John F. Kennedy Jr. and Caroline Bessette Kennedy’s “Love Story” isn’t the only thing having a ’90s revival. The group of girls are occupying musical chairs and they are not playing games.
En Vogue is preparing to tour with Salt-N-Pepa and TLC for their “It’s Iconic” Tour, and it’s bringing out old and new dirt.
Original En Vogue members Cindy Heron, Terri Ellis and Maxine Jones, who recently rejoined the group, performed at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November, leaving out longtime member Rhona Bennett, who later left the group.
To add insult to injury, we hear the group did not contact Bennett before or after the high-profile diss.
Despite being part of the group for more than two decades, a source familiar with the situation described the women’s relationship with Bennett as more professional than brotherly. “They were cordial, but in reality they would come to work and then go home or to their respective places,” the source said.
We are told that in later years, they communicated through counselling.
Sources paint a picture of En Vogue as Ellis and Heron versus whoever they let in.
Former original En Vogue member, Dawn Robinson, has now come out in defense of Bennett, saying she can relate to being scorned by the group.
“They’re crooks and they say who can stay and who can’t stay,” Robinson said in a video posted to his YouTube channel on Monday.
He said, “They discard people like handwipes…En Vogue can’t hire a member to save its life.”
Bennett has also been defending herself.
The current cast member recently sat down with People magazine, in which Ellis claimed it was Bennett’s choice to step away, saying, “She could have been here. She decided not to stay.”
Ellis also claimed that they learned about her leaving the group from social media. “The next thing we know, we hear on social media that she’s gone, she’s gone,” Ellis said.
Bennett took to his keyboard to address “inaccuracies” regarding the manner in which he left the group, suggesting that his lawyers walked away from contract negotiations.
“This statement is misleading and does not reflect what actually happened,” he said on social media. “My lawyer received a formal notice from his lawyer that the contract he was offering was withdrawn on November 11.”
Bennett also said that she was not informed in advance about the RHOF performance. “The suggestion that I declined participation because of prior engagements is not correct,” he said.
Bennett further explained, “My departure was not the result of a disagreement over any specific performance.” “For several months, our legal teams engaged in contract negotiations. Ultimately, the terms presented were not consistent with my values or the level of mutual respect in the relationship,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, Robinson also called for Jones to return to the group last November.
“He clearly likes the abuse,” Robinson said in his video.
Robinson recalled when the group sued Jones for unauthorized use of the En Vogue name in 2012, saying, “I remember several years ago when Maxine got sued by Cindy and Terry. She said she would never work with those skanks again. Those were her words, so now it’s funny to see how she’s back to working with those skanks again,” she said.
Our insider told us they want nothing more than for the women to come together and have a public healing moment, but something tells us they’ll never get it.
In Robinson’s case, “I will never go back to this,” she said.
His message to Bennett was to not let the group’s “evil, treacherous, unspeakable behavior diminish your love and faith in the people.”
Reps for En Vogue and Bennett did not reach out to us.
