Love & Hip-Hop TEA: Is Erica Wrong for Grinding on Safaree??

      

       I just wanna start with the fact that I am BRAND NEW to this reality tv/love and hip-hop drama

and honestly only tuned in because of the conversation surrounding reality tv stars Erica Mena and

Safaree. For those of you who have no idea who these people are, let me help you out. Erica Mena is a

reality tv star and former video actress. She is most known for her appearances in Love and hip-hop

new york and was the former fiance of rapper Bow Wow before becoming wife to Safaree Samuels

back in 2019. Safaree is an American rapper, songwriter, businessman, and television personality. He

joined the cast of "Love and hip hop Hollywood" in 2016 then in 2017 moved back to his hometown of

New York City and joined the cast of "Love and hip hop New York". This is obviously how they met

and started dating before it went public on the show. 

Now, they have since divorced due to problems within their marriage. A lot of it had to do with Erica being labeled a “bitter baby momma” and Safaree a “deadbeat”. An actual scene airs on the show that features a dispute between the two when a guitar falls on their small child and Safaree essentially has no parental reaction, in fact, he kinda just chuckles a bit. This sparked outrage from fans and the Safaree hate began (not that he was ever well-liked by the audience of the show).

Recently, Erica Mena celebrated her birthday and decided to have a party, getaway. She posted a video

where we can see her and Safaree all up on each other and TheShadeRoom, a large gossip blog on

Instagram, reposted the video. This sparked a conversation around if it's okay for them to be engaging

with each other in this “inappropriate” manner. A lot of the comments I saw showed dismay at the

situation. They definitely weren’t feeling the vibe especially with all of the negative things Erica has

had to say about Safaree publicly in the past. 

In my personal opinion, they are grown, adults. On top of that, they were formerly married. I don't think there is anything wrong with her wanting to still be close with him and how they display that affection isn't really the business of strangers on the internet. Another thing to take note of is the fact that they do have children together. “Research tells us that children with parents who co-parent well following a separation grow up just as well as children with parents who had successful marriages.” - Coparenting.com

Wouldn't we rather see divorced parents who still show affection and love for one another rather than fighting and bashing on the internet or in real life for that matter? Whether we like the way they display it or not, whether we think it's appropriate or not. As long as the kids are safe and happy, they are grown and should be allowed to do what grown, single people do. 

That was a lot. I feel like we have a tendency, as strangers who watch these people's lives, to insert ourselves in things we may not fully understand. At the end of the day, what they show is but a small snippet of their lives and a lot of it is heavily produced. We shouldn't just assume and we definitely shouldn't be comfortable enough telling grown adults what it is okay for them to do together. Byeeeee.