Is the bromance between Stevie J and Benzino truly over?
It sure looks like it. Both guys doubt they'll be able to fix this mess.
The pair have been friends for many years but Joseline created a rift between the two dudes that may not be reparable as long as Joseline is in the picture.
Althea, Benzino's fiance, doesn't appear to be the problem but right before the reunion, Stevie J and Benzino got into a social media battle over their girls. That made things more tense than normal when they got to the reunion stage.
Producer Stefan Springman handled the interviews of both couples separately after the reunion fight. It took a week before Althea and Benzino would even sit down. (Where is creator Mona Scott Young?)
At first, Benzino refuses to comment and gets upset with Stefan. A few minutes later, Benzino calms down and answers most questions, though he wouldn't repeat the "cocaine" comment that set off Joseline or whether he had hit Joseline after she began her attack.
Meanwhile, Joseline is not remotely apologetic about what she did - not one iota. "I don't have to apologize to anyone. I didn't start the fight," she says. Attacking three women, two of them totally unprovoked? They deserved it, she says, because they disrespected her at some point this season. She also says if given the chance, she could have easily beaten up Benzino, too.
The producer says some women on the show thought Joseline had dressed down for the show as if she were ready to fight. "I come everywhere ready to fight," Joseline proclaims. "I can handle myself." But she thought she looked like a "fly b****" while everyone else looked like they were ready for the prom.
Benzino feels Joseline "feels she can do anything she wants. She needs counseling. If she doesn't get help, nothing good is going to come out of that situations."
Surprisingly, Stevie J agrees that Joseline would be much better off with some therapy though he thinks she has "evolved."
Not surprisingly, Joseline thinks Joseline is just fine, thank you very much. "I ain't going to therapy," she says defensively. "Do I look emotional? I ain't got no problems." (The double negative is apropos, eh?)
While Stevie J says she has a "quick temper," she merely says "if you give me attitude, I'll give you attitude," as if that's a virtuous thing.
She doesn't think she has changed since season one and that fame has gone to her head. "I may be a little more classier and more calm," she claims. "I was worst the first season.
Stevie J says the reason why he never admitted to sleeping with Althea is because he didn't want to hurt Joseline, though Joseline figured it out all along. "Why did he deny it?" posits Benzino. "He's a wimp."
Every time Stevie J had trouble with Joseline over the past year, he'd go to Benzino. Benzino heard all the crazy stuff Joseline did to Stevie J and that fueled his negative attitude toward her. He felt she was hurting his friend. "Ever since Joseline came into the picture, it's been crazy," Benzino says . "He's standing by his girl at the end of the day. She's going to get him hurt. That bitch is crazy. She's nuts!"
He backtracked on the cocaine allegation but says she's "erratic." She would only admit to using pot, not cocaine.
The producer asked multiple times whether Stevie J and Joseline were even married. They say yes but have trouble with dates. They say there were no witnesses either to corroborate their story except the person who married them. Stefan asked for a marriage certificate. They didn't have it. You can tell even Stefan is skeptical about this whopper.
In other storylines:
The show rehashed the Mimi/Nikko sex tape. The story line was covered again and again and again during the season so there wasn't a lot of fresh news here. Oddly, we didn't hear whether they plan to do another one.
Ariane at least gets to throw in her two cents one more time, calling Nikko a "f****** fraud."
Amazingly, Mimi and Nikko remain together, albeit they say they are not in a great place. "I'm just natural and comfortable with him," she says, rationalizing why he's even in the picture. And they still have sex.
On the bright side for her, Mimi says they have made more money for Vivid than any other sex tape so she's doing just fine financially.
Nikko refuses to take a lie detector test related to the question of whether he had "leaked" the sex tape. Mimi stands by his side but hardly anybody else does. When VH1 asked folks to hashtag #teamnikko or #teamleako, the latter won 97% to 3%.
There was some half-hearted talk about Kaleena and Tony and such at one point, but the producers' hearts were not into it. I can't imagine they'll be back next season. I'm also not sure how successful the Tammy Rivera/Waka Flocka story line worked either. New didn't make that all that interesting either.
TV ratings
The second reunion last week drew a season high 4.06 million viewers but that isn't the highest ever. Last year, the comparable reunion show drew 4.15 million. The 18-49 numbers were down from 2.3 to 2.1 year over year. Still, the show is way up year over year in ratings.
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