SWV x XSCAPE Starts Off with an Explosive Fight: The Scott Sisters' Feud, Explained
In the premiere episode SWV & XSCAPE: The Queens of R&B, Tamika Scott and LaTocha Scott-Bivens butt heads. What led to the tension between the two sisters?
Tamika Scott and LaTocha Scott-Bivens are both members of XSCAPE, the iconic '90s girl group featured in the Bravo limited series SWV & XSCAPE: The Queens of R&B. But as we see in the premiere episode, things are ... strained between the two sisters. Why are they fighting? Well, to put it mildly, it’s complicated.
“We have a lot of internal issues that we have to deal with,” LaTocha said early in the premiere, and that’s an understatement.
Dressing Room Issue Sparks LaTocha and Tamika's Fight
We soon learn the fight between sisters dates back to XSCAPE's performance in the Lovers & Friends Festival in Las Vegas in May 2022. Tamika and Kandi Burruss got locked out of their dressing room during the festival, and LaTocha later left, according to the ladies.
In a gathering at her mother’s home to air out her grievances with her sister, Tamika references her frustration that her sister left, saying, “I felt some kind of way because if I’m paying you to do a job, you leave before the job is done, and you need to be reprimanded or whatever.”
Tamika explained she was upset her sister didn’t check on her when she was locked out of her dressing room, adding, “I would have made sure she was good. I didn’t get that.”
Body Shaming Accusation Is Made
But there’s another layer to the conflict, also stemming from the festival, when it’s revealed that LaTocha feels as though Tamika body-shamed her in a group text.
“Everyone who left without making sure we were good can kiss my ass,” Tamika said she texted her.
LaTocha then texted back to the group, “Kiss my ass? You know what you saying when you tell a person to keep walking.”
Apparently, Tamika responded, “If you had an ass to kiss,” which was the insult that wounded LaTocha.
The argument over body shaming comes back up later in the premiere, as the Scott sisters’ mother, Gloria, gets the two together at her house to hash out their problems.
“When it comes down to sisterhood, I’m your sister, you don’t body shame people,” LaTocha said, while Tamika argues what she texted was just a figure of speech.
But it’s clearly a tough subject for LaTocha, who shares in her confessional she's had her body image struggles over the years.
“It has not been easy for me in the industry,” LaTocha said. “I’ve always been known as the big girl. There was a particular time that we performed in Boca Raton, I’ll never forget, and I sang my face off. The manager came, and she was like, ‘The big girl, she sounded really good.’ The compliment went out the window.”
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XSCAPE Outfit Coordination Sparks Speculation
Fans have been noticing tension between the two in recent months, especially after XSCAPE received the Lady of Soul award in November, one of the highest honors at the 2022 Soul Train Awards.
LaTocha posted a video on her Instagram of the ladies in their gowns on the red carpet — but she was not part of their coordinated outfits, instead wearing a green gown.
“Sorry I didn’t get the memo, but everyone still looked amazing,” she captioned the post.
Tiny, Kandi, and Tamika explained their side in a radio interview, noting it was a miscommunication that overshadowed a major honor for XSCAPE.
“We didn’t realize that it was going to blow up to be as big of a deal as it was,” Kandi said on the radio. “I think more than anything we just hate that the whole dress situation kinda overshadowed the fact that we were getting the award. It was more talk about the dress than the award itself and that was like a lifetime achievement for us.”
LaTocha later released a statement in an Instagram story saying she had her own stylist separate from the group.
Around this same time, it was revealed XSCAPE was going on tour — without LaTocha — during the ongoing fighting from the Scott sisters.
LaTocha has also shared she is working on a solo gospel album called Stay With Me that will be released on March 3, according to an Instagram post on her page.
You can see more about how Xscape moves forward as a group when SWV & XSCAPE: The Queens of R&B premieres on March 5.
