Actress LisaRaye raised eyebrows when she admitted that she should have married for love when she wed former Turks and Caicos Premier Michael Misick in 2006.
Now LisaRaye McCoy, 52, is getting shredded by natives of the Caribbean island nation for allegedly taking too much credit for the increased profile of the tiny island paradise that suffered, brand-wise, in comparison to nearby nations like The Bahamas, U.S. Virgin Islands and others.
During the Player’s Club and “Single Ladies” star’s interview on Claudia Jordan’s podcast “Out Loud,” LisaRaye described what she thought she meant to the country.
“I became the poster child for Turks and Caicos because Turks and Caicos was a jewel of an island, an elite island, that no one knew about,” LisaRaye said, adding, “until I said, ‘hey, here we are over here! An hour away from the Bahamas! An hour and a half out of Miami! We’re right next to Haiti! It’s beautiful! The sun and the sand and the water, come see what I found over here!’ I did that and I started businesses over there.”
Turks and Caicos defenders were quick to take a swipe at LisaRaye.
https://twitter.com/Iceberg21Slim5/status/1261291755145658369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1261291755145658369&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbossip.com%2F1895840%2Fshe-said-what-she-said-angry-turks-caicos-natives-drag-lisaraye-by-her-linen-outfits-for-saying-this%2F
https://twitter.com/Glaze_Chocolate/status/1261323922986983433?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1261323922986983433&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbossip.com%2F1895840%2Fshe-said-what-she-said-angry-turks-caicos-natives-drag-lisaraye-by-her-linen-outfits-for-saying-this%2F
Undeterred, LisaRaye doubled down on what she said.
“I brought the film festival there. I built a theater there. I brought the first-ever carnival there, music festival. Calling my friends saying, ‘hey, we may not have it in the budget to pay your fee, but if I can make a vacation out of it for you because I’m the first lady of this small country, and I want to shed some light on here, can you bring your talent over here so you can entertain our people?’ ” LisaRaye told Jordan. “I still feel that is a second home for me, so I will always be the poster child for Turks and Caicos Islands because it’s beautiful and because I called it home and I do want everyone to see it and know about it because they should,” she added. “It’s right next door to us. So that’s what I said and that’s exactly, again, what I mean.”
While some detractors blasted LisaRaye, others had milder reactions:
As a Turks and Caicos Islander, Lisa Raye did help this country in many ways. Turks Islanders don’t have to bow down to her but should show gratitude
— Keith Howell (@provodawg) May 15, 2020
Flip the page to listen to LisaRaye’s thoughts in full as she speaks on Fox Soul:
