'Today' Model Dishes On What Really Happened In That Hair Segment| Essence Live

Many of you saw your timelines light up when the clips of a Today Show segment went all the way wrong. The idea was to show summer hairstyles that could be done in under 60 seconds, but when the stylist got to the black models hair, the after ended up looking worse than the before the stylist has since apologized, and even released a YouTube video where black women educate Her about natural hair, but now it's time to hear from the model herself please welcome William McNaughton to esscence live hi, Maliha hi. How are you I'm great? You know you and I actually go back about a year year and a half ago. You were so gracious to bless me with some of your jewelry pieces, yes, which we're going to get to in a moment. But I remember when you post it on your social media, that you were going to be on The Today Show and how excited you were and then it went awry. So tell me in the middle of the segment. Did you know that? Okay, this may not be the right, do. How did you know Lea um? I felt it. I was like we weren't supposed to do a side ponytail. I felt that it didn't look how it was intended and I could just feel from like the pulling on the curls. I was like. Oh, you know pull curls, so I knew then that, like it is not going right, it's not gon na look the way we wanted it to now. Had you done any previous test runs before yes, absolutely right before the show we did. Two test runs on the style and it actually was really really cute and I even said like: oh, I want to try this when I get home, so we definitely did try. I just think with like nerves and the time crunch, I just think the nerves got the best of her no worries, and that happened some time to time so you're in the middle you're smiling. You were looking absolutely beautiful and very gracious. You feel that things might be going a little awry and then cameras go off. You leave the stage. What happens next, so I leave the stage and there was a Facebook live segment right after so I didn't get to speak to her directly after I'm, but a little bit after that. We spoke, and she thanked me for you know, being able to come to the last minute, because I got to call for the show the night before so she was, you know thankful for that, and we just you know, spoke and we said we would love to Do another segment for like makeup or something like that, so she's extremely sweet and we connected after so at that point neither of you had seen social media. No! No! I didn't. I went home and I still didn't see anything and then I would say about late that night. It was like a firestorm and she was like messaging me like hey. People are really like coming at me, really bad and I'm like where and I'm like. Oh that's! Where that's where so, you didn't so for personally, did you think it was as bad and I'm using the term as bad Braz social media responded? No, I didn't not until eyes I saw, and I was like okay. I can see why you know they reacted. So bad because even onset was like: oh, it doesn't look how we want it, but I saw people's anger was like oh no. She did that on purpose she messed her up, and that was that wasn't at all the intention. No, I didn't get the fact that that it was intentional, but how do you feel in terms of that you can? There was an agent model you're the african-american model. There was a Caucasian model, the expert for these types of segments needing to be skilled or well versed in all types of hair that they include in the feature. Absolutely I think representation is the first part, so I'm very grateful for the Today Show and the producer for wanting the segment to be inclusive. So that's why initially I was brought on and I think that it was a great move, because we do black women contribute to the beauty industry at high level. So who should be represented? And I do think that if you are going to do a hair segment, that is summer hairstyles black women should be included, and I do think that the expert on set should be willing and open. Like Deepika was to do natural hair, and I think that that's a conversation that should continue that we should want these platforms to show diversity all the way around. Definitely, and now did you experience any breakage like was your hair dude, because some people on social media, like she ripped our hair right right? Oh, what happened yeah of course, my quois a student to go attack. I wish to h2 salon in bed-stuy Brooklyn. They hooked me up, they brought it back to life, but directly after no my hair didn't sustain any damage. I was good to go.