‘I Don’t Like the N—ga to This Day’: Tyrese Drops Bombshell on His Shocking Feud with Ving Rhames Since ‘Baby Boy’
Actor Tyrese Gibson recently opened up regarding his lingering feelings about Ving Rhames, stemming from their roles in the 2001 John Singleton film “Baby Boy.” According to Tyrese, what fans see onscreen mirrored real-life tensions and there is real beef between the two stars.
In an exclusive interview with the podcast “Million Dollaz Worth of Game,” Gibson revealed how deeply the character dynamics of Jody (Tyrese Gibson), Mel (Ving Rhames) and his on-set mother Juanita (A.J. Johnson), hit home. He said to play the role, he was able to immediately draw from his upbringing in the Watts district of Los Angeles and the relationships his real-life mother had with men when he was young.
Tyrese (left) reveals his tensions and longstanding animus against Ving Rhames (right) since their roles in “Baby Boy” together. (Photos: @tyrese/Instagram, Randy Shropshire/Getty Images for Play Golf Designs Inc.)
The film’s portrayal of Rhames’ character, Mel, as a figure entering his home and assuming a fatherly role struck a chord with Gibson. This dynamic was so deeply personal and challenging for him on set that he still feels those unresolved feelings in 2024, over 20 years after the movie hit theaters.
Wallo, one of the podcast hosts, related his own childhood experience with a mother’s boyfriend who tried to bully him to the movie.
“I wasn’t feeling him,” Wallo said, referencing one of his mother’s partners.
“Your mom might talk to certain dudes and you might feel one or two … and if he ain’t around no more, you ain’t feeling nobody else,” he explained further. “’Cause y’all might have that connection like a father or son connection even though he ain’t your dad.”
Tyrese interjected, saying the boyfriend’s actions were “disrespectful.”
Wallo continued, saying that he thought to say to the guy, “Bro, you ain’t running this joint. This my mom joint.”
Gibson said he could relate and explain how this impacted how he executed his role.
He reflected on how the role blurred his real-life experience with the script.
“I was not acting in ‘Baby Boy.’ Ving Rhames definitely triggered the s—t out of me.” Gibson said, before adding, “I don’t like the n—ga to this day. I swear to God, y’all think I’m playing.”
He further broke down the venom he still has for Rhames and said, “I run into that to this day, bro, I don’t give a f—k where we at, what clothes we got on, what we doing, what event. … It could be the Golden Globes, I see that n—ga across the room, I’ll be like, ‘Man, f—k that n—ga right there.’”
The Neighborhood Talk posted a clip from the interview on its Instagram and many of their followers chimed in on the 20-year misplaced grudge.
Some sympathize with Gibson’s ongoing trauma, while others believe the actor is still deeply affected by his role.
“Traumatized that man,” wrote one fan, while another noted, “So he’s def Jody in real life smh.”
“All of these actors in this movie all day the same thing,” one fan wrote. “They were so deep in it they weren’t even acting anymore. They became those characters and Jody felt that headlock.”
Some viewers weighed in on the authenticity of Rhames’ performance, with comments like, “I knew that choke hold was real,” and others reflecting on the epic fight that the two had on-screen, “Period Tyrese ! When he licked yo head I WAS PISSED FOR U.”
Even the way he responded to Rhames’ character choking him, with his new admission that he was not really acting but reliving his real life, had fans reassessing the film, writing, “So was he really calling for his mama. that was the first thing out his mouth when dude choked him.”
Some noted that because the scene still triggers Tyrese, “That means Ving played his role VERY WELL,” as one commenter said.
Another said knowing that Tyrese is still traumatized by filming the fight between him and Rhames “makes the scene a whole lot funnier.”
Conversely, Rhames viewed his role from a different angle.
In an interview with ScreenSlam, Rhames discussed his character’s role as a figure who attempts to set a positive example.
“I said, ‘You know what this is a character I think kids can learn something from,’” he said. “Or gang-bangers can learn something from. He’s a guy who’s, as we say, an ex-OG. OG means original gangster, and he is really trying to reform his life.”
He said that his character was also “trying to set an example for Tyrese’s character named Jody.” The role was, hopefully, trying to stir Jody from “some of the pitfalls that can happen.”
Despite Rhames’ intentions, it seems the intense emotions Gibson experienced on set have endured.
Along the same lines, one person said, “Now how the hell Jody get a interview. Where is Tyrese?”
Tyrese has made headlines over the past year over for taking to social media expressing his emotions for the world to see. Many of those outbursts are connected to his very public custody battles with his ex-wives and what he considers outlandish child support payments.
However, he is popping out now, because he has a new film, “1992,” that premieres in theaters on Aug. 30.