80s rap trio Salt N Pepa found themselves in a very public brouhaha recently. Spinderella, the third and often forgotten member of the group, took to Twitter (and later Clubhouse) to spill the tea about how she felt about being excluded from the Salt n Pepa biopic released on Lifetime January 23rd. The fact that they didn’t see a need to include Spin who was an integral part of the group’s sound in the biopic was like rubbing salt into the wound (no pun intended). Spinderella stated in several tweets that “when Salt n Pepa was building their legacy, which was rooted in empowering women,” that that same group would be responsible in disempowering her. Spinderella was a part of Salt n Pepa from 1987 – 2019. Spinderella wrote more about the fall out and you can read those tweets below.
Salt n Pepa decided to respond to the accusations three weeks later on an episode of The Real. I guess they felt that responding to Spinderella wasn’t worth their time until then. They claimed that they did not exclude Spinderella from the movie, that they reached out to her about a part in the film and that the film was based on Salt and Pepa’s time in college. Hmmkay. Below are more details via People:
“I reached out to Spinderella; I feel like this is very unfortunate,” James began. “We’ve come to a crossroads where we have decided to agree to disagree. I definitely am open and Pepa’s open. We’ve talked about it and our hearts are open, have always been open to Spinderella.”
James, 54, went on to explain that there is more to the story than people realize.
“As far as the public is concerned, I’m really happy about the people who know that they don’t know everything. There’s six sides to every story,” she said. “We just hope that we can come to some sort of resolution in the future. You never know. You never know what God is doing.”
Denton, 54, jumped in to note that she and James did reach out to Spinderella (née Deidra Roper) regarding a certain part of the biopic.
“I just wanted to add to that, but I do want to clear up, there is a part that when Spinderella did say we excluded her. That part, Salt and I did reach out to consult with the movie,” Denton said.
The hip hop star explained that the biopic was created to focus on “the friendship of Sandy and Cheryl back in college.”
“But yes, Spinderella joined us, a part of it. We will always acknowledge her contribution that she’s done with us. She will always be our sister,” Denton continued. “We love her, but we have always made sure that she had the opportunity and the platform. We always encourage her to be Spinderella and be supportive of her, so that is important.”
James then added, “Perception is not reality.”
So the biopic was about when Salt n Pepa were in college huh? Sounds to me like they intentionally excluded Spinderella. If it wasn’t for Spin, the mixing of their songs which made them so popular would not have existed. Ignoring the entire existence of a third and very integral member of your group that helped solidify your popularity is like doing a limited series Sex and the City reboot without Samantha, but I digress. Why would Sandy and Cheryl focus their biopic on when THEY met in college and exclude DJ Spinderella from the development and production of the film? If you’d ask me that is some shady a*s sh*t. I have always felt Spinderella never got her due while in Salt n Pepa and we won’t talk about the inherent colorism surrounding Spinderella, who has always been pushed to the shadows (again no pun intended).
The other thing that bothers me about this saga is the fact that Salt n Pepa waited until being on a talk show to respond. They waited three weeks before broaching the subject and until they were on a talk show with a large viewership. That is gaslighting 101 folks. Why not call Spinderella or respond via Twitter? I can understand trying to avoid a show on social media but obviously Spinderella doesn’t have access to big platforms like The Real to address her grievances which is why she did so on Twitter and Clubhouse. Using The Real to respond makes me feel as if Sandy and Cheryl were behaving like two mean girls. To be honest Spinderella was my favorite member of that group. Spin’s style and class captured my imagination as a kid. I wanted to be like Spinderella. Anyhow, I support Spinderella in speaking her truth in this matter and I hope that all the tea is spilled. According to Salt (Cheryl) there are six sides to a story and in my opinion we have mostly heard Salt n Pepa’s side of this one. It is about time that Spinderella tells hers.
Back when Salt n’ Pepa was building our legacy, which is rooted in empowering women, I could not have dreamed that this same group would one day disempower me.
— Spinderella (@Spindeezy) January 22, 2021
Words cannot fully express my disappointment when I learned a decision was made to move forward with a Lifetime biopic that wrongfully excluded me from every aspect of development and production…
— Spinderella (@Spindeezy) January 22, 2021
photos credit: avalon.red and via Instagram
I don’t trust a single word out of Sandy and Cheryl’s mouths. They are greedy opportunists. And Cheryl with her fake Christian Pastor’s Wife act…
Wow, how funny playing up the preachy thing when they released songs like What a Man and Let’s Talk About Sex lol
When I saw that pic of the bio I was wondering why she wasn’t on it. Man I wanted their tape so bad in middle school but my parents wouldn’t let me, sigh.
Maybe they got jealous because everyone thought Spinderella was the hottest one.
I was coming in here to say the same! Spinderella was the pretty one!
They were foolish to think they could leave her out-they were wrong. Stupid.
I remember hearing about this duo when they got played on the radio and were on MTV/VH1. But I had no idea there was a third member. When I read about thjs,I thought, maybe she was only in the group for a few years and that would make sense why I missed her. But 1987- 2019? And her name is Spinderella (which is awesome, btw), no one forgets that after even one mention! All I can say is they did a really good job hiding her from the casual listener. The whole thing is super shady. And, no, there isn’t six sides, there is Salt and Pepa’s carefully crafted worked on together, matching sides. And Spinderella’s, with the unforgettable name that was magically forgotten, side.
What? Her name is literally the first word spoken in “Let’s Talk About Sex,” when they say “Spinderella, cut it up one time.”
Her face was on every album cover with Salt and Pepa. They weren’t hiding her at all.
As Robert Plant and Jimmy Page said about leaving out John Paul Jones in their reunion tours and such- the money divides between 2 better than it divides between 3.
I mean, they name check Spinderella, she was in all the videos.
It was just plan, old fashioned greed.
They should own up to it.
That’s why I won’t watch. It won’t be compelling leaving her out.
I LOVED them. I won’t be supporting by watching, either. Leaving out Spinderella was dumb. And mean. Greedy asses…
F- Salt and Pepa. They’re shady AF.
This entire saga bothers me.