No FOMO: Find Out What Goes Down On 'The Gossip Game'
It was game on at Manhattan's XL nightclub last night when the seven cast members of The Gossip Game (like them on Facebook!) suited up for the series' press reception and premiere party. Hosted by VH1 and Monami Entertainment mogul Mona Scott-Young, the event brought out urban entertainment's top outlets, allowing bloggers, personalities, print journalists and more to preview the show's first episode and hear from the ladies in what became a heated post-screening Q&A.
Kim Osorio, Angela Yee, K. Foxx, Sharon Carpenter, JasFly, Ms. Drama and Vivian Billings were all in attendance at the press reception, joined by their peers, industry executives, and artists to get a formal introduction to The Gossip Game, an 8-episode series that kicks off this Monday, April 1st at 9p ET/PT. Crowd favorite Angela Yee received applause with each on-screen introduction, as did cameos from her Power 105 team - DJ Envy and Charlamagne Tha God (who were both also present at the event).
"You know what's crazy? It's usually [(Hot 97's) Peter Rosenberg and (Power 105's) Charlamagne Tha God] going back and forth, so now that they've put us in this situation, it's almost like we have to fight those battles and we have to represent the guys," K. Foxx told VH1 after a Q&A that brought on an awkward few moments of bickering between her and station rival, Yee. "They're the brothers and we're the sisters, and now we're out on the street."
In the very moment that ladies' the mini-cat fight erupted on stage, their male, morning show co-hosts greeted one another with a friendly hug in the audience below. With The Gossip Game turning a microscope on the intense rivalry that's been brewing between NYC's legacy station Hot 97 and the younger Power 105's higher-rated morning show, The Breakfast Club, the drama-filled series delivers an up-close-and-personal look into each squad and their respective chess moves.
The Gossip Game Cast & Mona Scott Young
Mona Scott-Young
K. Foxx and Peter Rosenberg
K. Foxx
Jas Fly
Candice ' Ms. Drama ' Williams
The Gossip Game Cast
Sharon Carpenter
Vivian
Angela Yee
The Gossip Game Cast and Kino
Kim Osorio
Angela Yee
The Gossip Game Q&A Panel
Sharon Carpenter
Bun B
Ebro Darden
Mike Kyser
Kim Osorio
The Gossip Game Cast
As you'll see in The Gossip Game's first episode (embedded below), there's much more to this show than just radio beef. Besides Yee and Foxx, the daily media grind of the other five dynamic women will keep you occupied, and with racks on racks of industry cameos to keep an eye out for, it's a music fan must-see. Watch!
"Media is changing at this point," said Sharon Carpenter, on why she chose to be on The Gossip Game. "I think there's a demand from the audience to know more about the people they're getting their information from." A host and reporter for Global Grind, Carpenter is also a co-creator of the show, and if our crystal ball is working properly, might be in a bit of hot water with the blogger community after comments she makes in the show's first episode.
"At the end of the day, I'm saying things that other people are thinking, and maybe they're afraid to say it," the UK journalist explained to us. "There are bloggers who just write their opinion, and that's fine. As somebody who was trained to report on stories, those people who report misinformation I can't really have a lot of respect for." And that's just skimming the surface, y'all.
Last night, kino being kino... Sigh
— Kim Osorio (@kimosorio1) March 28, 2013
Scoop-hunters JasFly, Vivian Billings and Ms. Drama come out of the gate swinging in the show's premiere, too, the latter letting the name-calling fly ("ratchet" being the word of choice) in attempt to speak her piece. Still, Scott-Young believes The Gossip Game to be an honest, positive account of female interaction in a hyper-competitive field. "I think what we set out to do was get a true depiction, a true portrayal of their lives, and I would think that these women would think that their lives are positive," she explained. "I just think I just approach these from a nonjudgmental stand point, and who am I to say what they’re experiencing is or isn’t positive? It is what it is, it’s their lives."
All this, and with zinging one-liners, appearances from Funkmaster Flex, Ebro Darden, Kendrick Lamar, Star (of Star and Buc Wild) and Kim Osorio's delightfully fresh hubby, Kino, we highly suggest not sleeping on the Gossip Game.
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[Photos: James Pray/Terrence Jennings]