Media personality and entrepreneur Yanique ‘Curvy Diva’ Barrett is finally speaking out after being charged with simple larceny, housebreaking, and malicious destruction of property last year. The charges stem from a July 2023 incident at a business location that Yanique had previously rented on Dunrobin Avenue in St Andrew.
According to police reports, the establishment’s owner locked up the premises but returned shortly after to find the locks removed, items missing, and visible damage. Investigators later charged Yanique, alleging she entered with a locksmith and removed furnishings. However, Barrett, in a recent interview, offered a different story.
According to Yanique, she was wrongfully charged. She said the police themselves admitted to not investigating the matter properly and apologised. One of the charges was even retracted in court. Barrett clarified that the locksmith was contacted based on police guidance and that she had received notice to vacate the property, a space she said she rented under rushed circumstances without seeing the title.
She shared that ongoing disputes had existed between the so-called landlord and previous tenants and claimed the person she rented from was not the legal owner. Yanique said she was given a notice and decided to vacate the property ahead of the agreed date. “We’re supposed to leave not example we’re supposed to leave on the 10th I said all right you know what I move out on the 8th get everything else by the 9th so on the 10th it was just the fixtures that were there,” she told the hosts on The Fix podcast.
However, she claimed that on the 10th, while she was still legally renting the space, the landlord showed up with his own locksmith and attempted to change the locks. Yanique insisted this only added to the confusion and tension surrounding the departure, especially as she and her team were in the process of dismantling the setup to restore the space.
She explained that their efforts to return the location to its original state were interrupted multiple times. The situation escalated when police were called repeatedly while her team was packing up. Despite this, Yanique claimed that at least one responding officer acknowledged her right to remove her property and advised the landlord to allow her to continue.
Among the items she was removing from the property were fixtures she had installed, which were part of a $3 million investment. The man wanted to buy the items, but she chose to take them down, which led to him accusing her of damaging the place, according to Yanique. She said the real intent behind the accusations was to tarnish her image rather than resolve a legal dispute fairly.
