‘I Was Put In a Place Where It Was Designed to Drive You Crazy’: Remy Ma Opens Up About How Her Husband Papoose Dedicated His Life to Her While She Was Behind Bars
On Sunday’s episode of “Uncensored,” Remy Ma will be revisiting one of the toughest moments of her life: going to prison.
In one clip of the TV One series, Remy talked about the situation more in-depth. She started by discussing how she felt and what she was thinking while going through that difficult time.
“I was more mad for not knowing more, letting myself be around people who would even put me in that situation. So for a long period I was mad. I was mad at God. I was like, ‘Why would you do this?’ People say, ‘God knows your heart.’ ‘You [God] know my heart, why are you doing this to me? And why are you doing this to me for so long?’”
She went on to explain that it wasn’t until her fourth or fifth year in prison that she realized her purpose for being there. It was to be “able to help other people.” From having their husbands leave them, to having friends forget about them, Remy had sympathy for her prison mates. She said, “I went through my own stuff but there were so many people that were way worse than me.”
She went on to say that “A lot of my friends, the people that I call my friends now are people that I met there” and that some of those friends “risked their freedom” for her. She declares that those friendships that developed in prison were “not because I was Remy Ma.”
What touches so many people’s hearts about Papoose and Remy Ma’s relationship is how he waited until she got out of prison to be with her. The two initially said “I do” to each other in 2008 over the phone while Remy was incarcerated. In 2015, they were able to have an official ceremony which aired on “Love and Hip Hop” and in 2020. In 2018, they celebrated 10 years of marriage by renewing their vows.
But what about the friends and loved ones she had on the outside? According to the “Love & Hip Hop” star, the only person that held her down while she was incarcerated was her husband Papoose. In another clip of her interview for “Uncensored” she said, “For whatever reason, people took the opportunity to try to kick me when I was down. And the only person that 150 percent dedicated their life to me and to making sure that I was OK, not just physically but mentally — like I was put in a place where it’s designed to drive you crazy within 90 days — was my husband.” She continued, “He used to tell me, ‘Don’t listen to them. They don’t know what they talking about, you gon’ be all right, you gon’ be good.’ And it was times where I wasn’t too sure about that.”
Remy, born Reminisce Smith, was sent to prison for shooting an acquaintance, Makeda Barnes-Joseph. Remy claims the 2007 incident happened because when she discovered Joseph stole $3,000 from her purse. Remy said she asked Joseph to hold the purse while she went to the bathroom but came back to find the money missing.
Authorities say Remy caught up to Barnes-Joseph with a gun in hand and entered her car, demanding she empty her purse before shooting the woman in the abdomen twice. Remy would later claim, variously, that the shooting was an accident and that she did not shoot Barnes-Joseph at all. However, prosecutors claimed Remy sped away in her car and did not call an ambulance. At trial in 2008 she was convicted and was initially supposed to serve eight years in prison for intentional assault, but the sentence was cut down to six.
Last month Remy Ma made a guest appearance on “The Wendy Williams Show” disputing claims that Barnes-Joseph was ever her friend and said she barely knew her. She said, “Did not know this girl, wasn’t my best friend. All of these things that were said over these years were not true, but once you’re in prison, no one cares. And once you come home — I’m not gonna spend the rest of my life trying to prove to people I didn’t know this person.”