Melyssa Ford, model and BET VJ graces the cover of XXL’s Eye Candy magazine which hit newsstands last week.
Ford has worked hard to shatter stereotypes of video girls and in the feature interview, sounds off on everything from her sexuality to her job at BET.
”My mouth gets me into a lot of trouble,” she says of her gig at the station. ”Sometimes people can be taken aback by how [talkative] I can be; how much I feel the need to voice my opinion.”
She also joins the ranks of many who criticize the quality of programming on one of the few networks to represent African American interests.
AD LOADING...
”We just don’t offer enough responsible programming, informative programming to build the African-American community as a whole.”
Ford also talks about her offer to house a production crew to cover the Hurricane Katrina disaster from the perspective of a younger generation. BET rejected her offer.
In regards to her sexuality, Ford says that there’s more to her than meets the eye.
”I’m always selling a message. And I feel that message has to be responsible. I’m hard pressed to believe that men, for the most part, look at me and objectify me. I think that they like the overall picture, and when you can appreciate the overall picture, from head to toe, there’s more of a feeling of adoration…But you’re gonna pick up on whatever message you want. If you just wanna see the sexiness, then that’s what you’re gonna see.”
AD LOADING...
Ki Toy, Buffie and Esther Baxter are also featured in XXL Presents: Eye Candy.
