‘Basketball Wives’: Tami Roman Says Producers Called OG ‘Ugly’ and Isolated Her
There have been a few brief cast members but memorable stars of Basketball Wives. One of which was OG. She stood tall against the long-running stars of the show, never backing down to those deemed the popular crew. Tami Roman says OG was set up to fail by producers, with them even isolating her based on her appearance.
Tami Roman alleges producers called OG ‘ugly’ and created issues with her, and cast intentionally
OG joined the cast in Season 7 and was considered an outcast amongst the long-term cast members, with the exception of Roman. But Roman revealed in an interview with the Ooh Ladies First Panel that producers isolated OG from the start and felt that she didn’t fit in aesthetically with the rest of the cast.
“When they were, um, like, putting OG through the casting process, one of the producers came up to me and said, ‘she’s ugly and doesn’t dress well. Wait ’til you get inside and see what she has on,’” Roman alleges. Having co-stars like Evelyn Lozada criticize her fashion in her first season, Roman was triggered.
“And the first thing that came to my mind was that’s exactly how the f–k y’all did me! This is some bulls–t right here,” Roman explained. She felt it was unfair to OG and made it her mission to befriend her and become her ally.
“OG’s mad cool and I’m glad we are friends but, I don’t necessarily know that I would have been as concerned with being her friend had they not said that,” she admitted. “ It’s like y’all [are] trying to make it so nobody don’t like her and that’s not cool because that’s exactly what y’all did to me. So it became my mission [to befriend her, and] it helped that she was a really cool a– chick.”
O.G. accused the cast of colorism
Roman’s assertion may give a hint as to why her issues with Lozada were magnified. The two women didn’t get along from the start. During one argument over Lozada’s ex-husband Chad Johnson, OG claimed Johnson wanted to date her. Lozada responded by calling it a lie and calling OG “ugly.”
Fans felt Lozada’s reference to OG’s appearance was a form of colorism because of OG’s darker skin complexion. She also referred to OG as a cockroach in Spanish and accused OG of being overly aggressive. OG agreed with fans’ observation regarding colorism.
TMZ reported that Lozada sued OG for defamation over her claims of colorism, with Lozada denying such and alleging she couldn’t be colorist because “her 2 children are African and Hispanic descent.”
She claimed she lost money and job opportunities over the claims. OG countersued. Per TMZ, alleging Lozada’s lawsuit was a cry for attention. In her countersuit, OG listed Lozada’s history on reality television, much of which featured Lozada being verbally and physically abusive to her co-stars. The suits were eventually dismissed.
She returned for a season amid the lawsuit drama
OG returned for an additional season, appearing on three seasons in total. Fans questioned why she would return amid such drama, with her saying it was due to contractual obligations.
“I’m just here so I don’t get fined,” OG responded on her Instagram account with a video of her being discussed on The Wendy Williams Show. OG’s phrase is a reference to former NFL player Marshawn Lynch, who answered every question at a post-game conference: “I’m just here so I don’t get fined.”
