I'm going to take a stand for my man Prince here, and say that I've heard this position of his talked about from a number of women, and I don't understand what the big freakin' deal is. I do the same thing with the boys that I train, in that I give them a choice to follow me. Choice is never an either/or thing, in that life doesn't happen that way. By doing this, he's basically saying, "Accept what I want you to do and take it on." They are free to accept, decline or renegotiate, as is the result of all choice.

Denise has not completely rejected "Vanity." It is because of her previous life as Vanity that she is featured in magazines and on TV shows. She wouldn't be in Vibe if she had not been a famous singer/actress with famous boyfriends.

I read the article last night. I'm glad that she is living for God. I don't think that she is bitter towards Prince. If she is, then at least she didn't try to run his name down in the article.

Nothing new here...

gainsbourg said:

When i read this last night, i got the same Vibe. I am sure Vanity's aware of the allegations that Friend has made against Prince. Why would she make a comment like that if they are friends, and especially right now? If this girl wins this case, there are gonna be hood rats coming out the wood work.

U know I have mad love for Denise and I do respect the fact she is doing good things...


But...


If she were truly over the situation with Prince...she would not even be interviewing with Vibe..or anyone..not even doing a book...


I'm a very spiritual person myself...and many people in my past I just understand that "they are the way they are." I can only hope and pray they find something in life to make them happy and truly serve the Higher Power...by treating folks right and living everyday to the best of their ablility..and never cease to stop dreaming...thats what life is about...

Denise should completely denounce "Vanity" and never talk about her former self again...only then will she be completely free of her past...no tv...not press...just preaching from the Bible...

DavidEye said:

Denise Matthews sought fame and fortune. She did whatever she had to do to get it. She lived the champagne and limousine life as Vanity. She was in movies, had albums, was on the cover of magazines, had fans, received VIP perks and everything that goes along with that. Then she lost it all in a haze of drugs. She hit rock bottom and found God.

Why does she deserve applause for this?

What about the people who go to school or work everyday, attend church regularly, gives to charity, never did any drugs, never had any fame for themselves or famous lovers etc.? These people don't get any applause or donations. A person who's never been on the cover of a magazine or in a video and whose only ride in a limousine was during the funeral of their parent doesn't get any applause or donations.

The bottom line is that Denise Matthews is still living off of Vanity.

Let me tell u something, yes she sought fame and fortune, that does not mean she needed to be treated that way, people in the industry prey on people with that type of mentality. Yes she should have been more smarter. N E way she went thru hell and back. Now she can help those who have similar situations not fall prey to "HOLLYWOOD" tricks.
If anyone knows the BIBLE it will clearly tell u GOD takes those who have been thru HELL to show them that if u just call on me, call my name I will show u what I could do, and that is just what she did. If that was me I would preach from here to the promiseland.


1 More thing do not think no one is above MISTAKES.

PEACE and B Wild

soul41 said:

Hello? She isn't preaching to those who have similiar situations. She's preaching to law-abiding church-going folks who've never even seen cocaine let alone snorted it. If she was really trying to help someone in similiar situations, she wouldn't be going around seeking donations and accomodations from middle class church folks.

If she was sincerely trying to help, she'd be out volunteering with a street ministry outreach trying to help the down and out women who end up on the street with drug addictions after trying to make it in Hollywood. Then, she would be helping people in similar situations to her own.

Sueme said:

Sueme said:

My thoughts exactly! We're always giving praise to celebrities who make it big,live the wild life,get hooked on drugs,lose their success,find God and become "enlightened".This is the standard rock and roll cliche that we've seen on dozens of those "Behind The Music" specials.Don't get me wrong,I am happy that Vanity was able to turn her life around and find true happiness.But,to be honest,I have more respect for people who can keep it together in the *first place*(Patti LaBelle for example) and those folks who are smart enough to learn from the examples before them (I'm not just talking about celebrities either).


...
[This message was edited Sat Jun 7 14:08:51 PDT 2003 by DavidEye]

DavidEye said:

---
I agree with you to a certain extent but, remeber Vanity claims she came from an abusive home. Therefore, she had problems before she was famous and those problems are not are fault. It would be better if she spent time minestring to people in rehabs or in the streets.

Well tell me,how do u know she is seeking donations. I am at her web site often and I know she was in the carribean Islands preaching for the whole month of May. And also how do u know she does not go to outreach centers for abused and drug addicted women. We really do not know what she does when the media is not talking about her so we cannot just simply say she is still using VANITY as a means of staying in the limelight. We all know what type of person she was, when she was going by VANITY. I mean I"ve seen the movies. I also think that her statement in VIBE (although i have not read it yet) was probably taken out of context like all comments people make about Prince ans his former women.

Anyway I am happy she found God, because no else wants u when u r down and out but God wants u all the time
u r his children when u strung out and drunk or when u sober. ALso i read an article way back maybe (2 yrs ago) where she was offered $3000 from none other that WARNER BROS for the use of the name Vanity she turned it down, Guess what WARNER BROS came to her again only to raise the price to $5000 she turned it down. So there if that was a case of wanting money there was her chance.

another thing I think from all the comments made here. you're the ones who can't seem to get over the fact that she is no longer VANITY. IF you all were over the fact tht she is not Vanity you all would call her by her name which is Denise. Just an observation from all the comments made.

I myself have been guilty of wishing her to go back to being Vanity but if that was an unhappy time for her I do not want wish that on any one not even my worst enemy. I believe had everything worked out she would have been the one married to Prince, I truly believe that was his soulmate/wife to be.

Disagree if u like but from some of the songs i heard Like
"Little Red Corvette to ("Adore "if even though that song was released back in "88") who knows how long that song stayed in the vault was written about her. including that one song on EMANCIPATION called "The LOVE WE MAKE" i mean
the title alone.

soul41 said:

Soul41 I agree with you 100% I believe Denise is Prince's soulmate. I also believe Little Red Corvette and Adore was written about Denise. Just the emotions that he put into Adore. I have never heard him sing a song with such feelings.

I grew up loving Prince and Vanity. They certainly looked made for each other on that cover of Rolling Stone, but that's just my speculation. She certainly inspired him during the most prolific time of his life.

However, I will say one thing: the imperfections of Prince's life have never really been bared like Denise's. She's no longer part of that Minneapolitan Hall of Justice - now she's just a normal and imperfect person trying to make sense of all this shit like the rest of us. Prince has always only shown us only what he wants us to see (i.e. what is the real story behind the Black Album?) and, although I love him and as painful as this is to admit, I think he has lied about and has been arrogant about a lot of things - including his sexuality (which I think partially explains why he seems to treat his women like shit).

And, yeah, I do believe that they were soulmates, but I believe in infinite possibilities. I hope they do, too.

muleFunk said:

Denise Mathews is not still bitter over Prince. You have to understand that no matter what she does in life, whenever she does an interview Prince's name will come up. Also I saw her on BET with Tavis Smiley a few years ago and she said she had about 7 movies deals in the works plus an album that was soon to be released, but she found God and told her label that she could not release album. It amazes me that people are saying she only found God because her career had reached rock bottom. If it was the illness that brought her to God, so be it. Many people only turn to the Lord after a major tragedy in their life. I truly admire her because unlike Hammer and a list of other artists i could name, she seems REAL about her walk with Christ. She's not saying "God" one minute and then saying "booty" the next.

Deacon: I agree 200% Her walk with CHRIST is very GENUINE.
Thanks for posting.

Asfar as the comments about her only dealing with church-going people with no cocaine habits, how does anyone know what she does in her ministry? Let's "know" the facts before we make comments, people. You know what they say about people who "ASSUME".

sen2pen said:

- U didnt understand it. Christian people use to pray for people for them to get better. She doesn´t pray for the destruction of someone else. She prays that this person gets better.

DavidEye said:

- Well...the ´wild life´ is usually part of being young. People that become stars very young usually dont have the wisdom and maturity to deal with it, and become fascinated with all money, easy sex, cars and etc. They usually feel like they can do everything and they will never die. After some time, they see that it may give them some good moments, but it doesn´t fill their spirits. They get tired of it, and most people that have been through fame and fortune usually can say it doesn´t make somebody happy. So, they try to fill this need usually on religions or therapy. The Christianism uses the concept of ´born again´, so the person that honestly accepts Christ as Saviour usually looks to his/her ´previous life´ as if it was another one. That´s why it happens.

It really amazes me how people interpret a statement. Please tell me how u came to the conclusion that she was praying for the demise of Prince.

intha916 said:

oh give me a break... Mase was on his way up...I will never question a person's relationship with God. Denise loves the Lord and we don't know what jacked up relationship she had with Prince.

intha916 said:

"Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth."

Matt 5:5



Some come at their height (which is but dust). Some must be broken to come. Let it be that they all come.

BlaqueKnight said:

I hear what you're saying BlaqueKnight and agree. However, she did not lose her liver, she had to have a kidney transplant. As for the others who think she almost died BEFORE she 'got religion,' that is actually not the case. She had found her way to Christ before her health issues (related to her drug abuse) became critical. She has said that if she had not been saved before the health crises, she would not have survived. This is part of what she spoke about when I saw her preach at a church near where I live.

intha916 said:

Sorry, i know this is late and i never post, but id like to point out one particular band that did just that...Aerosmith.
And now Jaymz Hetfield (only we've yet to see if they can retain their legend with the new bassist).