Could it be that you are the problem Ms. Williams?

The Cheetah Girls is set to return in a new Disney Channel Original Film, The Cheetah Girls: Next Gen. Along with seeing a cast of four new girls in a new singing group, we can also expect to see all but one original member in the reboot.

The new group will consist of: Leah Sava’ Jefferies as Faith (Galleria’s daughter), Carmen Sanchez as Dior (Chanel’s sister), Kaileen Chang as Ruby and Sophie Lennon as Brooklyn. Raven-Symoné, the film’s executive producer, Adrienne Bailon and Sabrina Bryan will be reprising their roles as Galleria “Bubbles” Garibaldi, Chanel “Chuchie” Simmons and Dorinda “Do” Thomas. Kiely Williams, who played Aquanette “Aqua” Walker in the original three films, will not be reprising her role.

The news of Williams not returning led to her sister, Tse Williams, taking to X (formerly known as Twitter) to call out her sister’s former castmates and accuse them of leaving her out of the reboot.

“Raven and Adrienne are truly hateful b******. They are also two faced and liars. Sabrina will always be a “Pick me.” Kiely was the easy person to villainize since the 3LW so here we are. I believe in karma. They will get was due they will have earned it.”  

The news of Williams not reprising her role in the upcoming film is not a shock to many, as it has been shown from time to time again that Williams has problematic tendencies.

Let us take it back to the early 2000s during the days of 3LW. The group was founded in 1999 by Williams’ mother and sister, Michelle and Tse Williams. The original members of the group were Williams, Bailon and Naturi Naughton. Behind the scenes, Naughton faced unfair treatment stemming from colourism and was often pushed to the back while Williams and Bailon were often pushed to the forefront.

Things continued to worsen when the group’s sophomore album, A Girl Can Mack, was in the works. Naughton explained that management would not let her sing lead as much and told her no one would be checking for her because of her dark complexion.

The ongoing tensions boiled over in August 2002 during a heated altercation in a KFC parking lot in Atlanta, Georgia, while the group was on tour promoting their second album. Williams’ mother, Michelle, accused Naturi of telling former media personality Wendy Williams that management and the group were planning on ousting Naughton from 3LW. During the intense argument, Williams threw a hot plate of food from KFC at Naughton. This led to Naughton leaving the group before the release of their second album.

A year later, The Cheetah Girls premiered on Disney Channel, starring Raven-Symoné, Bailon, Williams and Bryan. The success of the film led Disney to form The Cheetah Girls into a real-life group. Raven-Symoné opted not to be part of the real-life group to focus on her solo career and the hit show That’s So Raven, leaving the group as a trio.

However, in 2006, she returned to the franchise to film the sequel only to experience drama on set. Raven-Symoné said the environment was cliquish, and it made her feel excluded. She also referenced that there were tensions between her and Williams. The drama on set led her to choose not to continue with The Cheetah Girls, and she shifted her focus to her solo career. Raven-Symoné did not reprise her role in the third film, The Cheetah Girls: One World.

In December 2008, The Cheetah Girls disbanded just a few months after the premiere of the third film. Williams and Bailon had a falling out later and remain at odds. Naughton and Bailon have since reconciled, with Bailon apologizing to Naughton privately and years later on national television when the latter made a guest appearance on a 2017 episode of The Real.

In April 2020, it seemed like Raven-Symoné and Williams made amends on Instagram Live, with Williams apologizing to Raven-Symoné, intending that she never meant to hurt her.

The drama did not end there.

In 2021, Williams joined the cast of BET’s The Encore, and during her time on the show, other cast members of the show also found her to be problematic.

I may not have been present to witness all the alterations, but Williams is the common denominator. Regarding the drama with 3LW, Naughton’s story has always been consistent and has never changed. Williams, on the other hand, has changed her story multiple times. Bailon, who was once Williams’ friend, apologized for her role in the situation. Raven-Symoné opted not to continue with The Cheetah Girls because of the drama she endured on set for the sequel. So, it proves what really happened.

If you have a history of being problematic, it will catch up to you, and it will not work in your favour. The same people you wronged on your way up are the same people you will meet on your way back down.