By: Taren Vaughan
Love and Hip Hop Atlanta has been a VH1 favorite ever since it first aired back in June. And with every episode, one could expect to get a good dose of drama for that one hour. However, after Lil’ Scrappy revealed that producers staged the fight between him and Stevie J. and Mimi spilled tea in one of her interview’s that her sit down with Joseline was not her idea, viewers began to question how authentic the show was. The scripted thoughts got stronger than ever when Karlie Redd and Benzino’s relationship was exposed and Erica was caught posing with what appeared to be an engagement ring with Lil’ Scrappy in a photo after they were supposedly not together anymore. Many of the cast members tried to shut down the thoughts that people had about the show being scripted. Now, a person from behind the scenes who is not a cast member has spoken out about the realness of it all.
Co-Executive Producer of the show Carlos King, who has worked for Oprah Winfrey and with the Real Housewives of Atlanta production team, talked with The Branding Bar and said that although working with Love and Hip Hop Atlanta is nothing like working for Oprah, he wouldn’t trade the experience that he has gotten from it for anything:
“I worked for Oprah Winfrey and now I’m working for Love and Hip Hop Atlanta. Two totally different shows, two totally different demographics, two totally different quality of shows. But what I pride myself on too is, working for Oprah was great. It was a successful show for her network. And doing Love and Hip Hop to me is just as equally as great because I’m able to show people that I’m diverse in terms of what I can do”
King also went on to say that no matter what is thought or said about the show being real and certain events being full of BS, they are not at all by any means:
“And a lot of people think Love and Hip Hop Atlanta is scripted because it’s so, it’s so bizarre to say the least. But you know, these are these real people’s lives and that’s the joy that I like in terms of working reality TV. The show is not scripted but the way you deal with these people’s storylines is everyday you talk to the cast member and then you kinda figure, not figure out but kinda discover what they are going through by talking to them. And once you gather the information, it’s your job to piece it together”
He even gave an example of how the producers make things come together and says that some things that happen on camera even come as a surprise to them:
“So for example if Stevie J. is telling us “Me and Joseline got into an argument last night because of blah blah blah” We’re like “Okay fine, we got the information so what we’re gonna to do with this information is film you guys talking about the argument. “Well, I’m mad at you because you did X, Y and Z”…A lot times you just put people in a room and you may expect one thing to happen based off of the information you gathered. And then a curveball comes”
A “curveball” was when Joseline revealed that she might be pregnant to Stevie J. said King, which is what led to producers asking Joseline if she would take a pregnancy test on the show.
Even with Co-Executive Producer Carlos King stating the show isn’t scripted, it probably won’t erase that thought in people’s minds.
It’s not scripted in the sense that they write a script and follow it (lines etc.), but the story lines and situations are completely made up and encouraged. You guys have already proven on several instances the many contradictions these people made in their real lives. Erica and Scrappy were proof alone that the show isn’t real. I believe the person who tipped yall about Scrappy and Erica faking their breakup.That’s the only way the engagement makes sense now.
The damn show is fake. But it’s entertaining as hell so we watch anyway. He’s a producer, of course he’ll say it isn’t scripted.
All these reality shows are fake to a certain experience. The situations are always exaggerated, made up, and even set up by producers to make it more interesting. It’s still a good show and I’m definitely going to miss it. lol
LOL riiiggghhhtt
Who is he trying to fool?
Didn’t Scrappy say Mona and the producers got him drunk before he confronted Stevie J.?
Mona is just pulling the puppet strings like a pro! Go Mona!
I do not believe the producers at all. This is show is scripted!
I am pissed they did not show any preview clips of the reunion show. Scripted or not, that was a lame move!