His tempestuous relationship with a castmate, Brigitte Nielsen, an ex of Sylvester Stallone, made him and the series stand out. The first day of filming, Flav showed up in Viking horns.
“We knew he’d be perfect for television.” “He was ricocheting off the walls, saying his name 700 times,” Mr. Flav met with the producers and made an instant impression. Mark Cronin and Cris Abrego, creators of the VH1 series “The Surreal Life,” which brought together has-beens from various fields, were casting their third season. Upon release, eager for a new beginning, he moved to Los Angeles. He spent the 1990’s in and out of rehab, and in 2002 he spent a few months on Rikers Island for failing to pay traffic fines. The group quickly became known for hits like “Fight the Power,” used on the soundtrack of Spike Lee’s “Do The Right Thing,” and for politically conscious albums like “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back” and “Fear of a Black Planet.”Īt the group’s height of fame, Flav began using drugs. Dressed for dinner in baggy jeans, a red rayon shirt, matching patent leather sneakers and a baseball cap, he was all jittery movements and smiles, doling out hugs, handshakes and autographs to anyone who approached.įlavor Flav joined Public Enemy while in college and became its mascot. I get power from the negative.”Īlthough not conventionally attractive (he bears more than a passing resemblance to a California Raisin character), off camera, Flav appears to be a warmhearted man, one who is possessed with a manic energy that makes him mesmerizing to watch. “Right now anybody that has negative things to say to Flavor Flav, it’s O.K.,” he said, “because that’s not going to stop me from being Flav. “Just another reality freak show.”įlav, 47, did not seem ruffled by criticism. He added that black viewers can be overly sensitive about how blacks are portrayed on television: “Black people tend to think that every image that is projected in the media is somehow a judgment on their reality.
“If he didn’t have gold fronts and didn’t wear a clock and if looked like Jamie Foxx, there wouldn’t be as much controversy,” he contended. Nelson George, the cultural critic and author of “Hip Hop America,” said one reason the show has struck such a nerve has less to do with stereotypes and more to do with the fact that Flavor Flav is not exactly a sex symbol. In an interview on a sports blog,, Jason Whitlock, a sports columnist for The Kansas City Star, said, “It’s about time we as black people quit letting Flavor Flav and the rest of these clowns bojangle for dollars.” “In a day and age when it’s still really hard for people of color to find reasonable representations on television,” she said, “that show is a huge smack in the face and a step backwards.” Late last week, during a heated dinner argument with friends about the series, she pronounced it “absolutely hideous,” and proceeded to denounce Flav and his paramours. Nicole Young, a fashion designer in Manhattan who is black, said the defecation scene in this season’s premiere turned her off the show for good. “I would also say I’m not in the position to make that judgment.” But, he pointed out, “the show is disproportionately popular among black viewers, and the comedy is very inclusive.” Hirschorn, who is white, said he didn’t think so. “Instead of covering that part of the show up, we decided to make it integral.”Īsked whether the show was exploiting racial stereotypes, Mr. “The accidental appeal of the show was the play between ‘Are these women for real or not? Are these women there for him or are they there because any fame is completely intoxicating?’ ” he said. To Michael Hirschorn, the executive vice president for original programming at VH1, the reasons millions of viewers tune in every Sunday night are clear.
This season’s premiere began with two women brawling over a bed and ended with one contestant defecating on the floor as she raced to the bathroom after a meal that didn’t agree with her. Occasionally, the women even trade blows.