Source: Maury Phillips/Getty Images; WENN/Avalon / Getty and WENN
There’s no place for petty when it comes to doing charitable work, but Melyssa Ford claims she dealt with a serious dose of it launched her way by none other than Kim Kardashian some years ago.
Ford talked about this with mentor/guest Rev. Marcia Dyson, wife of Michael Eric Dyson, and the co-hosts of Ford’s weekly podcast I’m Here for the Food. Ford and Dyson took part with an organization called Sow a Seed who, every Christmas, was creating a “fantasy land” for kids in orphanages. The women traveled to Haiti a year and a half after the big earthquake in 2010 to take part and to just help with relief efforts overall.
Kardashian and mom Kris Jenner were on that trip, along with a number of other famous people, including Sean Penn and Oprah Winfrey. Ford says this was after Kardashian walked away from her very short marriage to NBA star Kris Humphries. “She had been getting a lot of bad press because of it, so suddenly, she and Kris Jenner were on this humanitarian mission to Haiti,” she said.
Ford admits she was skeptical of Kardashian’s intentions at the time. She wasn’t sure she was there to really help, but Dyson told her to give the star a chance. Ford focused on the work she was there to do, which included bringing a ton of condoms to help people practice safe sex at a time when HIV/AIDS was a major issue and treatment was impacted because of the earthquake. What she didn’t know then was that behind the scenes, Kardashian had an issue with her being there. The message was sent through mama Jenner, according to Dyson.
“Kris Jenner rolls up on me like, ‘Marcia,’ and I’m like, hey! I get a chance to talk to Kris Jenner! ‘I have a problem.’ I’m thinking, what problem could you have? The accommodations are beautiful. The water we have is clean. She says, ‘Well, Kim is feeling uncomfortable with [points to Ford]’ because of something that was said on social media at the time, and Kim wants to go home if my girl doesn’t leave. That’s not happening. Melyssa is my daughter and we were in a mentoring relationship at the time, suturing this deep relationship. I said, ‘I can’t stop Kim from going home. I think this would be a good experience for her if she is indeed wanting to find something purposeful to do in life like the other women.’ It made me have this decision, do I split my baby up?”
The end result was that the women were just kept apart and didn’t partake in the same activities. Dyson would not allow Ford to go home, or to be placed at a different hotel.
“I had to create a special itinerary just for me and Melyssa in order for [Kardashian] to feel comfortable and to stay,” Dyson said. “And then, because when you’re trying to get press for a particular crisis in the world, Kim and Kris were the headlines, and I knew being a public relations and marketing person, I could not cut that either. But it did cut my heart.”
Ford says though that she never said anything on social media about Kardashian, and that to this day, she’s still taken aback that the star took issue with her when they were in Haiti to do good for others.
“It was a f–king lie. There was nothing on social media,” she said. “I didn’t bother with the girl. I didn’t have anything to do with her. One thing anybody, you can go back in all my social media, I do not talk about people. I do not. I do not start beef with people. It was beyond petty. You’re worried about your girl meanwhile there’s six orphanages of children here and we’re designing a fantasy land for them to experience one day of joy. You’re worried about her being uncomfortable with me?”
Ford and a group of other women who were fond of the former video star were left out of a visit to meet then President Michel Martilly so that, obviously for PR and press purposes, Kardashian and Jenner could be there front and center. Thankfully though, that didn’t stop Ford and the other women, including Dyson, from doing great work while they were in Haiti, including traveling together to more “indigenous” locales to showcase their altruism. But for the record, Ford says the discomfort Kardashian felt was based on the fact that they used to date the same guy. Per the clues dropped, it certainly sounds like she’s referring to Reggie Bush.
“Let me tell you what the real problem was. She was upset that we dated the same guy. And listen, what’s ridiculous is I dumped him and they dated way later!” she said. “I was just like, really? Is this really about him? He is nothing to write home about, and we don’t even need to talk about who he is because he is now married and what not so it doesn’t even matter. But I’m just like, that’s what the issue really is. It’s really insecurity, but I’m not worried about you! I’m here for the kids. I’m here because my mamma introduced me to these fabulous people and this is a like-minded project that we all are invested in! You’re here for some shady a– reasons.”
Nevertheless, Kardashian is now a big champion of prison reform, and the hope is that she is no longer operating from such a childish space. All of the women on the podcast gave her respect for that, particularly Ford.
“I don’t want to leave off on a sour note because I am really pleased with the transition that Kim has made over the course of time.”
Still, everyone agreed she behaved a petty mess in Haiti. We are all allowed to grow though…
