Actress and television host LisaRaye Mccoy is known for many things. The Chicago native has iconic roles in films like Players Club and The Wood. She is also the co-host of Fox Soul’s Cocktails with Queens. During a recent episode of the series, LisaRaye had to defend herself from naysayers who dismissed her contributions to the island of Turks & Caicos while she served as their first lady. Mccoy made sure to highlight exactly what she did and defend her claims.
LisaRaye Mccoy was married to Michael Misick in April of 2006. Misick was elected the Premier of Turks and Caicos Islands, a position formerly known as the Chief Minister. Due to his role on the island, Mccoy was dubbed the First Lady of Turks and Caicos, a mantle she held for two years till the couple divorced in 2008. A year later, Misick resigned from his position and an investigation began after “clear signs of corruption” were noted. Misick was accused of selling off public assets to fund his personal endeavors and fled the country, only to be apprehended in Brazil in 2009.
While her time as the first lady was short-lived, McCoy has talked in great lengths over the years about how she was able to bring visibility to the island and that many did not know about it before her becoming first lady. These claims were mocked by fans who accused her of taking credit for discovering the island and called her LisaRaye Christopher Columbus. one said, “Lmaoo Lisa Raye is so obsessed with Turks and Caicos. Sweetie we know we were the most interesting thing that ever happened to you and nothing else in your life will EVER compare but girl…. You were just a breeze.”
Another followed this up with “Send LisaRaye back where she came from. Diamond didn’t put Turks & Caicos on the map. You still mad Duane took ya husband.” This was a reference to Duane Martin, her All Of US co-star. She claims that introducing her husband Misick to Martin was a turning point in her marriage because Martin began introducing him to other women and traveling with her husband while she stayed home on the island. Mccoy and Martin are no longer friends.
Cocktails with Queens co-host Claudia Jordan also got some heat for trying to defend LisaRaye and her contributions to Tucks. Mccoy was not about to back down, however, and doubled down on her claims. “I became the poster child for Turks and Caicos because Turks and Caicos was a jewel of an island, an elite island, that no one knew about,” LisaRaye told her co-hosts. “until I said, ‘hey, here we are over here! An hour away from the Bahamas! An hour and a half out of Miami! We’re right next to Haiti! It’s beautiful! The sun and the sand and the water, come see what I found over here!’ I did that, and I started businesses over there.”
Amongst the businesses LisaRaye started on the island, she made claims to building a theater, a film festival, music festival, and carnival. Mccoy also says she had famous friends wave their fees and come to the island to perform for locals in exchange for vacation accommodations. Mccoy says she loved the island and its people and was blessed to call it home. Her only desire was to share its beauty with others and bring visibility to it. “I’m the first lady of this small country, and I want to shed some light on here. Can you bring your talent over here so you can entertain our people?'”
Twitter followers continued to poke holes in her claims, with many claiming Mccoy was a no-show when the island was devastated by hurricanes Irma and Maria. “Since LisaRaye is the poster child for Turks, why tf she ain’t help or donate towards the country after Irma & Maria, Turks and Caicos is flourishing! And she holding onto the time that we as the locals done forgot. I don’t blame her I’d want my name attached to Turks too.”
Mccoy did have something to say to those dismissing her contributions to the country when addressing those hitting up Claudia Jordan for defending her. “Those people in your inbox were probably people who can’t even afford to go to Turks and Caicos, so next.”
