THE FACTS
In a new interview, Roxanne Shante apologizes for lying to fans about receiving a Ph.D. and reveals she’s fighting breast cancer.

THE SPIN
Since being outed for lying about receiving a Ph.D. and having her record label foot the bill, Roxanne Shante hasn’t been many hip-hop heads’ favorite person lately. But you want to know one good way to get people to feel sorry for you a little bit? Bring up cancer. How can you be mean to someone suffering from cancer?

This week Roxanne Shante revealed to AOL Black Voices that she found a lump in her breast back in March and she’s currently fighting cancer.

And oh yes, she’s sorry about lying telling BV:

Do I apologize? Yes, I do. But I am not asking for your forgiveness. I am sorry about a lot of things that I should’ve done differently. There were quite a few things that have been exposed with that article; the fact that I never received any royalties, the fact that I did go on to attend college (even if no Ph.D. was acquired), and the fact that at 14 years old and coming straight from the group home, I went on to create a career that even after 20 years of not making a hit record, was still pulling headlines.

My platform was only telling our young people to educate themselves before getting in this industry, and that your lawyer, accountant, manager and record company shouldn’t all be under one roof or work together. No one ever told me that, so I felt the need to pass that along to our young people.

And now I have another testimony.

To be called Dr. Roxanne Shante was and is a privilege. But with that privilege comes pressure. I also had to live and talk like someone with a doctorate–not an easy task at all. I had to make sure that people felt healed and inspired after speaking with me.

And you know what? I accomplished that every time. But only with God’s help.

So, yes, I apologize to all those who applied themselves and put in all the hard work that is required to acquire a Ph.D. I admire you all. But don’t discredit all the hard work and sacrifices so many others have also done to also reach their goals.

I apologize again but I don’t request your forgiveness, because I have already been forgiven by who matters: God. Sorry I can’t hold my head down because my crown may fall off.

Although the cynic in me thinks it’s convenient timing, I do think Roxanne is genuinely sorry for lying and maybe now she’s realizes the things that really matter in life. That and I don’t want to burn up for talking about a cancer victim.

That said, congrats to Roxanne for fessing up and best of luck to her in beating cancer.

Source

YOUR SPIN: Do you feel bad for Roxanne?  Tell us here.

Image courtesy of vibe.com

(*The views contained herein are solely the views of their respective authors, and do not express the views of TV One. TV One does not take responsibility for their content.)