In a recent interview, Mimi Faust revealed she took a major pay cut of $150,000 because she didn’t have enough drama. We were first introduced to Mimi on Love & Hip Hop Atlanta’s debut in 2012 when she was going through it with her child’s father, producer Stevie J. She went through a whole season of drama with Stevie and Joseline’s cheating scandal. She then publicly went through another heartache which ended badly with a sex tape.
The last couple of seasons she has been in a much better place mentally and emotionally with her new girlfriend Ty Young and healthy co-parenting her daughter Eva with Stevie J. However, with the lack of “chaos in her life” producers required her to take a pay cut.
“I think the show has kind of switched gears a little bit. A lot actually, and I’ve elevated and grown from the BS I was in. And I’m happy and nobody wants to see the happy on Love And Hip Hop. They just don’t. Love And Hip Hop is not a happy arena. They want to see wigs flying and drinks thrown and somebody punching somebody in the face. That’s what they want to see. And unfortunately, I choose not to participate in that and I’ve had to take a major pay cut because of it. The reason was, I didn’t have enough ‘drama’ in my life. $150,000 I had to take because of it. $150,000 pay cut”, she stated.
She also rereleased that producers encouraged her to find drama in order to keep her full salary.
“Every season, we have to go back and talk to the producers and they’re like, ‘So what’s going on in your life? X, Y, and Z.’ And I think the second question I was asked was, was Ty cheating on me. [It] was the second question the producers asked in my meeting. I was like, ‘Are you serious?’ Am I supposed to be f–ked up, in a bad place, being cheated on my whole life? At what point am I allowed to grow and be happy and be okay and be good? Why do I have to consistently be cheated on every relationship that I’m in? But that’s what they want. And they were like, you either find some drama, find some drama or…you better go find some drama. I wasn’t willing to do that. I wasn’t willing to put my relationship in that place because if you bring BS to the table, you brought BS to your table. My girlfriend’s not with it. She’s not with, ‘oh let’s play and act like…,’ she’s not that girl. So that wasn’t an option for me, to act like she’s cheating on me or I’m cheating on her, for TV. We not doing that, so I took a pay cut”, she stated.
Things have noticeably changed through out the seasons of Love and Hip Hop Atlanta. Several cast members and storylines have changed but drama remains the main focal point of the show.
“Honestly, I don’t even feel like I belong on the show anymore. I feel like a total outcast and an alien because I don’t even know what’s going on. What are we fighting about?”
Amani is the Editor-In-Chief of Aman Magazine. Aside from managing the day to day operations of the magazine she is also a radio personality for Hits 92.3.
