Queenie stays strong despite online bashing

Despite being ridiculed, taunted and bashed repeatedly on social media, social media sensation and dancehall artiste Queenie Ladi Gangsta consistently fixes her crown and fights on.

Recently, she was referred to as a disgrace by dancehall selector Foota Hype, but Queenie said that she remains unbothered.

"We are all disgrace in our own way and mi nuh come out here to impress anybody. Any emotion mi a feel, that is what I am going to show and feed off. People could never expect mi to be all nice, because that is not life, that is fake," Queenie said.

On Thursday, she spent hours ranting on an Instagram live session. As expected, much of it was spent talking about her rocky marriage to Dwayne 'Dewy' Scarlett. Just two and a half years in, the couple is experiencing another split. Dewy is currently in Canada and there is speculation that the marriage is over. Queenie said she is using social media as a coping mechanism.

"I have been on TikTok for seven hours straight one time, so it's like I am married to it. It help mi not to think about the downfall of my marriage. Social media help mi cope and rehabilitate myself. We are not perfect, and, as wife and husband, we have to know that, when things hit the fan, we have to come together. While I would have given a man one or two chances, Dewy is my husband and he will get 10 chances, because I put my signature to that. I signed for better or for worse," she said.

When faced with the verbal attacks from critics, Queenie's mouth can be fiery, and she may even laugh them to scorn. She said the bashing comes with the fame, so she will not run and hide when the heat is on.

"From I was 10 and living in St Thomas, I told myself that I wanted to be famous and for the world to know mi. Now it happen and I have to regain my strength and fight the struggles that it comes with. Every time mi see the bashing, mi heart leap but then mi smile and say 'Queenie, yuh a hot gyal, don't mind dem, yuh nice'," she said.

"Nuff time mi think about getting therapy, then mi wonder if mi really need it because is like mi can find ways to take myself out of my bad mood and it doesn't affect my daily life. I cook, wash, clean and pay mi bills same way but, if someone a offer some therapy, mi will take it," Queenie added.

Queenie said that, when she met Dewy three years ago, he was her knight in shining armour, as he offered stability and appeared committed, two characteristics she was seeking in a partner. She added that he was a main source of comfort when her daughter Rochelle died in October 2021. But she feels that his entry into the United Kingdom changed him.

"Yuh know, like you have a homely cat and, the moment that cat go stray and go out there go taste different butter, it change? A dat reach Dewy. Him come England and all type of people in his ears and him get carried away by that. People start tell him say mi a rule him, but mi have to protect mi husband and make mi and him build. But him don't want that," she said.

When asked if she has given up on love, Queenie told THE WEEKEND STAR that "nothing don't last forever".

"We don't have to be together for 50 years to say it was good. It is what it is. I have five children for one man and we were together for 22 years. I have a relationship with a girl for five years and eight months and a suh mi did love her same way. Mi find a next man a Jamaica and it last five years. Mi is a great woman. If my marriage don't go for 22 years, doesn't mean it wasn't worth it. I still love and value my marriage and I will always remember the memories," Queenie said.