Last week LisaRaye announced that she and her husband of two years, Turks & Caicos Chief Minister Michael Misick, were separated.
This was days after rumors surfaced that Michael was having an affair with BET’s "106 & Park" host Rocsi. LisaRaye said that she was injured when Michael or his sister bit her as they tried to force her out of her home on Wednesday night. LisaRaye called on Friday to let me know she was okay, however, she could not speak on anything related to her separation from Michael at this time.
Michael also released a statement after the incident at the house telling a much different story. He said LisaRaye, her cousin Travis, who is her personal security guard, and her publicist Lynn Jeter ramsacked the house and assaulted Michael, his sister and a guard at their home. The statement also said, "it is public knowledge that the couple has been separated for months."
LisaRaye’s spokesperson denies that they have been separated and that LisaRaye or her staff assaulted anyone. In fact, Lynn Jeter told me she never entered the home, even though Michael called several times and asked her to come inside. There are two sides to every story and this one is no different. While many people are under the impression that LisaRaye knew she wasn’t welcome at the home they shared, I’m told she had no idea and was going home to make Tacos. When she arrived Michael was meeting with his cabinet members.
Lynn told me, "LisaRaye said to me, all of this would have never transpired on Wednesday night when she got there, had there not been an audience. She’d have gone in that house and we would have stayed in that house, just like she went there when she came on Tuesday [the week before] and stayed in that house."
Were LisaRaye and Michael together or not?
Many people were surprised that LisaRaye and Michael weren’t legally separated before Michael was seen canoodling with Rocsi at the Turks & Caicos Music and Cultural Festival. The Premier is facing rape charges filed by an American woman in April and corruption accusations. Those close to LisaRaye think that his open display with the BET VJ pushed LisaRaye and Michael to file for legal separation. Any woman with pride would jump to that conclusion. In her statement Lisa said, "Although I have always been a supportive wife even in light of the very serious allegations currently pending against the Premier, there are limits even for me."
I hear that Rocsi has been visiting Michael for about four months and was also under the impression that the couple was separated.
Michael released a statement on Aug. 5 that said they are separated. But why are they filing for legal separation now? LisaRaye decided to stand by her husband through the rape and corruption allegations. I’m told the couple was living as husband and wife, taking vacations, sipping champagne and sharing their home with no problems two weeks before this drama began. In fact, when LisaRaye came to Turks & Caicos Aug. 5 (days after the music festival ended) to work on the details on their separation—guess where she stayed? In her home with Michael!
"She doesn’t deny that she loves her husband and he definitely loves her," Lynn told me. In fact, Michael called asking for "his wife" the day after they were all at the hospital. I’m told he told her how much he loved her.
Their lawyers and publicists didn’t meet the week after the festival, so Michael asked LisaRaye to return to Turks & Caicos on August 11 to meet with attorneys. LisaRaye was served restraining order papers barring her from staying at their home, but I’m told the order isn’t official until they have a hearing about it in September.
Confusion over where Lisa had the legal right to stay seems to be what led to the Wednesday night altercation. Michael or his sister tussled with LisaRaye, and one of them bit her on the shoulder. LisaRaye bit back and when the dust settled, all three of them went to the hospital to get their wounds checked out. No one was hospitalized.
LisaRaye’s spokesperson told me the TV star was trailed by Michael’s people while she was in Turks & Caicos from the time she arrived in Providenciales and after she flew to Grand Turks, TCI’s capitol, to meet the governor and his wife. I’m told that the local driver she hired on the island of Grand Turks was stopped and questioned about where he had been taking her. On Thursday after she filed her police report, the police drove LisaRaye and her staff to dinner and to her hotel. At this point, LisaRaye was also being followed by media, so they left her jeep at the police station to give her some privacy.
On Turks & Caicos there’s a law where you can’t divorce until you’ve been married for three years. The law was made in hopes that couples would have time to reconcile, but LisaRaye and Michael are applying for a waiver in hopes they can break their marriage earlier.
Channel 4, which is an independent station in Turks & Caicos, was there when LisaRaye landed on the island of Providenciales after returning from Grand Turks, which is about a 20 minute flight from Providenciales, Turks & Caicos. They shot a video of her saying that Michael is spiraling out of control and she’s praying for him. She’s not doing interviews but they caught her on the spot.
LisaRaye returned to the United States on Saturday.
– Jamie Foster Brown
Photo courtesy of Fred Montana, Retna Ltd.
