The seemingly unending drama between Jackie Christie and her dughter Takari Lee has only intensified since Basketball Wives‘ sixth season concluded with its reunion special. In the past two weeks alone, we’ve seen Jackie suggest that Takari might want her mother to die–since then Takari could inherit the $8 million she claims Takari knows she has coming. (It’s not clear if Jackie’s husband Doug would also have to pass in order for to Takari to inherit anything.)
And, before that, speculation was rampant that Jackie would be fired following the reunion, since it sure looked like her contentious relationship with her oldest child had turned almost the entire rest of the show’s cast against her. But, so far, none of the Basketball Wives Season 7 casting decisions have been made public. However, executive producer and star Shaunie O’Neal recently gave a wide-reaching interview to VH1, and addressed head-on the biggest question hanging over the show: Will Takari be on Basketball Wives next season?
You can read the full interview here. Below is what Shaunie had to say about potentially adding Takari to the cast:
VH1: As a producer on the show, were you trying to get Ta’Kari on the show so it wasn’t just people talking about her?
SHAUNIE: Of course, absolutely, but I feel like Jackie has been a huge part of the [Basketball Wives] franchise for a very long time and I don’t want to betray her. And it sucks because she had so much to say about her daughter, and her daughter couldn’t defend herself but at the same time, she didn’t want that to happen and I was cool with respecting Jackie’s wishes to not have her daughter on the show. So, we didn’t even entertain that but we definitely threw it out there a couple times, like, “Hey, why don’t you let her have a voice?” but no.
However, Takari *has* been on Basketball Wives before–albeit under very different family circumstances. Devotées will recall her appearance alongside mom Jackie and half-sister Chantel during–what else?–an emotional back-and-forth at a family therapist’s office. The scene actually aired on Season 2 of Basketball Wives LA, all the way back in 2012. Recently, VH1 unearthed the scene for current viewers–you can check it out below:
Basketball Wives Season 7 is expected to begin filming this fall.
(Photo credits: Will Takari be on Basketball Wives next season via Twitter)
