Shaunie O'Neal, Evelyn Lozada Reveal Why Jennifer Williams Fired
Shaunie O'Neal, executive producer of "Basketball Wives," and fellow cast member Evelyn Lozada are revealing why popular stars Jennifer Williams and Royce Reed were booted from the upcoming season of the show.
O'Neal, the ex-wife of retired NBA player Shaquille O'Neal, came under fire when things turned violent on season four of the popular VH1 reality television series. Jennifer Williams, the estranged wife of former NBA player Eric Williams, was physically assaulted by the assistant of her former best friend and fellow castmate Lozada, 37.
While petitions were created to end the show, O'Neal and Lozada recently revealed that the series would return. Williams claimed that she suffered from psychological damage after Lozada's assistant Nia Crooks slapped her on the popular VH1 reality television series.
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While Williams decided to officially abandon her lawsuit against Crooks, O'Neal and Lozada admitted Williams was not asked to return to the show.
"It was a chemistry thing. It just became awkward to film or even come up with a conversation," O'Neal told Upscale magazine recently. " It just wasn't working for TV."
However, Lozada was a bit more vocal with her response.
"..As for Jennifer-Shaunie is [being] nice but I'm going to tell you this-we don't condone the incident with Jennifer, but we do reality TV," Lozada told Upscale. "You know something's bound to happen when you put a bunch of women together and there's a lot of behind the scenes conversation and gossip going on. So when Jennifer went on this whole anti-show campaign, it was a little tough for us as cast members."
O'Neal admitted that some of the women made her uncomfortable even before the controversial fourth season of the show began.
"I'm very uncomfortable. When you just don't know…you have that 'I don't know' feeling…I run from that feeling," she told The Insider last year. "I had the 'I don't know' feeling going into season four and I should've stuck with my gut. The feeling of, 'I don't think I want to do this' but I did it, but I won't do it again."
Season five of "Basketball Wives" is slated for an August premiere.
