MARY J: NO MORE WIG DRAMA

VIBE Awards: VIBE Editor Responds To Mary J. Blige

November 15, 2005

An excerpt from Mary J. Blige's acceptance speech for the 2005 VLegend Award:

"Last but not least, I gotta thank Quincy Jones and this whole VIBE thing. Absolutely. For so many years, VIBE has given me great, great, great covers, but I must say, I'm very, very disappointed at the cover this time, so Mimi, me and you really need to talk, as women. No disrespect, but I really hated the way you guys shaved off my head, pushed my forehead way back behind my ears. I'm just insulted, so that's no respect on the cover, but I thank you, and I appreciate this award."

Dearest Mary,

Dissing VIBE while accepting our VLegend Award was extremely disappointing. I'm sorry you find your most recent cover insulting. It was definitely not our intention. If you look at the big picture, we've been supportive of your career beginning with the first issue of VIBE in the fall of '92. You've graced our cover seven times, more than any other artist.

Besides your desire to make a private conversation public, your accusations are untrue. How your hair looks on that cover is between you and your hairstylist. I swear, your hairline is no different than the Polaroids you saw at the shoot or the snapshots we printed in my What's Good column. In any case, you felt compelled to speak your peace, and at the end of the day, isn't this truly why we all love Mary in the first place?

One of the hardest things about working at VIBE is not to take things like this personally. For myself and the rest of the edit staff, working here is more than just a job. We take our roles as journalists very seriously, but we're die-hard fans as well. I'd be lying not to admit how hurt we were by the negativity you brought to our celebration, especially since you were being honored. After last year's incident, we went above and beyond to make this year's ceremony drama-free. We did not want to let '04's unfortunate events deter us from our mission to celebrate the best of the best in urban music. It's sad you did not share in this vision with us.

Peace,

Mimi Valdes
Editor-in-Chief