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Reality star Erica Mena is opening up about her life experiences in a viral candid interview with Carlos King. The former Love & Hip Hop star was an open book, allowing the audience in on her tough childhood, affair with DJ Envy, optimism for her marriage to Safaree, and overall anger issues that she attributes to being molested when she was a young girl.
Erica Mena DJ Envy Affair
Erica Mena goes into detail about her highly publicized affair with Breakfast Club host DJ Envy. In the chat with Carlos, she revealed she didn’t know he was married until she received a call from Envy’s wife Gia Casey. According to Mena, she believed Envy was simply co-parenting with the mother of his children.
“That came out right when I got on Love and Hip Hop, and we had just broken up because the wife found out, which I was totally oblivious to,” she explained. “I knew about the kids, mind you; I have a kid, but I have a baby daddy, and it’s more common where we come from to have kids, but you’re not married; you just got a baby mama.”
Mena claimed Envy never wore a ring so she believed the popular host, who is currently in the headlines for his involvement with Cesar Pina, who is being charged with real estate fraud. She revealed she was developing feelings for him at the time she found out he was married.
“I’m over here–I have never been in this situation; here’s this man that’s been doting over me, showering me, you know? I’m starting to fall for him; I spent a lot of time with him. This man flew me and all my friends to Miami; we were living our best lives up and down New York City, holding hands; we were very public.”
After Gia Casey disclosed she and Envy are married, Erica said she immediately hung up the phone and Envy begged her not to say anything.
“Literally when she said ‘his wife,’ I hung up [and] call Envy, and he’s panicking. ‘Please don’t say nothing. I have to save half of everything. She’s going to try to take away everything from me. Please, please, please, please; I have to try. Just don’t say anything; don’t pick up no calls.”
Erica Mena’s Childhood
shared that she was molested as a child in foster care during a one-on-one sit-down with Carlos King. The reality star shared stories about her “hard and traumatic” upbringing in New York, including being taken away from her family by child protective services.
Mena recalled being molested and talked about being upset by “the son of my foster mother touching me the way he was.” “It happened a lot,” she said. “I was kept in a high chair a lot.” It is very common for sexual violence to happen at the hands of someone known to the victim, according to RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network).
Before she was on VH1 Mena was born in prison, and her mother was unable to care for her while she was completing her sentence. According to the American Journal of Public Health, “three-quarters of incarcerated women are of childbearing age, and “two-thirds are mothers and the primary caregivers to young children. Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester was also born while her mother was serving time on a federal drug conviction.
Mena’s sisters were able to retrieve her and care for her with the help of a family friend. “The system is very neglectful towards children,” said Mena. She explained that her sister lied to be able to get her away from the system. “My sister had me for a little bit, ducking and dodging ACS as much as possible. That was like our life for a while,” said Mena.
When one of Mena’s sisters had an issue with that family friend moving a man into their home, the friend called CPS in retaliation, and Mena was sent back to foster care. She credited the rage she has displayed publicly to those early life experiences.
Facing Frustrations
“I know for a fact my anger issues from in my adulthood came from my childhood,” said Mena. “I would pray that I was going home officially, and that wasn’t the case, so after every visit being ripped from my mom to go back, It built a lot of anger in me, a lot.” She was so angry about what she was experiencing she began to punish herself physically.
“I used to be so mad that I used to punch myself,” she said. “I used to pinch myself so much because I used to be so angry,” she said.
As a small child, she did not know how to express herself. “I was so young I didn’t know what was being done to me was really even wrong,” she said. “You know it doesn’t make you feel good, but you just don’t know am I supposed to speak on it because this is not right,” she explained. “I wish I would have, but I didn’t know.”
Coming Back Together
Mena eventually reunited with her family and went to live with her mother, sisters, and the counselor at the halfway house her mother fell in love with. She considers that man to be her adoptive father. “That man changed our life forever in a great way,” she told King. “That was my dad, and he took care of me, and he raised me.”
King’s platforms have become the go-to place for reality stars to share their life experiences. He recently held exclusive interviews with Scrappy, Kenya Moore, and Nene Leakes.
See King’s full interview with Mena below.
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