I usually love, love, love some Real Housewives of Atlanta gossip, but today’s story leaves me sad. Newbie not quite Housewife Marlo Hampton admitted on this week’s episode that she had been arrested seven times (yep – one for each day of the week!) but she brushed her arrests off as mainly probation violations, stating she is now a different person. NeNe Leakes quickly changed the subject to something that matters more to her — shoes — so we never got more insight into Marlo’s past. Until now.
Marlo has been up front about her troubled childhood growing up in foster care in Florida after her mother succumbed to drug addiction, but the fauxcialite started her foray into the criminal world early. StraightFromTheA blog is reporting exclusive details on one of Marlo’s arrests when she was in her early twenties.
Marlo was initially arrested back in 1998 in Florida and charged with Aggravated Battery w/Great Bodily Harm of which she was later convicted, serving six months in jail. See the mugshot from that arrest, which features Marlo smiling, below.
Apparently, while she was in a club Marlo got into a fight with another young woman over a man. During the altercation Marlo pulled out a razor blade (or another extremely sharp object) and repeatedly sliced open her opponent’s face!
The fight left the other woman horribly disfigured and she allegedly almost bled to death in the club while awaiting medical attention. Six-years later the woman, who was a mother, committed suicide at 33 by jumping off a bridge, thus leaving her son behind.
StraightFromTheA had originally reported on Marlo’s shady past and cited that as one of the major reasons Bravo had decided not to make her an official Housewife. In response to that discovery the family of the victim of Marlo’s attack came forward and gave their side of the story to the blogger. The family states they have no “ill feelings towards Marlo. That’s between her and God.”
“All that we ask is for her not to refer to my sister as a bitch or even mention her name, because she has passed away,” the family requests. Asking that Marlo refrain from calling the woman a “bitch” reportedly stems from alleged comments Marlo made about “cutting a bitch” or “fighting a bitch” when explaining the altercation to someone else.
“I received a call stating she had jumped to her death, she was a beautiful, strong minded young woman who leaves behind a son,” the email describes.”We will never honestly know what drove her to this decision, or what drove her to that moment of desperation, we do know that she left behind fun, loving memories.”
Of course, like with all suicides, there is no way to know what led the person to ultimately take their own life. An incredibly tragic and sad story. May she rest in peace. Screenshots of the original email from the woman’s family are below.
In response to details of her arrest coming to light, Marlo gave a statement to Access Atlanta‘s Rodney Ho about her version of the events and that time in her life. Here is Marlo’s statement in its entirety:
“I am shocked and saddened to hear of the recent distortions of events and false accusations disseminated over an altercation I was involved in over a dozen years ago. It had been my preference, out of respect for the person involved, as well as her family, to not speak about this incident publicly, but the recklessness with which the story is being manipulated has forced me to come forward.”
“I was in my early twenties, and what took place started out as an argument with someone who was once my friend, over the phone. In the first incident, I was ambushed at my house and badly beaten. Though charges were initially filed, those charges were later dropped and I filed a restraining order. As disturbing as the carrying of a weapon may seem, it was quite common in the environment in which I was raised, and not only I, but also the person involved in the altercation, had each brought weapons to protect ourselves. There was a confrontation, her knife dropped, mine did not.”
“I was arrested and convicted of aggravated battery for which I served 6 months in jail. What is so disturbing about the false reports now circulating is that it was she, my friend, who appeared in court on my behalf and fought to reduce my sentence.”
“Like many people, I was deeply saddened by her untimely death – 6 years later – and shocked at the recent attempts to connect me to it. Ultimately, it does a disservice to her and her family, to guess and draw conclusions as to her state of mind when she committed suicide.”
“Those reasons are obviously personal and painful and do not deserve to be speculated on for the purposes of entertainment or drawing readers to your site. She and her family remain in my prayers.”
My attorneys will be sending a cease and desist letter with a request for retraction shortly.”
It’s a shocking and interesting story and, as with all cases, everyone involved has their own truth. Marlo continues to remain a “recurring” character on RHOA and Bravo has not made mention of giving Marlo an increased or permanent role on the cast. My guess is that with all the legal imbroglios happening with the Giudices, the Lauritas, the Armstrongs, etc. they made the decision to distance themselves for the duration. We’ll see what happens…
Thank goodness Phaedra Parks is well armed should the need arise. You know she’s the type of woman who carries a .9mm inlaid with mother of pearl in her purse. I’m sure she keeps it wrapped in the prayer cloth and stashed right next to the holy water and taser! Can you tell I’m a Designing Women fan?
Also, thank goodness Marlo (or her assistant) spelled “cease and desist” correctly, unlike some Housewives who obviously cannot read or pronounce the phrase (ahem… Tamra Barney!).
[Photo Credit: D. Salters / WENN.com]
THOUGHTS ON THE INFORMATION PRESENTED? SHOULD MARLO REMAIN INVOLVED IN RHOA? DO YOU LIKE MARLO ON THE SHOW?
CLICK THE CONTINUE READING BUTTON TO VIEW MARLO’S MUGSHOT!
