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In Part 4 of our series of exclusive interviews with LisaRaye McCoy-Misick, the First Lady of Turks and Caicos talks candidly with ESSENCE.com about her theory on her husband’s actions, her alleged affair with former NBA star Gary Payton and why she’s nobody’s fool.
ESSENCE.COM: Throughout this ordeal, have you ever asked your husband why things between you fell apart?
LISARAYE: Yes, I asked him pointedly, “Why?” He claims he wasn’t comfortable with talking about everything over the phone. I think that’s bullcrap paranoia. Some men are afraid of women who challenge them and demand respect and answers. That’s who I am and will always be. I made him accountable. I’m a talkative person because I like to get to know a person and I like you to get to know me. I realized that with Michael I was the only one talking. I’m thinking, Oh, he’s listening to me and he gets me, but I was a one-woman show. Again, I guess he had his own plan.
ESSENCE.COM: Some of the readers in the ESSENCE.com Community have suggested that your current drama is karma pertaining to an alleged affair you had with Gary Payton. Is that true?
LISARAYE: No. Gary, that’s my boy, so no to the rumors about us having an affair. And people don’t know what they are talking about. If anybody knew of any type of affair it would only be those two in the room, right? And I believe in karma too, but what happened between me and my husband has nothing to do with karma.
ESSENCE.COM: When was the last time you spoke to your husband and what was the nature of that conversation?
LISARAYE: Two weeks ago. He called to tell me something silly like (she speaks with a Caribbean lilt), “LisaRaye, you looked good today in church.” I still go to the same church.
ESSENCE.COM: So in some twisted way he still loves you?
LISARAYE: No, I think that call and all of this that has happened was a part of his whole plan. I realize now that he was really looking for someone to make himself look like he’d settled down because my husband was known to be a player. I don’t disagree that he loved me. I still believe he has a percent of love for me in his heart as I do for him. It’s just unfortunate that it has come to this, but I know there is a reason that all of this is happening and in divine order.
ESSENCE.COM: Are you saying that he has dated other Hollywood actresses?
LISARAYE: Yes, he’s dated young starlets early on in their careers. He wants to latch himself on to familiar faces like most rich men do. An old rich man usually has a young wife. Look at Anna Nicole [Smith]. Everyone wants to be with someone successful. I admit that I was attracted to his power, charm, his spirit; I’m not going to date anyone who doesn’t intrigue me and challenge me in some way.
ESSENCE.COM: What would you like people to know?
LISARAYE: People have no idea what I’ve been dealing with. I had no idea about the reputation that most Caribbean men have. I had a girlfriend who [warned] me when I said I was about to marry one. But I was thinking, No way. I met my Prince Charming. What all of this has taught me is that if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything. I might have been foolish on a lot of things, but I’m not foolish on the stand I’m taking now.