On the Season 3 premiere of “Brat Loves Judy,” the reality series starring Da Brat and her partner, Jesseca “Judy” Harris-Dupart, the legendary rapper is experiencing what she describes as “the worst pain she’s ever experienced.”
If that didn’t drive the point home enough, Brat (aka Shawntae Harris-Dupart) elaborates in her confessional that even as someone who’s been shot at and grazed with a bullet, burned themselves, and had their trademark braids snatched, nothing quite matches the intensity of that previous scene.
In its annual “Where We Are on TV” report — which assesses and analyzes the number of LGBTQ+ regular and recurring characters on scripted series on all the various platforms — GLAAD found that while representation is down collectively, there has been more queer representation among nonwhite characters.
Years earlier, Da Brat had already successfully transitioned from rapper to radio and TV personality as part of the syndicated “Rickey Smiley Morning Show,” a co-host of Fox’s syndicated “Dish Nation,” and an executive producer and eventual cast member of the reality show “Growing Up Hip Hop: Atlanta.”
In 2019, Brat declared bankruptcy, citing more than $7 million in debt, the bulk of it owed to former cheerleader Shayla Stevens, who won a judgment against Brat after Brat hit her with a bottle in a nightclub in October 2007. Brat was adamant on the show and elsewhere that she did not want her partner to pay for her past mistakes. Judy was just as adamant that she didn’t care, presumably because, as we’d seen on their show, Brat had changed her ways.
The road to reconciliation between the two sisters, as well as Brat and Judy’s February 2022 wedding, carried much of the second season of “Brat Loves Judy” and teased where we’d find the couple for the upcoming third: on the precipice of having a child together.
When we see Brat screaming in pain in that sneak peek of Season 3, she was undergoing part of a procedure to get her pregnant. The procedure was successful, but she soon miscarried. She and Judy decided to try again, and now, at 48, Da Brat finds herself married, pregnant and ready to begin a new chapter in her life, one that she has acknowledged she wasn’t sure she would be able to enjoy.
There will be more conflict — involving Judy’s son from a previous relationship — and more scares, such as Judy being told she has blood clots in her lungs. Even so, I imagine the season will end on a positive note, as previous seasons have. These two are so committed to each other, and you want to root for them.
This content was originally published here.
