The film 12 Years a Slave stars a group of talented actors and actresses, and though Power's Naturi Naughton wasn't one of them, she has had a starring role in another drama, "7 years a shade," with rapper Lil' Kim, who just can't seem to let go of her ill feelings toward the actress, and publicly shaded her at the recent VH1 Hip Hop Honors.
Naughton, who many know for her current role as Tasha on the STARZ original series Power, is far from being mums the word when it comes to the ongoing tension between she and Brooklyn rapper Lil' Kim. During a recent VH1 Live visit to promote the Courtney A. Kemp-created hit series, Naughton revealed to host Marc Lamont Hill and viewers that "the shade is real" with Lil' Kim; she just doesn't understand it and it's not coming from her end.
Earlier this month the network honored a few iconic women of rap with their All Hail The Queens special and the lone female Junior M.A.F.I.A. member was among the honorees recognized that evening. Also in attendance were Power cast members, and a host of other music and entertainment industry professionals who not only attended the event, but the after parties as well where, according to Hill and VH1, Lil' Kim had nothing nice to say about Naughton.
"I don't want to be near Naturi. I don't want her around. I don't want to be in her space," is reportedly what the "No Matter What They Say" rapper stated while attending the VH1 after party.
With that much animosity towards Naughton one could speculate that whatever happened between these two, happened recently right? Not so.
According to Hit Fix, the bitter behavior that the La Bella Mafia rapper displayed at the after party stems from 2009 where Naughton took on her first role in a major motion picture, portraying none other than Lil' Kim in Notorious, a film documenting the life of the the late rapper Christopher Wallace (The Notorious B.I.G,/Biggie.)
The film was developed by Wallace's widow, R&B singer Faith Evans and his mother Voletta Wallace, who, according to the site, was also on the receiving end of Kim's disapproval on how and by whom she was portrayed in the film.
Kim reportedly believed Naughton was not the best fit for the role and, after reviewing her audition reel, felt she was the worst out of all who auditioned. The site also reported how the Bad Boy Entertainment rapper felt slighted when Naughton, formerly of the R&B girl group 3LW, failed to reach out to her when preparing for the role, though; Naughton said she did reach out but to no avail.
At this point, with the celebration and unity of women in music portrayed at the VH1 All Hail The Queens special, and the recent truce between the rapper and Evans -- who've shared a longstanding beef as the mistress and wife of the late Wallace -- wouldn't it be better to just hug it out and move forward? As Naughton stated, "all love, all positivity and moving on... to all the great things in ... life."
