Navigating friendships is a vital piece of the maturation process from teen to young adult and even beyond. For most people, those often painful lessons about whom to trust and who to keep at a distance aren’t accompanied by national scrutiny or criticism. Oprah Winfrey has gone viral for her commentary on the effect of jealousy on friendship. According to Oprah, one can never be friends with someone that is jealous of them or envious of their lifestyle. Oprah’s philosophy was proven in living color in the documentaryMegan Thee Stallion: In Her Own Words. Megan’s relationship with former best friend Kelsey Nicole became a painful lesson that led to the superstar experiencing a mental breakdown that could’ve ended her career.

Oprah Winfrey Says You Can’t Be Friends With Anyone Who Is Jealous of You

Oprah’s earned wisdom could’ve been lost on Megan during the early years of her friendship with Kelsey, but she’d received similar advice from her father. “My father always told me, everything that grin ain’t your friend,” Megan shares in the documentary. After tragically losing her mother in her early 20s, Megan acknowledges she felt lost and alone. Her friendship with Kelsey became a lifeline as her career gained megastar momentum just as she lost the closest person to her, who was also her manager and biggest cheerleader. Kelsey and Megan were friends, but after her mother’s death, Megan suggested Kelsey become her personal assistant. In this role, Kelsey received a check for hanging out with Megan all day every day and, in return, Megan felt a sense of family was close by. There are numerous examples of money and access destroying relationships, but Megan trusted Kelsey with her life and was grateful for her company and assumed loyalty.

As Megan’s star continued to rise, Kelsey enjoyed the access and celebrity lifestyle she was afforded as Megan’s assistant and best friend. As captured in Megan Thee Stallion: In Her Own Words, Megan’s friendship with Kelsey didn’t provide as much comfort as she initially believed. Intimate videos during the month and year after Megan’s mother passed away show both Megan and Kelsey consistently drowning their troubles in alcohol. Liquor became a constant for sad times and celebratory occasions, which adds negative fuel to any friendship. “The worst year of my life was when my Mama passed. It was drinking all the time and hanging out with too many people. I kept getting lit thinking I was gonna get through the pain,” Megan shared.

Megan’s Friendship With Kelsey Was Birthed In Desperation After Losing Her Mother

The only thing more lethal than alcohol to a friendship is romantic interest and dormant jealousy. Both variables revealed themselves at a celebrity-filled party thrown by Kylie Jenner. Allegedly, both Kelsey and Megan found themselves being intimate with R&B artist Tory Lanez. One superstar, mixed with a jealous assistant and an R&B singer, all drunk out of their minds, was a recipe for disaster. Megan, Kelsey and Tory left the party cursing each other out in a car being driven by Tory’s driver. At one point, Megan gets out of the car and starts walking clad in only a bikini. The intoxicated duo convinced her to get back in the car, but the fighting doesn’t stop. Megan acknowledges insulting Tory and gets out of the car again. What happens next sends Tory to prison for ten years, sends Megan to the hospital and destroys a sisterly bond, revealing Kelsey’s true character.

Acting under the influence, Tory brandishes a gun and shoots at the ground. Shrapnel from the bullets pierce Megan’s feet as she is running from the car. Initially, Megan lied to the police saying she stepped on glass after exiting the car. Her hospital X-rays proved that it wasn’t glass in her feet but instead bullet fragments. Megan comes clean with the police and a report is filed against Tory. When fans learn about the story, they immediately assume Megan is lying because she has been forced to change her story. Instead of coming to Megan’s aid, Kelsey meets with Tory and attempts to help him get bail. The incident continued trending on social media, forcing fans and hip-hop celebrities to choose sides between Tory and Megan. Megan did an interview with Rolling Stone before the trial and boldly laid out her wishes for the outcome. “I want him to go to jail. I want him to go under the jail,” she said. She had a few choice words for Kelsey on her social media feed as well. She called Kelsey out for being a horrible friend and Kelsey clapped back with a diss track of her own titled, ‘Bussin Back’.

Megan Thee Stallion Was Victorious As Tory Lanez Was Sentenced to 10 Years For Shooting Her

Megan emerged a little over a year later victorious after Tory was found guilty and sentenced to ten years in prison. Instead of lamenting the relationship with Tory, Megan focused on the breakdown of her friendship with Kelsey as the bigger loss. “I’m like, ‘Kelsey as my best friend, why would you meet up with the person you saw shoot your best friend? You’re the only person in this situation that would clear this up for me,” Megan questioned. Not only did Kelsey not come to Megan’s aid, but when it was time to testify, she denied being able to recall what happened the night of the shooting.

Megan learned the hard way that friendships birthed in pain and trauma can be dangerous. More importantly, as per Oprah’s wise words, it’s impossible to be friends with someone who wants your life. Kelsey’s actions post shooting prove that she was jealous of Megan’s career the entire time. To release a diss track against the most successful female rap artist of the past four years wasn’t smart and completely ruined any chance of Kelsey having a future career as an artist.

Megan learned a valuable lesson from the fallout with Kelsey, but the real victory is in her personal development. After the trial, Megan went away for 30 days of therapy and emotional rehabilitation. “I really feel like a new bitch,” she explained after returning home and preparing to get back on the road with her fans. Feedback from her documentary has encouraged the star to continue sharing with her fans through her art. She realizes she has a responsibility to herself to make sure she is in a healthy place. “When people ask how you are doing, is that a greeting or do they really want to know? I would just say I’m alive because that is true. It doesn’t tell you if I’m good or bad, but I am alive,” she explained somberly. After therapy and tremendous success on several projects since the incident, Megan has rebounded and is doing more than just living, she’s living her best and most successful life yet, fake friends not allowed.

The documentary can be streamed on Prime Video.