Still Mad that ‘Too Dark’ Naturi Naughton Portrayed Her in 2009, Lil Kim Shades at VH1’s Hip Hop Honors

Back in 2009, Naturi Naughton gained rave reviews for her portayal of Lil Kim in rapper Biggie’s biopic Notorious. The film got mixed reviews, but Naturi’s portrayal of a troubled, love-sick but undeniably talented young Lil Kim cemented her as a serious actress to watch.

But there was one person not at all pleased with Naturi’s portrayal — Lil Kim herself. Although never speaking the words on record, insiders say Lil Kim blasted Naturi for being “too dark” to portray her.

The criticism prompted Biggie’s mother, Voletta Wallace, to respond;

“She felt the character we chose for her was too dark… Do you know why the character was too dark for her? Because she’s a white woman trapped in a black woman’s body, and you can tell the world I said it, because those are Lil Kim’s words. She should be ashamed of herself.”

Lil Kim isn’t on record saying those words, so who knows. And to be fair, she wasn’t just mad at Naturi’s color, but that she felt her life was inaccurately portrayed (although invited to, Kim didn’t consult on the film.) But part of the reason Naturi was chosen is because she is very petite, like Kim. And regardless, this was 6 years ago and Kim had presumably moved on.

Apparently not because, according to Naturi, Kim shaded her at Monday’s VH1 Hip Hop Honors, which celebrated legendary female emcees. While promoting the third season of her show Power on The Wendy Williams Show, Naturi alluded to the incident while the cameras were off, but remained tight-lipped once they started rolling again.

[Wendy] “Naturi played Kim in the movie and Kim didn’t like her playing her and then tried to keep her away from her last night at the VH1 thing.”

Later Wendy (being messy as usual…) brought it up again during a game of Sour Power, where guests could either answer a ‘juicy’ question, or ‘pucker up’ and eat lemons.

[Wendy] “As I just said you played Lil Kim in the movie Notorious and she wasn’t a fan of your portrayal. Have you run into her since the movie came out. If you don’t want to answer pucker up. Come on Naturi answer…” [Naturi] “You know what it’s not even worth my energy so let’s just go ahead… No words, no words.”

You can catch the dialogue starting at 9:43.

If this is true, it’s disheartening that Lil Kim holds such hostility towards Naturi. Lil Kim’s beef should be with the casting directors, or her longtime friend and collaborator Diddy, who produced the film (and, ironically, gave her a heartfelt tribute at the VH1 Honors.) That she is *still* angry at Naturi — who has never spoken ill of her — after all these years is baffling.