Response  to the media about 'rifts' between family and friends (2004)

We have received several calls and inquires today from the media requesting that I respond to yet another rumor based on hearsay information... a supposed 'rift' between me, my family, and the Nation of Islam. Let me state for the record, this is not true. There is no 'rift.'

My 39 years in the entertainment industry has afforded me the ability and experience to make my own decisions. I am not being dictated to, and I talk to whomever I want to talk to.

If my friends love me as much as they've indicated, then they'd do me a great favor by not being so eager to air their personal concerns about me in the media, which will avoid causing me further embarrassment.