Reggae veteran Tanya Stephens clapped back at criticism over her snubbing Prime Minister Andrew Holness at an event. A video of the event, organised by Ian ‘Pepe’ Goodison, was shared by the prime minister on social media on Saturday, showing him greeting several attendees. His friendly greeting, which included smiles, a handshake, and hugs, was reciprocated by almost everyone, based on the video.
When he extended his hand to Tanya Stephens, she seemingly kept her hands in her pocket instead. While she smiled and interacted with him, social media users were not pleased to see her ignore a handshake.
One Instagram user said, “Mophead Tanya gwaan like shi betta than shaking eh Boss hand.” Another viewer called her “outdated,” and others labelled her as “disrespectful,” “sadamite,” and “unprofessional.”
“The one Tanya Stephen being so unprofessional. Although me no expect better from you, you’ve already showed us who you are,” one viewer said.
In response to the criticism, Tanya Stephens accused the prime minister of editing the video in a way that paints a bad picture. While addressing him as “bro lyad,” she urged his supporters to tell him to post the entire video. She expressed that she is not obligated to “touch” any man.
“2 people in question the one you should distrust is not the one with hands in her pocket as a free citizen who owes no man a touch. Who you should distrust is the one who edited the footage to pander to the bottom feeders who support him. Be very afraid of the person who cut off the handshake and audio while placing my response to New Kidz’ joke to seem like I was laughing with him,” she said.
She added, “Tell him fi go try be friends with the brain dead sycophants under his posts and stop try engage me. Papa Eddie a mi last JLP leader.”
