In 2024, many were left surprised after reports surfaced that media personality Yanique ‘Curvy Diva’ Barrett was charged with simple larceny, housebreaking, and malicious destruction of property. The reported owner of a property had told the police that he returned to the premises, which Barrett had visited with a locksmith, and found that the locks were severed, furniture was missing, and damage had been done to the property.
However, during an interview with The Fix Podcast, Barrett explained how the former landlord of her restaurant orchestrated the incident in an attempt to humiliate her publicly. The television host-turned-restaurant owner described the media and public reaction to the news as confusing and crazy, especially because she had been out of the public eye for some time.
Detailing the incidents leading up to her fallout with her landlord, Barrett shared that there were red flags that something was wrong from the very beginning. According to Barrett, the woman who rented the building before her tried to warn her about the landlord.
There were also issues with the other business owners on the premises, who suggested that the man was not the actual owner of the property. Barrett explained that she did not wish to get in the middle of the conflicts that her landlord had with his previous tenant and ignored the red flags.
However, the real owner of the property allegedly later visited the premises, serving her landlord with a notice to vacate, who in turn served her a notice to leave the building. Amid the confusion, Barrett said she made no attempt to stay and decided to move a restaurant to a new location.
Despite the time that was given to her to vacate, Barrett said that her landlord attempted to change the locks before she could remove all the restaurant’s fixtures. He also tried to purchase the fixtures from her.
But when he offered to pay for the 3 million cost of the fixtures in instalments, Barrett said she ultimately decided not to sell them to him. It was after refusing to sell him the fixtures that her landlord allegedly made multiple false reports to the police as she tried to remove her property.
“In the process of pulling down him a call di police. So the police came, ‘What are you doing.‘ I said, ‘We moving.’ The police said, ‘Yuh moving. She’s moving. Stop call we,” Barrett said.
However, her disgruntled landlord allegedly called the police on her again, resulting in an officer threatening to charge him. On his next attempt to have her stopped by the police, he reported her for vandalising his property, which resulted in her getting charged.
Barrett shared that the police later apologised, as a proper investigation had not been done before the charges were laid.
“The police apologised… They said they really should have done a proper investigation and really, you know, it shouldn’t reach this far… Went to court, and I think the first hearing, the police detective that did the investigation, they retract one of the charges,” Barrett said.
Barrett added that she has come to the realisation that everything her landlord did was done with the intent to lower her.
“In mediation, I think I realised, even when we were there just talking… it was really just for embarrassment. And I was like, alright, so I cannot give him that satisfaction to be like, I’m so embarrassed; I’m so torn down and torn up about the whole situation, and a just leave it. So I realise, I see the smirk and the satisfaction,” Barrett said.
