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On Saturday, Kim Porter was laid to rest in her hometown of Columbus, Georgia. Days later though, more and more is coming out about the heartwarming speeches given during the funeral service, including from Diddy, her son Quincy Brown, and now, Mary J. Blige. In an audio clip from the funeral obtained by The Blast, the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul opened up about how protective Porter was of her friends and family. She mentioned a time when, before Blige was set to marry Kendu Isaacs, Porter quizzed her about whether or not she was sure about him. Blige said thinking back on the questions now, she realizes she could have avoided a lot of heartbreak and pain had she taken heed to what Porter was asking and saying to her:
In 2003, my brother invited me to a boat ride [laughs], yacht ride. I’d never been on one before. It was the year I got married and he said, “This is going to be your honeymoon.” It was a honeymoon because every day I got to see him and Kim be romantic. And the most beautiful part, I got to know her, and that’s when she became my friend. She was protective over me. She asked me was I ready. She was like a mom: “Are you ready for this?” She made me question myself a lot. I think about those questions now she asked me now that I’m in the situation I’m in. Kim was always a protector, she protected me. And every time I saw her, I just felt like I was seeing my grandmother or somebody. It was just that much love and beauty. So I just want to say, what an angel. She protected us, she’s still protecting us. I love you Kim Porter, so much. This is why I’m standing up here, because I don’t do all of this speaking very well. But I’m here because… [cries] I just saw you two weeks ago. I was just dancing with you. I can’t even believe this is happening. I love you. Thank y’all.
Blige would go on to wed Isaacs at the end of that year, on December 7, 2003. In July of 2016, she filed for divorce, they battled over her money for a long time, and ultimately, the divorce was finalized in June of this year. When speaking on their contentious split and how she was doing after the fact, Blige told Variety in 2017 that she realized Isaacs had been a “con artist” all along.
“I’m doing OK. I’m living. I’m not happy about a lot of things. I thought someone loved me, right? Turns out, he was a con artist and he didn’t, and now he’s coming after me for all my money,” she said. “When you come out of something like that, you realize you were never the one. There was someone else that was his queen. I got played. I got suckered. I have to keep smiling and keep my spirits up because this is designed to kill me.”
Check out Blige’s tribute to Porter, below:
