You’re not being fooled by the Mandela Effect. When you first met Mercedeh Javid on Shahs of Sunset, she definitely went by Mercedes. With the premiere of The Valley: Persian Style, she’s chosen to embrace another version of her name, and she just opened up about what inspired the subtle but profound switch.
Mercedeh AKA MJ AKA Mercedes loves her “pretty name”
Although Mercedeh and Mercedes are just one letter apart, it has a big difference in both pronunciation and meaning. Mercedeh opened up about the change in an interview with Decider.
“I’m going by what’s on my birth certificate, which is the Persian pronunciation,” Mercedeh explained.
When filming The Valley, she said producers asked her what name she’d like to go by. That’s when she decided to switch things up and use her birth name.
She explained, “The producers ask you like, ‘Are you MJ or you Mercedes?’ And I’m like, ‘Let’s go with Mercedeh.’”
“It’s always great to have multiple nicknames, and I do, and you can call me MJ all day long,” she added. “ But Mercedeh is just such a pretty name, and even if people butcher it all day long.”
For Mercedeh, the change is all about embracing her “Persian pride.” During a separate sitdown on the Mention It All podcast, she explained how having her son, Shams, helped her see the world through a new perspective. She wants him to feel proud of his roots, so she’s setting an example.
“Sometimes you just make things easier for everybody else,” she explained. “But it’s so important to pay the proper homage and ask people to spend an extra second pronouncing my name.”
The Valley: Persian Style airs on Thursdays at 9/8c on Bravo. You can stream it the following day on Peacock.
TELL US – ARE YOU PROUD TO SEE MJ EMBRACE MERCEDEH? ARE YOU ENJOYING SEEING HER BACK ON BRAVO?
