on the Oprah Winfrey Network every Saturday night
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Speaker 2: starting May fourteenth, immediately following Love and Marriage, DC Wow, Hey,
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Speaker 2: Rain drops today's guest on Reality with the King, is
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Speaker 2: one of my really good judies. She also just happens
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Speaker 2: to be, in my opinion, one of the most underrated
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Speaker 2: reality TV stars. She's also an executive producer, creator, and
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Speaker 2: former cast member of Married to Medicine. Yes, that's right,
2:00
Speaker 2: we got the one and the only, Mariah huck Let
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Speaker 2: me tell y'all why I wanted Mariah on the podcast
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Speaker 2: number one. She's my girl, she's my friend. I love her,
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Speaker 2: I adore her. But I also feel like she is
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Speaker 2: so misunderstood. And as you guys have seen with the
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Speaker 2: guests that I've had on thus far, I like to
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Speaker 2: talk to misunderstood women because look, I want you guys
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Speaker 2: to see the side of them that I know. Oftentimes
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Speaker 2: on television you see one side. And when it comes
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Speaker 2: to Mariah especially, she is a good girl. She is
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Speaker 2: a oh my gosh, she's hilarious, she's smart, she's a
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Speaker 2: hard worker, and I know how much she loved the
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Speaker 2: show she created. Yeah, that's right, she created Mary to Medicine.
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Speaker 2: We get down to the nitty gritty, y'all. We talk
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Speaker 2: about whether or not she was fired from Married to Medicine,
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Speaker 2: how she was asked to be a peach holder on
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Speaker 2: the Royal Hospitals of Atlanta, and last but LEAs we
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Speaker 2: talk about her healing and how she decided to choose
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Speaker 2: peace over pain. Get into this epic conversation with my girl,
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Speaker 2: be Mariyah Hawk Mariah, you are a legend, and I
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Speaker 2: don't use that word loosely. Your fans tweek me almost
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Speaker 2: every day. Can you create a show for Mariyah? Can
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Speaker 2: she be on Loving Marriage Atlanta? Do something for my girl?
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Speaker 2: So let the girls know. I'm Mariyah. How are you doing?
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Speaker 2: What have you been up to?
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Speaker 1: First of all, let me say thank you, and I do.
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Speaker 1: I don't take it likely. I'm very humble. While I
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Speaker 1: am humble by to me, I haven't made the type
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Speaker 1: of history that I know that I can do and
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Speaker 1: that I know you are already doing. So I've been
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Speaker 1: planning on being more of a legend. I really do.
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Speaker 1: This is just the beginning. So you know, I took
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Speaker 1: a I've been I just took like a sabbatical four minute.
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Speaker 1: You know, I had who I was dealing with so
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Speaker 1: much tying up loose ends with the show and everything.
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Speaker 1: So now I just I've really been working on me
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Speaker 1: and family, like my kid Laurence graduating this year. I'm
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Speaker 1: opening up a new shared co work space with the
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Speaker 1: building I bought a few years ago. I have a
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Speaker 1: media space coming over six thousand square feet and downtown mcdonna.
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Speaker 1: I'm working on scripted. I started as a writer, and
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Speaker 1: I'm getting back to that, you know, and the thing
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Speaker 1: about this business that I love, or just about in general,
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Speaker 1: when you have talent, people can't take that away from you.
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Speaker 1: And so I just I'm really getting to what I
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Speaker 1: tried to do initially, which was tell a story that
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Speaker 1: was my I felt like was my story, and so
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Speaker 1: I feel like now I'm kind of getting back to that.
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Speaker 1: So I've been back writing and just really I mean
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Speaker 1: getting a coin. I mean, she gets you can't get
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Speaker 1: into the coin. She may not be posting, but I
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Speaker 1: think sometimes you have to go underwater, you really do.
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Speaker 1: I appreciate the f I've had so much support. I've
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Speaker 1: had support from every which way. So I'm truly grateful
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Speaker 1: for that because that has kept me going. It really has.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, No, I'm with you with the lack of posting.
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Speaker 2: One thing I learned from Tyler Perry is he says,
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Speaker 2: sometimes God has to hide you. Yeah, sometimes you need
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Speaker 2: to be hidden so that you're able to cultivate the
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Speaker 2: things that you want to do that God wants you
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Speaker 2: to do, so that when you re emerge from isolation,
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Speaker 2: that's when you're ready to take on everything for you.
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Speaker 2: And I feel like that's exactly what you're talking about.
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Speaker 1: It is, you know. I mean, if Tyler says, we
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Speaker 1: definitely have to listen, but you know at some point
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Speaker 1: it's the truth. I am here for social media. I
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Speaker 1: just felt like for me, You're right, I had to
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Speaker 1: go under water and do what God has for me
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Speaker 1: to do. Every time I tried to go back to
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Speaker 1: social media, to be honest, something happened and it would
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Speaker 1: be like sit down, be still. So I knew he
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Speaker 1: was doing some things in my life and work on
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Speaker 1: something bigger and better. I just I needed to focus,
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Speaker 1: and I get I'm gonna leave it. Look, I get
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Speaker 1: caught off, I get off balanced. I have to have
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Speaker 1: tunnel vision, and the peripheral vision sometimes would throw me off,
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Speaker 1: so I have to stay focused, especially when I'm talking
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Speaker 1: about a coin. Yes, it's just different. It's different, and
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Speaker 1: you know you got to do bigger, do better, and
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Speaker 1: do it in a more explosive way. And I am
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Speaker 1: definitely about doing that.
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Speaker 2: Yes, well, listen, you are a maverick. Honey. Let me
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Speaker 2: let the audience know that I met Mariah for the
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Speaker 2: first time when I was producing The Real Housewives of
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Speaker 2: Atlanta and Carlos King wanted Mariah so badly to be
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Speaker 2: an Atlanta housewife. And I don't know if the girls
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Speaker 2: know this, but we takee scenes for Mariah to be
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Speaker 2: a peach holder. So Carlos King working on Atlanta Housewives,
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Speaker 2: I get a phone call. You know we're casting. We
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Speaker 2: found it woman, Mariah, can you shoot a few scenes
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Speaker 2: with her? Sure? Shot a few scenes with Mariah with
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Speaker 2: her beautiful sister Lake. And I call the executives and said,
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Speaker 2: she's a no brainerd like, she needs to be on
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Speaker 2: the show. And tell me if I'm wrong, Mariah. But
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Speaker 2: I believe the issue was we all wanted you, but
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Speaker 2: you didn't want us.
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Speaker 1: No, no, no, you know what. To be honest with you,
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Speaker 1: that was not the case.
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Speaker 2: You know what it was.
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Speaker 1: I'm gonna be perfectly honest with you, and I really
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Speaker 1: did my inspiration. Let me be very clear, or people
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Speaker 1: like you, Princess and Nini, like what you guys had
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Speaker 1: done was so amazing So it wasn't that I didn't
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Speaker 1: want you, guys. It was at once I started, once
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Speaker 1: I embarked on my journey to do my own you know,
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Speaker 1: I felt like, you know what, I'm already close. Let
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Speaker 1: me just see this thing through. Even though initially there
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Speaker 1: would have been more money, more notoriety, more a better
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Speaker 1: reach infiltration. But once I started on my journey and
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Speaker 1: I set my own goals, I just felt like I
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Speaker 1: needed to see me into medicine through. My steps were
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Speaker 1: already ordered.
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Speaker 2: Yeah me, and let me let them know. So I'm
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Speaker 2: of course laughing when I say you don't want us,
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Speaker 2: and to me, that's a big compliment because as a
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Speaker 2: black person in this business, you have choices, and there's
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Speaker 2: freedom and choices. One of my favorite moments from King
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Speaker 2: Richard was when Venus Williams was offered two million dollars
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Speaker 2: if she signed with Nike before she played, and she
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Speaker 2: knew Venus knew her worth, and she said, I'll wait
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Speaker 2: this out because I want to be able to showcase
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Speaker 2: my skills because I know I can get more of
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Speaker 2: a bag. So Mariah turned down being on the show guys,
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Speaker 2: because she created her own show called Mariti medicine that
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Speaker 2: she was pitching. So Mariah always believed in herself, believed
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Speaker 2: in ownership, real house, reponsible Atlanta, especially at that time
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Speaker 2: because this was during season four Maria. It was the
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Speaker 2: biggest show at Atlanta and the world.
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Speaker 1: It was.
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Speaker 2: But Mariah knew as a black moman, as a content creator,
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Speaker 2: let me see this through something I created my way,
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Speaker 2: so let the girls know about that.
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Speaker 1: You know what, It was really hard. I'm not gonna
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Speaker 1: lie to you because when people are offering you a bag,
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Speaker 1: and what they do is they come back with more
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Speaker 1: money and more money and more money.
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Speaker 2: We wanted this, you know what.
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Speaker 1: And the money is so good. But you're right. You
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Speaker 1: said the key words. And I had the type of
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Speaker 1: parents that told me to know your worth. So it
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Speaker 1: started way beyond TV. I knew who I was before
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Speaker 1: I went to TV. I knew what I wanted to do.
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Speaker 1: It was really hard, though, because delayed gratification is always tough,
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Speaker 1: saying you know what, I'm gonna do this now, I'm
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Speaker 1: gonna put in the work. Now, I'm not gonna see
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Speaker 1: a dime of it. Because they were offering me much
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Speaker 1: more than I received initially as a creator, executive producer
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Speaker 1: and star or one of these stars of marriage to medicine.
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Speaker 1: I actually would have made more just initially being on
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Speaker 1: Real Housewives of VALANCEA. And it's really really important for
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Speaker 1: people to know, because you do have to give up
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Speaker 1: something and it's a lot of sacrifices you make. But
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Speaker 1: I did it because it was more. It wasn't just
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Speaker 1: about securing the bag. It was about securing the legacy.
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Speaker 1: I have two amazing children, you know now, they're like,
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Speaker 1: one is this graduating senior headed to college, the others
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Speaker 1: a tenth grade. And for me, it was about creating
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Speaker 1: a legacy and something that they can own and something
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Speaker 1: they can have that we can pass down. So even
10:34
Speaker 1: though I knew that Real Housewives of Valanca would have
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Speaker 1: been amazing for me, my career would have gave me
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Speaker 1: a reach beyond. I knew that creating my own was
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Speaker 1: a step in the direction that God wanted me to go.
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Speaker 1: So it was ourd and I pitched. They told me
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Speaker 1: no initially when I pitched the show.
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Speaker 2: Yes, so let us know the story. Explain to us
10:55
Speaker 2: how you started from creating the show to pitch it
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Speaker 2: to being on the air. Give us that quick and.
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Speaker 1: They initially came to me for Housewives Atlanta season three,
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Speaker 1: the season they was casting Cynthia initially, and Aiden was
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Speaker 1: like giving me pushback, which I was shocked, you know.
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Speaker 1: He was like, yeah, how you And because you know,
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Speaker 1: this is still unscripted TV, it was a little different,
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Speaker 1: and initially, you know, different careers looked kind of turned
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Speaker 1: their nose down at unscripted. I'm just keeping it real
11:23
Speaker 1: and it hadn't and it wasn't in Atlanta. It was
11:25
Speaker 1: still it was kind of still new in Atlanta. So
11:27
Speaker 1: to make a long story show. He was like, you
11:29
Speaker 1: know what, I once you get back to what you
11:31
Speaker 1: what you love doing. I know you love TV, but
11:33
Speaker 1: this isn't right for us. I'm like, this is perfect
11:35
Speaker 1: for us. And then he was like, well, just tell
11:37
Speaker 1: the story that you've been telling, which is the truth.
11:40
Speaker 1: It was like living, working and playing with the doctors
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Speaker 1: and everything. So I started doing my own I did
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Speaker 1: my own treatment. You know, I was pitching. I had
11:49
Speaker 1: been pitching before then once I seen the show, but
11:52
Speaker 1: I made it better once I saw Housewives and saw
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Speaker 1: it evolved, because you see the evolution of unscripted TV
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Speaker 1: like as it goes by, So I just kept pitching.
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Speaker 1: They told me no. They told me they would Initially,
12:05
Speaker 1: when I went to Bravo, they said they will never
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Speaker 1: do No. When I went to the production company, they said,
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Speaker 1: Bravo will never do a show that competes with one
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Speaker 1: of the top shows on their network, which is Real
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Speaker 1: Houses of the Lansa. And I said, well, they have
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Speaker 1: a lot of shows that are competing with it. But
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Speaker 1: what I wanted them to say is what they end
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Speaker 1: up seeing. They would never do a black show to compete.
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Speaker 1: They already had a top black show. And that's the
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Speaker 1: truth out of Atlanta. That's the way they looked at it.
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Speaker 1: And so I just pretty much said, Okay, well if
12:34
Speaker 1: they don't do it, somebody else will. It got better
12:37
Speaker 1: and better, you know. I kept pitching to True Entertainment,
12:40
Speaker 1: Lauren Esculen, everybody you know, and it got better and better,
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Speaker 1: and they eventually saw either we're going to work with them,
12:47
Speaker 1: or they're gonna be a Helifi, you know, competitor. So
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Speaker 1: I pitched for years. I did for like three four years,
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Speaker 1: came up with the treatment. I did several I don't
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Speaker 1: know how many video just I pitched it made it
13:01
Speaker 1: better and better and better, put my own money behind it,
13:03
Speaker 1: just got with different production companies. I did, it got
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Speaker 1: picked up by TC Lifetime loved it and decided to
13:12
Speaker 1: go with the production company I went with because they
13:16
Speaker 1: had the relationship with Bravo and I knew the Bravo
13:19
Speaker 1: could reach the households and the audience that I felt
13:23
Speaker 1: like we needed to reach. So once I started getting
13:25
Speaker 1: the offers from you know, Real Housewives Atlanta, to be honest,
13:29
Speaker 1: that's when they to me. The tone change, you know,
13:33
Speaker 1: it was almost kind of like, come here, you know,
13:36
Speaker 1: do this instead of doing that. And so that's what
13:39
Speaker 1: kind of you know, the more money. I love, y'all,
13:41
Speaker 1: and I wanted to be on there, but I just
13:43
Speaker 1: felt like I needed to stick with my own things.
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Speaker 2: Stay tuned for more of my conversation with Mariah huck
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Speaker 2: We'll be right back after this quick break. This is
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Speaker 2: Reality Team with the King and I'm Carlos King. Let's
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Speaker 2: get back into my conversation with Mariah. What was it
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Speaker 2: like when you realize Married to Medicine, a show you created,
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Speaker 2: was a hit. But when we look at the credits,
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Speaker 2: I don't see executive producer under Mariah's name.
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Speaker 1: You know what? It hit me a little different the
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Speaker 1: first season, you know, is when I was only like
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Speaker 1: an associate producer on there. It hit me real different
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Speaker 1: because you have to think, you know, with my story,
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Speaker 1: the whole reason why my whole purpose was to see
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Speaker 1: my name and to create a legacy and to see
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Speaker 1: the credits meant everything to me. They really truly did,
14:45
Speaker 1: because it's like a man loving you in the dark,
14:47
Speaker 1: but you don't want to bring you out in public.
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Speaker 1: Like I had done everything, you know, I had created
14:52
Speaker 1: the show, cast every one of the people on there,
14:55
Speaker 1: So for me, I knew how hard I had worked.
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Speaker 1: It was really tough, and that's when I was like,
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Speaker 1: hold up, wait a minute, and then took a step back,
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Speaker 1: had to regroup and figure out the best way of
15:07
Speaker 1: approaching it without burning bridges and taken away from what
15:12
Speaker 1: I had worked to build, because I think sometimes people
15:15
Speaker 1: do things to evoke emotion so that you cross yourself out.
15:18
Speaker 1: So I took a step back. It was really hard though,
15:21
Speaker 1: when I saw all the work I had put into it,
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Speaker 1: everything you know, and initially didn't seem because that meant
15:27
Speaker 1: everything to me, and I think sometimes they people don't,
15:31
Speaker 1: They minimize it and it comes so hard. As a minority,
15:35
Speaker 1: nobody gives you anything, so like for me, it was
15:38
Speaker 1: just a whole different level of disrespect, honestly, because I
15:42
Speaker 1: felt like I had worked hard, and people love to say, well,
15:45
Speaker 1: you didn't negotiate this, you No, it don't work like
15:47
Speaker 1: this is a different type of industry. Corporations kind of
15:50
Speaker 1: bully their way and do whatever they want to do.
15:53
Speaker 1: So I feel like I had done everything right. To
15:55
Speaker 1: be honest with you, We've always crossed our t's and
15:58
Speaker 1: dotted our eyes had greatly, so I was really you know,
16:02
Speaker 1: I was just it was a lot. It was a lot, nonetheless.
16:05
Speaker 1: But the one thing I tell you I did right
16:07
Speaker 1: it was being on the show, because initially I wasn't
16:10
Speaker 1: going to be on the show. The first time I
16:13
Speaker 1: shot Married to Medicine, I wasn't on it, and everybody said, well,
16:17
Speaker 1: your doctor's wife, why wouldn't you be on it? But see,
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Speaker 1: I thought I would be biased, so I wasn't on it.
16:22
Speaker 2: I can't imagine that show without you. How do you
16:25
Speaker 2: feel when people say the show changed the moment you
16:32
Speaker 2: felt that Quad was becoming the star of the show
16:36
Speaker 2: and you underestimated her star power.
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Speaker 1: You know, I think that's probably one of the most
16:41
Speaker 1: insulting things. You have to keep in mind. Quad was
16:44
Speaker 1: my best friend, Like I saw something in her and
16:48
Speaker 1: I wanted to share the stage with all of them,
16:51
Speaker 1: but especially her. I was able to share my dream
16:55
Speaker 1: because that's what it was with each and every one
16:57
Speaker 1: of those women. I wanted us all to build something together,
17:01
Speaker 1: and I felt like we could together. So I think
17:04
Speaker 1: that is probably one of the most hurtful things, to
17:07
Speaker 1: be honest, because that was never it. They looked at
17:10
Speaker 1: us like that. They didn't think it was enough room
17:12
Speaker 1: for two stars.
17:13
Speaker 2: When you say they, you mean the production company.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, maybe the production company. Maybe that was their opinion
17:19
Speaker 1: and their narrative, but that was never the way I
17:22
Speaker 1: looked at quiet for any of those ladies. I never did.
17:25
Speaker 1: I didn't think we would take away from each other.
17:27
Speaker 1: I honestly thought it would change every season, because it
17:30
Speaker 1: does depending on what you're going through, you know what
17:32
Speaker 1: I mean. Everybody is going to break out at some
17:35
Speaker 1: point and be a breakout star or a breakout center
17:38
Speaker 1: of attention, you know what I mean. It's just something.
17:41
Speaker 1: But I just felt like it would be something that
17:43
Speaker 1: would evolve and change, So I never thought that I
17:46
Speaker 1: was going to be the star whole time. I just
17:48
Speaker 1: didn't think that. That's why it's an ensemble cast.
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Speaker 2: So when people say that you treated the show like
17:55
Speaker 2: it was yours and that these women worked for you
17:58
Speaker 2: and that they were on your show, what do you
18:00
Speaker 2: say to that. A lot of rumors were Mariah think
18:03
Speaker 2: it's her show. She says, it's her show, we work
18:05
Speaker 2: for her.
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Speaker 1: I never treated them like that, you know what. I
18:08
Speaker 1: didn't feel that i'd done that. I felt like I
18:11
Speaker 1: always shared it. I think if I had to do
18:13
Speaker 1: it all over, I've learned a lot of things, but
18:15
Speaker 1: the one thing I did well was calling myself to
18:18
Speaker 1: Queen Bee. It was never about those ladies. Those were
18:21
Speaker 1: not my counterpart. And that's the thing that people don't get.
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Speaker 1: The first season, like you said, my name was not
18:27
Speaker 1: in writing as creator or executive producer. So I was
18:32
Speaker 1: sending a message and people start asking the right questions.
18:35
Speaker 1: It's only so much you can say it was never
18:38
Speaker 1: about the women, that they worked for me, but this
18:40
Speaker 1: is my shit. This is I mean, just keeping it real,
18:44
Speaker 1: like you created something big and I saw what was happening.
18:48
Speaker 1: Had I not said that, I would not have been
18:51
Speaker 1: on season two or season three on my own show.
18:56
Speaker 1: It changed the narrative change once people realized, oh, hold
19:00
Speaker 1: on a minute, this is her practice.
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Speaker 2: When did you start getting your just due as the
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Speaker 2: executive producer on the show? In terms of the credit,
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Speaker 2: what season was that?
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Speaker 1: Season two? I was co EP, and then season three
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Speaker 1: I was creator executive producer, And for the lifetime of
19:17
Speaker 1: the franchise, she's always executive producer on all the shows.
19:22
Speaker 1: So it's been a fight, but hey, you know it's
19:24
Speaker 1: God is good. What God has for you is for you.
19:27
Speaker 1: Season three, I was only COEP. I didn't get my
19:29
Speaker 1: created by credits until season four.
19:33
Speaker 2: Did your executive producer credit change the dynamic that you
19:38
Speaker 2: have with the cast because they saw it.
19:40
Speaker 1: I want to say it didn't, but it did in
19:43
Speaker 1: the sense of it created more division, like even though
19:46
Speaker 1: they knew, they knew from the beginning how hard I
19:49
Speaker 1: work like I did cast and calls. I think once
19:53
Speaker 1: it was acknowledged by the production company the network, it
19:56
Speaker 1: was almost like they saw me as the enemy, like
19:58
Speaker 1: she's one of them, when I always we were the same.
20:01
Speaker 1: This was our story, this was my story, their story
20:04
Speaker 1: I was telling. So yes, it changed but not in
20:07
Speaker 1: the way I had thought like I have been. You know,
20:09
Speaker 1: they knew the truth the whole time, but it was
20:12
Speaker 1: kind of almost like it created more separation or I
20:16
Speaker 1: don't know it was. It was weird. So I do
20:18
Speaker 1: think it changed it, but not in the way that
20:20
Speaker 1: I probably had hope.
20:22
Speaker 2: Did it change your relationship with the producers?
20:25
Speaker 1: Yes, but I didn't see it then. Their intentions were
20:29
Speaker 1: always the same from day one. I just didn't know it.
20:33
Speaker 1: I didn't know it, and so yes it did. I
20:36
Speaker 1: think they always looked at me a certain way, but
20:40
Speaker 1: it's like what you say, you know what, They don't
20:42
Speaker 1: have to think it's smarter or they don't. They may
20:44
Speaker 1: not see you coming, may be the sleeper, but they
20:47
Speaker 1: knew then that me telling my story was going to
20:50
Speaker 1: be powerful. Probably didn't bank on it going the way
20:53
Speaker 1: it did, but it wentn't. I think what God has
20:55
Speaker 1: for yous for you, I stand by that. I really
20:57
Speaker 1: truly do and mean it. I'm a true testament of that.
21:01
Speaker 2: Were you phased out of your own show?
21:04
Speaker 1: Absolutely, I didn't see it, And it's like, but the
21:09
Speaker 1: reason why I'm not mad or bitter about it is
21:12
Speaker 1: because I still feel like I came out on top.
21:15
Speaker 1: God had my back the whole time, and I felt
21:17
Speaker 1: like it was people don't get I lasted eight season.
21:20
Speaker 1: They was trying to do this shit to season one.
21:22
Speaker 1: I just didn't. I mean, at the end of cy
21:24
Speaker 1: like they pull you up to bring you down. I
21:26
Speaker 1: didn't realize that season two they didn't bank on me
21:30
Speaker 1: coming back.
21:31
Speaker 2: They didn't.
21:33
Speaker 1: Not at all. I don't know what they thought. She
21:36
Speaker 1: was gonna go hide under a rock, but they really
21:38
Speaker 1: didn't know. Yeah, they didn't. And I learned that later
21:42
Speaker 1: on hindsight is always twenty twenty.
21:45
Speaker 2: It makes me so sad because for a woman to
21:49
Speaker 2: create a show, cast the show, star on the show,
21:55
Speaker 2: and then to see how you were allegedly phase out
22:00
Speaker 2: of your own show because we the viewers saw like
22:03
Speaker 2: why Mariah doesn't have that many scenes this season, or
22:06
Speaker 2: why doesn't Mariah have any interviews. It was this weird
22:10
Speaker 2: thing that was going on. And then now we don't
22:12
Speaker 2: see you on the show at all. So were you
22:15
Speaker 2: fired from your own show?
22:17
Speaker 1: No, my contract ran out. I had a producer contract
22:20
Speaker 1: and I had a cast contract. I focused so much
22:23
Speaker 1: on the producer side that the cast side I felt
22:26
Speaker 1: like would kind of work itself out, I'm and be honest,
22:28
Speaker 1: I did. I cared more about the ownership and the
22:32
Speaker 1: producer side of it or whatever, because I felt like it,
22:36
Speaker 1: you know, I felt like the audience was to who
22:38
Speaker 1: they wanted on there. And I think that's why I
22:40
Speaker 1: lasted so long, is that people, you know, they didn't
22:45
Speaker 1: bank on me having an audience and people to actually
22:48
Speaker 1: want to see me. So yes, I do feel like
22:50
Speaker 1: they somewhat well. They did phased me out or didn't
22:53
Speaker 1: want me the or didn't renew my contract, but I
22:55
Speaker 1: think that it was for the best because I think
22:58
Speaker 1: being on the show almost took away from it being
23:02
Speaker 1: a I never thought that. I thought. I think, as
23:05
Speaker 1: a woman, the minority woman, I should be able to
23:07
Speaker 1: wear multiple hats. But they almost people put you in
23:10
Speaker 1: silos and want you to choose. I mean, you don't
23:14
Speaker 1: see what I don't see it what the guy producers,
23:16
Speaker 1: But with the women, I feel like we have to choose,
23:18
Speaker 1: which role do you want? And that's kind of how
23:21
Speaker 1: I felt with being a creator EP, and especially when
23:24
Speaker 1: it became a franchise. It just it was like, hold
23:28
Speaker 1: on a minute. People don't want you to have too
23:30
Speaker 1: much power. You know, or influence you know. And I
23:34
Speaker 1: think that's what a lot of it was.
23:36
Speaker 2: That makes me sad to hear, because, you know, listen,
23:39
Speaker 2: as a black man in this business, I'm all about representation,
23:42
Speaker 2: and I know firsthand how hard you work to get
23:46
Speaker 2: that show on the air and what you don't know.
23:49
Speaker 2: And I never shared this with anybody, not even you.
23:52
Speaker 2: I remember being like, well, damn bitch, can you pitch
23:55
Speaker 2: me Marit to Medicine. I remember when I first heard
23:58
Speaker 2: through our friend just saying that, yeah, Mariah sold the
24:02
Speaker 2: show about doctor wives and wives of doctors. I was like,
24:07
Speaker 2: damn bitch, that's something I would have done, Like it
24:09
Speaker 2: was such a genius idea. And I remember being like,
24:14
Speaker 2: oh my gosh, I would have love to work on
24:16
Speaker 2: that show. People ask me all the time, like Carlos King,
24:19
Speaker 2: if you could produce any show on the world besides
24:21
Speaker 2: the ones you've done, what would it be? And I
24:24
Speaker 2: will always say The Braxtons and Married to Medicine because
24:28
Speaker 2: those two are my favorite shows of all time that
24:32
Speaker 2: I did not produce. Married to Medicine is so underrated. Still,
24:37
Speaker 2: do you always feel like that show was in the
24:39
Speaker 2: shadows of Atlanta Housewives.
24:41
Speaker 1: Absolutely, it will always be the Stepchat of Bravo, and
24:46
Speaker 1: I knew that. I saw that, and I get it
24:49
Speaker 1: because it is is what kind of what they said.
24:52
Speaker 1: They never really wanted it to compete, and I think that, honestly,
24:56
Speaker 1: there's no competition because Housewives of Atlanta just really came through.
25:01
Speaker 1: I mean they came through like a wrecking ball, and
25:03
Speaker 1: it's amazing. They open up the doors. So there could
25:06
Speaker 1: be a merrit To Medicine.
25:07
Speaker 2: Amen.
25:08
Speaker 1: But absolutely it will always be in the shadows on
25:12
Speaker 1: the network on Bravo, I think so. But I think
25:15
Speaker 1: that I think the Merit To Medicine has rightfully on
25:17
Speaker 1: its own proven it's placed that it deserves to be
25:21
Speaker 1: on TV, and that is it can stand on its own,
25:23
Speaker 1: you know. So I think that's the good part. But
25:26
Speaker 1: it will always be in the shadows.
25:28
Speaker 2: Yeah. And I remember talking to Doctor Heavenly. I told
25:31
Speaker 2: Doctor Heavenly, Merit To Medicine is a fantastic show because
25:36
Speaker 2: all of you guys work well together on that show.
25:39
Speaker 2: It's a true ensemble. And what I don't want y'all
25:43
Speaker 2: to do is to remove anybody from the show because
25:47
Speaker 2: it'll mess things up. And I said I know there's
25:49
Speaker 2: some issues with Mariah because I hear things I said.
25:52
Speaker 2: At the end of the day, Mariah is married to medicine.
25:57
Speaker 2: Quad is merit to medicine. Like I'm going to give
26:00
Speaker 2: put people their props. I said to her, whatever you do,
26:03
Speaker 2: if y'all remove Mariah from that show, is not going
26:07
Speaker 2: to be the same. And I'm going to go on
26:08
Speaker 2: record saying this, it hasn't been the same to me.
26:13
Speaker 2: You're missed on that show and that show needs you.
26:17
Speaker 1: Well, that's because you have a I think you have
26:21
Speaker 1: an honest eye, and I think at the end of
26:23
Speaker 1: the day, when you love something, you want to see
26:26
Speaker 1: it work and see it last, and you take your
26:28
Speaker 1: personal feelings out of it. Initially, you have to think
26:31
Speaker 1: first season, Heavenly was not cast on the show. I
26:35
Speaker 1: went too back. I said, listen, we're putting her on.
26:38
Speaker 1: She has to be on season two. But I knew
26:41
Speaker 1: that she would be a wild card, and I knew
26:43
Speaker 1: she had something to bring to the show. And so
26:46
Speaker 1: you have to still stand your ground and say what's
26:49
Speaker 1: good at the end of the day, what's going to
26:51
Speaker 1: be good for the show. So it's good that you
26:54
Speaker 1: were able to see that I felt like that. I
26:56
Speaker 1: felt like if it would have made sense for me
26:58
Speaker 1: to go off or I had they so trying to.
27:00
Speaker 1: I wasn't having fall outs with all, it just was nothing.
27:03
Speaker 1: Everybody had fallouts when you're in a group, you know,
27:06
Speaker 1: it's ensemble, it's a group of women. So I think
27:08
Speaker 1: that that's when things get scary, is when it's not
27:12
Speaker 1: for the good of the show, when you're no longer
27:14
Speaker 1: thinking about the show. And I felt like with me
27:16
Speaker 1: doing with me not being on there, I didn't want
27:19
Speaker 1: to be in a place that I didn't I wasn't
27:21
Speaker 1: wanting I want to be where I'm love and supported,
27:23
Speaker 1: you know, I didn't want to be in a place
27:25
Speaker 1: where I'm tolerated. If it in my position caused that
27:29
Speaker 1: much conflict, then it probably wasn't a good fit anymore,
27:32
Speaker 1: because it's not fun anymore. Like I like to be real, fun, funny,
27:36
Speaker 1: have a good time, turn up. I don't want to
27:38
Speaker 1: always have to show up just knowing it's about to
27:41
Speaker 1: come against it. I don't want to always have to feel,
27:44
Speaker 1: you know, like you're going to go in and be defensive.
27:46
Speaker 2: Because season six was the best season.
27:50
Speaker 1: Ooh waitmen? Which season Season six.
27:52
Speaker 2: Season six was about doctor Jackie's man stepping out right.
27:58
Speaker 2: We saw the shots of him at the air with somebody.
28:01
Speaker 2: It was the destruction of Greg and Quad.
28:05
Speaker 1: That was the season I hated the most, really hated it.
28:09
Speaker 1: I felt, you know, why tell me because the reason
28:14
Speaker 1: why I created this show, even though we have problems
28:18
Speaker 1: in our marriages, I did not want to show the
28:22
Speaker 1: demise of the marriages. At one time I thought it
28:24
Speaker 1: was too much. Season six for me, was too heavy
28:27
Speaker 1: and got a little dark.
28:29
Speaker 2: Now I'm gonna save this to you. As a viewer
28:31
Speaker 2: and a fan of the show, I thought it was
28:33
Speaker 2: so real. It was it was. It was because the
28:37
Speaker 2: thing about it was this The most beautiful moment in
28:39
Speaker 2: the history of that show to me, was when all
28:43
Speaker 2: of y'all rallied to Simone and said, save this marriage.
28:47
Speaker 2: All of y'all said, this marriage can can be saved.
28:51
Speaker 2: What Greg, what doctor g and Quad is going through
28:54
Speaker 2: can't be saved, but we can save this because WHI
28:57
Speaker 2: y'all going through ain't that deep. And I saw all
28:59
Speaker 2: of you women rally for like to save that relationship,
29:02
Speaker 2: and to me, what you created, Mariah is a show
29:06
Speaker 2: that really details what it's like to be a career
29:10
Speaker 2: woman who's married to a man that wants her at
29:13
Speaker 2: home more. But it also showed how women who are
29:17
Speaker 2: involved in the subculture of society, no matter what they
29:22
Speaker 2: go through, they can support each other. And that's what
29:25
Speaker 2: I missed about the show, honestly, and I said this publicly,
29:29
Speaker 2: I miss you and Quad. Y'all were Ninnie and Kim,
29:32
Speaker 2: Giselle and Robin. I missed. I missed that. I miss
29:35
Speaker 2: y'all friendship. Do you miss her as much as I
29:38
Speaker 2: miss y'all?
29:39
Speaker 1: I think initially I probably did, but I think we
29:43
Speaker 1: just grew up. I felt like I'm gonna be honest
29:45
Speaker 1: with I feel like I remained the same I think
29:49
Speaker 1: the TV and it just does something different to people.
29:52
Speaker 1: So I don't now and that's not the same. I
29:56
Speaker 1: wish her well, like I love pret like I love
30:00
Speaker 1: us as a duo, as a friend, as a producer.
30:03
Speaker 1: I didn't think it made sense. They blew it out.
30:06
Speaker 1: A lot of it just became I still was being careful,
30:09
Speaker 1: but what I said so, I initially I did, but
30:12
Speaker 1: eventually I just thought that she had became, you know,
30:15
Speaker 1: evolved into something else.
30:16
Speaker 2: When you see Quad, now, is that the best friend
30:19
Speaker 2: that you met over ten years ago.
30:21
Speaker 1: I don't see her. We don't hang the same place,
30:24
Speaker 1: we don't go, we don't do the same things. I mean,
30:27
Speaker 1: I don't really see her, to be honest with you,
30:29
Speaker 1: and that's no shade or anything. I just we don't.
30:32
Speaker 1: On the show, I thought like, wow, I just never
30:35
Speaker 1: because honestly, I really wanted us to do it. It
30:39
Speaker 1: was always supposed to be a duo. It was always
30:41
Speaker 1: meant to be a duo and for us to watch
30:44
Speaker 1: each other's back because I knew it was a doggy
30:45
Speaker 1: dog business.
30:46
Speaker 2: Are you sad that when all of this was going
30:49
Speaker 2: on on the show that these women who you gave
30:53
Speaker 2: a platform to, that some of them did not have
30:56
Speaker 2: your back and support you.
30:57
Speaker 1: No, no, no, Let me be honest. Is devastated. Initially,
31:03
Speaker 1: I was devastated. I'm not a victim. I feel like
31:06
Speaker 1: I'm victorious. I think that it was part of my
31:10
Speaker 1: test to be a part of my testimony. Though God
31:12
Speaker 1: was doing something in my life, this was my vision.
31:16
Speaker 1: Nobody can take that away. It put them in a
31:18
Speaker 1: compromising position. Would I have done what they've done. Absolutely not.
31:23
Speaker 1: I would have stood up for each and I can't
31:26
Speaker 1: be bought, so anybody knows me. I'm big on integrity,
31:29
Speaker 1: so yes, I expected at least one or two of
31:32
Speaker 1: them to maybe do something different. But at the end
31:35
Speaker 1: of the day, I'm not mad. I'm not bitter. I
31:37
Speaker 1: was initially, but so many other things happened in the
31:40
Speaker 1: world that I just couldn't even you know, I just
31:42
Speaker 1: really couldn't even give it my energy. I felt like
31:44
Speaker 1: what God has for me was for me, and I
31:46
Speaker 1: think he wanted me to just rely on him and
31:49
Speaker 1: have faith in him. I really do. I think it
31:53
Speaker 1: was more about my story than them. I do.
31:56
Speaker 2: You know what is so interesting? I am watching right
32:00
Speaker 2: before my eyes a woman who has grown into who
32:06
Speaker 2: she's meant to be. I appreciate your honesty in terms
32:09
Speaker 2: of you recognizing that I was a woman who may
32:12
Speaker 2: have been better or devastated or hurt. And sometimes when
32:15
Speaker 2: we're like that, hurt people hurt others. Who you are
32:18
Speaker 2: right now is you've done the work to let that
32:22
Speaker 2: chapter of your life go. And I don't know if
32:25
Speaker 2: I could have been as strong as you, because I
32:27
Speaker 2: create shows for a living and I would be sad
32:31
Speaker 2: if something happened to where I'm not on a show.
32:33
Speaker 2: I create it. But I see this strength in you
32:36
Speaker 2: that impresses me because you seem to just be in
32:41
Speaker 2: a very different space. How did you get yourself out
32:44
Speaker 2: of that?
32:44
Speaker 1: Let me tell you, and I'm gonna be perfectly honest
32:47
Speaker 1: with you. It was life. Initially I thought, like you, like,
32:51
Speaker 1: how could this happen? I can't believe this. I did
32:54
Speaker 1: everything right, I thought I did. Like, not that I
32:56
Speaker 1: was perfect, because I made a lot of mistakes along
32:58
Speaker 1: the way, but I thought from a professional standpoint, I
33:02
Speaker 1: had covered my track. But what happened to me was life.
33:05
Speaker 1: I got sick after that. I saw the world falling apart.
33:08
Speaker 1: I seen black men, our sons, my husbands, you know,
33:12
Speaker 1: people that looked like my father dying right in front
33:15
Speaker 1: of my eye. Like I just saw that. It was
33:17
Speaker 1: so much more, bigger, even than married to medicine. One
33:20
Speaker 1: of the things that made it a little bit easier
33:22
Speaker 1: for me is what we said earlier. It was knowing
33:25
Speaker 1: my worth. And when I came into this business, my
33:28
Speaker 1: life was exactly kind of like it is now, same car,
33:32
Speaker 1: same house, Like it really truly was the same. So
33:36
Speaker 1: I knew what I was meant to do. I knew
33:38
Speaker 1: who I was. My friendships didn't really change with any
33:42
Speaker 1: of those women. I was the same the entire time,
33:45
Speaker 1: still is. I'm still the same, but other people changed.
33:49
Speaker 1: I didn't. I'm the same person, grown, but I'm the same.
33:55
Speaker 1: The stuff didn't, or the fame, but none of that
33:57
Speaker 1: changed me. And to be honest, for me, the true
34:00
Speaker 1: testament of my strength was not what I said, but
34:04
Speaker 1: what I did not say. I wasn't gagged or anything
34:07
Speaker 1: like that. I chose, you know, strength and silence and
34:11
Speaker 1: you know, and I just chose to trust God and it.
34:14
Speaker 1: So it's not that I was old, happygo jolly, you know.
34:18
Speaker 1: It broke me down all the way down. I mean
34:20
Speaker 1: it did physically. I lost like it was a lot.
34:23
Speaker 1: It was a lot. I had health issues out. It
34:26
Speaker 1: really broke me down. It was a lot. So just
34:29
Speaker 1: being honest, like what you see today, what it was
34:32
Speaker 1: just strength and I think just honestly growth and that evolution.
34:35
Speaker 1: It just really truly was I just have so much more.
34:39
Speaker 1: I know, it's so much more in store. It was
34:41
Speaker 1: just a stepping stone.
34:43
Speaker 2: I work with a lot of former reality stars who
34:47
Speaker 2: have their own story, and I'm not here to debunk
34:49
Speaker 2: anyone's story. That's I'll always tell people, I don't walk
34:52
Speaker 2: in your shoes. So because I may have been around you,
34:56
Speaker 2: I don't know your experience, just because we know each other,
34:59
Speaker 2: I do not know what it feels like to be
35:01
Speaker 2: a reality star on a big show. I don't know
35:05
Speaker 2: what that feels like. So when people used to say
35:07
Speaker 2: about you, like, oh my god, she's she's going to
35:10
Speaker 2: like follow lawsuits and all this stuff, it never materialized.
35:15
Speaker 2: Did you ever think about it or did you just
35:18
Speaker 2: figure out I'm gonna do my thing the way it's
35:20
Speaker 2: supposed to and let God handle the rest.
35:22
Speaker 1: Certain things didn't materialize because it didn't have to. It
35:26
Speaker 1: worked itself out, and I know, I know God worked
35:29
Speaker 1: it out. But you know when they say they make
35:31
Speaker 1: your enemy your food, when say make your enemy your
35:33
Speaker 1: food store, they'll come to you. So things were tied
35:38
Speaker 1: up and worked out in a beautiful way, you know.
35:41
Speaker 1: It just it kind of happened like that. That was
35:42
Speaker 1: a blessing, but it was still hard or whatever. So
35:46
Speaker 1: I may not have physically fouled a lawsuit, but it's
35:49
Speaker 1: not to say I wasn't on that track, be very
35:52
Speaker 1: very clear, you know, And that's just being honest, because
35:55
Speaker 1: you do have to do certain things in order to
35:58
Speaker 1: garner the reaction you need, especially when you know you're
36:02
Speaker 1: in the right position. But you know, it was tough,
36:05
Speaker 1: but everything's side up, everything's good and it's no bad blood.
36:10
Speaker 2: Do you still keep in touch with any of the
36:12
Speaker 2: current cast members, Toya, I.
36:14
Speaker 1: Haven't talked to anybody at all, just and I was
36:20
Speaker 1: shocked about that initially, you know, I was you know,
36:23
Speaker 1: I would talk and reach out, but I think with
36:26
Speaker 1: a lot of things that were going on, to their defense,
36:28
Speaker 1: I think it was a situation where it's kind of like,
36:31
Speaker 1: don't talk, don't do you know, like this is going on,
36:34
Speaker 1: like it was bigger. You know, it may not have
36:36
Speaker 1: been lost, but it was still the legalities of everything.
36:39
Speaker 1: So I think that that did complicate the relationships. That's
36:42
Speaker 1: still their job, and I was respectful. I don't want
36:45
Speaker 1: to put anybody in a situation. I didn't want anybody
36:47
Speaker 1: to feel uncomfortable.
36:49
Speaker 2: You know, we and I'm speaking for the reality fans,
36:53
Speaker 2: we do miss you on TV, like we want you
36:57
Speaker 2: back on television. Would you I've ever turned to reality TV? Sis.
37:02
Speaker 1: The break I had was amazing and I needed it
37:05
Speaker 1: I will never say never, but I just I don't
37:09
Speaker 1: have the desire. I want to do something big. I
37:12
Speaker 1: don't mind doing unscripted, but the unsemble scares me because,
37:16
Speaker 1: and let me tell you why, because people do anything
37:18
Speaker 1: on the way up and on the way down. So
37:22
Speaker 1: when you I mean when you're comfortable, you need to
37:24
Speaker 1: be just that. And I'm very comfortable. So it scares
37:28
Speaker 1: me about what other people will do, you know, with it.
37:31
Speaker 1: But I never say never, because you know who knows
37:35
Speaker 1: the next ship.
37:38
Speaker 2: I love Ariah. That was such a fun conversation with her,
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Speaker 2: but it was also very meaningful because look, that's a
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Speaker 2: black woman who created one of the most epic reality
37:49
Speaker 2: shows in history. Marriti Medicine is such a good show.
37:55
Speaker 2: And the fact that it happened because she decided to
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Speaker 2: turn down being a p heach told her to live
38:01
Speaker 2: out her destiny. I am so sad to see her
38:04
Speaker 2: not be on the show anymore, but I have to
38:07
Speaker 2: say I'm happy that she found the piece within herself.
38:11
Speaker 2: And it is truly within my hope and heart of
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Speaker 2: hearts that she is able to find her way back
38:17
Speaker 2: on television because I know what y'all thinking, get her
38:20
Speaker 2: own loving marriage Atlanta. I really hope y'all enjoy that.
38:23
Speaker 2: I love you, Mariah. If you're listening, we must do
38:26
Speaker 2: it again. Girl thoughts opinions reads about my conversation with Mariah.
38:35
Speaker 2: Email me at Reality with the King at stitri dot
38:38
Speaker 2: com or leave me a voicemail at three one oh
38:42
Speaker 2: five ninety three eight one eight eight. Thank you for
38:48
Speaker 2: listening to Reality with the King, Share, comment, follow and
38:54
Speaker 2: subscribe to Reality with the King. Wherever you get your podcast,
38:59
Speaker 2: visit Reality with the King dot com and be sure
39:02
Speaker 2: to follow me at the Carlos King Underscore on Instagram
39:07
Speaker 2: and Twitter. Tweak me your thoughts and hot takes about
39:11
Speaker 2: this episode using the hashtag Reality with the King. Reality
39:19
Speaker 2: with the King is a production of More Sauce by Stitcher.
39:22
Speaker 2: It is executive produced by Me, Carlos King, and Jasmine
39:26
Speaker 2: Henley Brown. We are also produced by Sierra s Bradley Rix,
39:30
Speaker 2: engineering and music by Marcus Ham More Sauce