Is Pepa Gay? Her Ex-Husband Implied The Salt & Pepa Rapper Left Him For A Woman
Pepa's ex spilled the tea.
Getty Images Treach of Naughty by Nature and Pepa of Salt-N-Pepa were one of the greatest hip hop power couples of the 1990s. So, when their marriage broke up, fans were wondering what could have possibly gone wrong.
Being that their split happened in a pre-social media era, speculation was confined to local gossip cliques and other whispers serving as grist for the rumor mill. But now, thanks to a recent interview given by Treach to the infamous Breakfast Club, he has fans wondering: is Pepa gay?
The newfound fascination into the private lives of these hip hop legends has to do with the hit show, Growing Up Hip Hop, where Egypt Criss — the daughter produced from the union of Treach (real name: Anthony Criss) and Pepa (real name: Sandy Denton) — is featured alongside the children of other hip hop legends (Vanessa Simmons — daughter of the Rev. Run of Run-DMC — is, for example, another of her co-stars).
While Criss has no shortage of drama of her own — thanks to her impending marriage to emcee Sammatick, known simply as "Sam" on the show — it's her mom and dad's drama that has taken center stage.
So let's look at what we know about Pepa's alleged hidden sexuality.
1. Is Pepa gay? Treach implied that she was, most likely, bisexual.
While saying that he and his former wife have a "love-hate relationship, as always," Treach said that the reason he and Pepa broke up "back in the day" was that they each had "women on the side." He said that things were okay as long as they each had women on the side, but when Pepa wanted to have one of Treach's "side chicks" all for herself, things took a downturn. Check out the clip below.
2. Treach — and Egypt Criss — both disputed Pepa's previous claims of physical abuse.
In Pepa's memoir, Let's Talk About Pep, she accused Treach of physical abuse. These claims didn't bother Treach because, according to him, the book "wasn't very successful" and didn't negatively impact his career.
But now that there is a Salt-N-Pepa biography film coming out on Lifetime, Treach is making clear that he never harmed Pepa. "When I got the script, I had to keep saying, ‘When did this ever happen?’ Even when I ask about the book, I’m like ‘Sandy, when did this ever happen?’ and she’s like, 'Well, you know, I didn’t proofread it and they put a little extra,'" he said.
For her part, Criss acknowledged that not only did her mother fight against the negative portrayal of her father in the film, she made it clear that her mother had no desire to harm Treach or his career.
You can see their claims in the video above.
3. In the past, Pepa has expressed support for the gay community.
"We always have had a huge gay following. We have always been supported by the gay community and from the beginning, we have done a lot of parades. The gay community knows how to have fun and that we support back with our love," she said.
4. There were even rumors that Salt & Pepa were in a relationship with one another.
Those who were around in the late 1980s and early 1990s — when society was a very different place for the LGBTQ community — have noted that, in the past, Salt & Pepa referred to one another as "husband and wife." They also referred to each other as "soulmates," and many fans from that time speculated that they had more than just a "sisterly" bond.
5. Pepa's current boyfriend appears to have a secret past, too.
In a revelation that only further fueled the rumors about Pepa being gay, it was recently revealed that her current boyfriend, Aundre Dean, had appeared in several gay adult films in the past. An intrepid Twitter user got ahold of his "audition tape" (and yes, it's very NSFW), and while that's scandalous enough, the story behind the site he appeared on is even more scandalous: the owner of the adult film site that Dean appeared on was a man named Michael Castagne.
In 1990, Castagne was convicted of the sexual assault of a child and had to register as a sex offender. Then, in 2015, Daeveion Mangum killed Castagne by bludgeoning him with a hammer after their game of "doctor" went too far. Mangum and Castagne starred in several adult films together, as well.
6. Is Pepa gay? She has not commented on the recent rumors about her sexuality.
Though Treach's revelations have opened up a proverbial can of worms, as of this writing, Pepa has not publicly commented on the rumors. However, we will keep you apprised if this changes in the near future.
Bernadette Giacomazzo is an editor, writer, publicist, and photographer whose work has appeared in Teen Vogue, People, Us Weekly, The Source, XXL, HipHopDX, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, BET.com, and more.