An Examiner reader asks why singer Fantasia Barrino’s situation has gotten more media attention than Alicia Keys and Angelina Jolie's alleged affairs.
Here is the e-mail that raised the question:
(E-mail edited for interpretation)
Shavon asks,
Q: I recently came across your article “American Idol’s Fantasia Barrino becomes the new face of the mistress” and really enjoyed it. I liked that you didn’t write with slander against Fantasia’s character because we all know that there are two sides to a story and we have only gotten Paula’s side. One thing that I have noticed with all of the news outlets covering her story is that they did not do the same with Alicia Keys or Angelina Jolie, why is that? The two women were both caught in a scandal and accused of breaking up a marriage by getting involved with the husbands so why haven’t they been scrutinized or exposed the way Fantasia has been? I find it unfair that Fantasia is being railroaded and made out to be the wrong individual in this all and no one has yet to hold Antwaun accountable for his actions. If they are going to do it to one person, they should do it to everybody.
A: Thank you for reaching out and shining light on a question surely many have at least thought about once or twice throughout this situation. Although the above situations may appear to all be the same, the one thing that differs between Fantasia, Alicia, and Angelina is how they are perceived by the public; in other words, their image.
Alicia Keys has always been perceived as a “wholesome” woman. Philanthropy and female empowerment via her music lyrics were characteristics associated with her. So of course it was a surprise to even learn that she may have had something to do with ending a union. The thing that helped in keeping positive views of her intact was that she never confirmed or denied rumors that suggested she was anyone’s mistress.
In interviews, the reporters never asked her head-on if she had anything to do with now husband, rapper/producer Swizz Beatz’s decision to get a divorce from his ex-wife nor did they ask her what her thoughts were about the many things his ex-wife Mashonda has said about her to the media as well as the public.
It wasn’t until Swizz Beatz’s divorce was final that the two were even seen together publicly or that Alicia even acknowledged Swizz as her boyfriend. Because there were no breadcrumbs left behind such as Alicia lying about being with Swizz or there being any photos of the two of them together before Mashonda and Swizz were separated, it gave the media no ammo to pursue a story about their alleged affair.
Angelina Jolie is a slightly different case. The thing she has in common with Alicia is that she also never addressed the rumors that suggested she’d ruined Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston’s marriage. The pieces just fell in place for onlookers who followed the rumors.
People knew that Angelina had a very controversial past, but then she began turning her life around, adopting children from third world countries and donating graciously to charities -- something Brad Pitt has now adapted too since beginning a relationship with her.
Because she got more press for the good that she was doing, less for the bad, and made an effort to keep her lips sealed regarding her relationship with Brad Pitt, people began to accept their relationship without any question. But in the back of everyone’s minds, people still ponder about the alleged infidelity Brad and Angelina partook in.
Fantasia’s situation as you can already imagine isn’t so much different, but the scenarios leading up to her expose added gasoline to the fire. She is an American Idol winner. Everyone knew her name and knew her story. As her manager put it, her life is an open book; nothing is really private. So when the public is in your life the way the public is in Fantasia’s, any and everything is open to criticism despite the unfairness involved.
Fantasia unlike Alicia and Angelina was asked about her relationship with Antwaun Cook on many occasions, and on many occasions she denied even knowing who he was. She even went as far as to suggest that she wouldn’t date someone like Antwaun because of the amount of money he made which wasn’t close to her income.
A simple "no comment" would have sufficed.
Photos of Antwaun and Fantasia holding hands and vacationing later popped-up. This caused the public’s curiosity to grow even more. Then later a tattoo of his name was photoed, inked on her body. It is later revealed that he is married.
The fact that Antwaun’s wife Paula Cook cited Fantasia as the reason why their marriage fell apart, didn’t make things any easier. Then talks of a sex tape just made things worse.
Fantasia’s past and present are like a before and after story for many. She came from hard living as a preacher’s daughter, single teen mother and made her dreams come true. The infidelity claims made by Paula makes the story salacious and because of that the media has sunk its teeth into it.
It is also safe to conclude that if Paula had not filed a complaint in court naming Fantasia as the other woman, things would have not blown up the way that it did. Lastly, Fantasia’s alleged suicide attempt just increased attention.
What are your thoughts? Do you agree with the reader that Fantasia is unfairly getting more media attention as opposed to Alicia Keys and Angelina Jolie who are accused of the same act? Or do you believe their situations are too different for comparison?
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Comments
The fact that Fantasia wasn't afraid to be photographed with him speaks volumes that perhaps she really wasn't aware of his marriage and believed him. To me Alicia and Angie's silence and sneakiness tells me they were fully aware of what they were doing, that's why they went to greater pains to hide it or not speak about it.
However I agree it is an image thing. It seems people think Fantasia is not as smart plus a lesser celeb than those two with less money and fame, so people are more willing to believe she's desperate enough to chase after a married man. Where as with the other two women mentioned, people feel they are both great catches so it's understandable that any man would leave his wife if he had a chance to be with them.
I think people should be more concerned about why we are still in Iraq. When will the war end and controlling the attacks on American soil from terrorist.
We should be concerned about how to provide jobs and help develop America back to a powerful nation. We have bigger problems than worrying about celebrities.
Our own communities and relationship need attention.
I think that this antwaun is a snake he used fantasia he saw that she was a young inexperience young lady who needed love and he supplied it as long as the gifts and trips kept coming I also think that the wife was in on it also it's all about the money....
anyway big deal why not have all of this attention on the hungry children in the world...
I don't think you can put Angelina Jolie in the same boat as Alicia & Fantasia for the simple fact that the wife (Jennifer Aniston) never fingered Jolie as someone who slept with her husband before the marriage was over. In fact, both Pitt and Aniston said there was no third party. Now whether that was the truth or not, if the two people in the marriage are saying there's no third party, that's the end of the story. Conversely, both Mashonda and Paula Cook identified Alicia and Fantasia as individuals that were having affairs with their husbands. The biggest difference between Alicia and Fantasia are PR teams: Alicia has a great one, Fantasia does not. Also, as many have pointed out elsewhere, Fantasia drew attention to the situation by attempting suicide last week. Before that point, many in the black/urban community knew she was sleeping with a married man from the bloggers but the mainstream press paid it no mind.
this is probabbly because we have known them longer and ppl love them i have always liked alicia keys expecially for her music. so we havnt rlly known fantasia very well so thats whaat ppl are going to look at her for
A suicide bomber in Iraqi detonated his bombs that killed 61 at an army recruiting center. It was the bloodiest terror attack this year.
Why are we so concerned with bringing and tearing down black women? We aren't happy unless all black women are all equally dragged down by all including the media.
Unemployment is over 9%; we have a higher drop out rate than any other race, we have higher drop out rate, etc.
However, worrying about two celebrities seem to be our top priority. Buy there albums and help the economy. Stop dragging two beautiful women down.
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The thing is Fantasia having an affair shows the truth about her desperate, conniving character. In a way, she deserved the negative press she got. But leave it to her fans which seem to applaud ALL of Fantasia's past that was less than commendable. Getting pregnant and dropping out of high school. Failing grades, having an overly high sense of entitlement. Her fans approve of all this, because guess what? 90% of them are like this and that's why they are fans. They identify with someone who who is careless and lives in a fantasy world as Fantasia does. Perhaps Alicia and Angelina should also have been scrutinized more. In other words, all three of these women should have known better. On the other hand, I'm not always on the side of the press as I find them to be unfair and to invade privacy at times....
But if there is any reason that Fantasia was pointed out, maybe it's because of the way the public perceives her as the OP has pointed out. That perception was earned by Fantasia by setting horrible examples on multiple levels. For example thinking she doesn't have to keep up with the bills on her homes. Or even thinking that she should have two homes when she clearly can't afford them both, shows not only a delusional person, but irresponsible as well. The same irresponsible person that also had problems back in high school, but learned that if you cry and whine enough, people will give you hand outs.
Lacking in any real singing talent, and sounding as nasal as a singing duck, she was promoted on idol because it bringing in the ratings. With her ego centric attitude, baby waving tricks and continual over dramatics, to the point of crying. She got enough votes to win. But when the real buying crowd would tune in, she was a flop because the show was over along with the pity game. But she continued this game in a different format that involved creating publicity stunts, and splashes in the news etc. Her latest was the "suicide" attempt. Now, I'm glad she's ok.. But come on. She called her manager within 10 minutes to let him know what he already had guessed when he said, "don't try anything stupid". And she texted, "already did". If she truly wanted to die, she wouldn't have texted him that message. But now it's all main news. Again, the pattern of desperation continues. Can anyone remember when they think back to American Idol, when she would start crying on stage? Think about it for a minute. She has had this stupid pattern her whole life. Do something completely irresponsible, and bubble headed (Like the affair), and then whine and cry over it to get attention to make it better. Fantasia, is a walking, talking publicity stunt.
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