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Stephen Jackson’s second career as a podcaster and growing personality in the sports world has been golden.
Not only do we get to see NBA Champ and Matt Barnes talk sh*t, and interview some of pop culture’s biggest stars like Lil Wayne and Kevin Durant on All The Smoke, but the stories of their playing days are priceless. The 42-year-old was never scared to get into it on the court and was known as the ultimate team player, yet the most interesting story Jackson’s told thus far is the time he decided not to get married… on his wedding day.
Everyone is stuck home because of the coronavirus, so Jackson recently went on Instagram Live for storytime. He began the story by explaining what it takes to get a prenup drawn up and how many times he had to ask his ex-fiance, Imani Showalter, to sign it.
“We planned to get married in Houston. So, newsflash for all 530 of y’all here. In order for a prenup to get drawn up, both the husband the wife, the bride and the groom have to agree on the prenup before it can even get written up. I take care of a lot of people. I’m never letting one woman control of all the hard work I’ve done in my life. None of these muhf*ckas was in the gym with me. So I told myself whoever I’m married to, they signing a prenup off top. It’s not even a second guess.
So we get the prenup back at least 3-4 months before the wedding. This is all true y’all. I give it to her. When I give it to her, she shouldn’t be surprised by it because me and her sat down and agreed upon the prenup. A month passed, two months before the wedding, I’m like we need to get that prenup signed, so when we get down there to Houston, we ain’t gotta worry about it. I tell her that like two or three times.
But Jackson noticed a second twist when he wanted his childhood pastor to officiate the wedding, but his fiancee wanted another pastor at the altar, although he was just a recommendation from a friend and someone she never actually met. But eventually, he obliged.
“I spent about $400,000 on the wedding, y’all. Pastor don’t matter to me. I just want to marry you. I don’t even give a damn. Now, we at two weeks before the wedding. I’m like, ‘Look bruh why I got to keep asking you about this prenup. It ain’t like you don’t know what’s on it. What motives?”
Jackson says that even down to the day of the wedding, the prenup still being signed was all he could think of, and it all came to a head when the preacher, that his fiance wanted so badly, spoke to him hours before the big event.
“We in the backroom and the preacher come in with his assistant and my nanny come in with a spooked look on her face. She pulls me to the side and she like, ‘She still ain’t signed it.’ So, I said, ‘I ain’t getting married then.’ Steph was like, ‘She ain’t sign the prenup, what we even here for?’
The preacher steps up, remember the preacher? He says, ‘Hold on, now I know you love this girl. Don’t make a drastic decision. I think you should just let God handle it.’ I said, ‘Huh?’ He said, ‘As the pastor, I don’t believe in prenups.’ Now I know why she was fighting for you. You don’t believe in prenups. Damn what you believe in. I put everything in God’s hands, and God is telling me to put the pen in her hand and make her sign this gotdamn prenup. That’s what God tellin me. So God tellin you and me two different things.”
Randomly, Jackson mentions that Bobby Valentino was in the building to sing at the wedding before explaining how he felt after making the tough choice not to get married.
“This is when she showed her true colors. So the wedding off. Wedding’s off. We not doing it. We getting undressed. When we first get back to the room, I break down crying. Honest to God’s truth, I was hurt. I wanted to marry her, bruh. I break down crying for like twenty-thirty minutes. I’m hard down crying.”
Eventually, Jackson decides to talk to her once the wedding is called off, but Showalter tried to make things right. Jackson was educated enough by his inner circle that signing a contract under duress doesn’t count, so he knew the jig was up.
“Soon as I get in the room, she hard down crying. ‘I’ll sign it. I’ll sign it.’”
“Listen, I was born at night but not last night. Anytime anybody signs anything where they’re crying, under any type of stress, that shit can get thrown out. I was already told that by my folks, so I was already on game. So the sh*t she tried, thinking I was going to buckle so it could get thrown out. No sweetheart. You chose your decision. Claim under distress that’s what it’s called. Soon as we get to downstairs, Stephon Marbury was in the DJ booth. Guess what the first song they played. I’ll give y’all a second.””
Of course, it was Kanye West’s “Gold Digger.”
But the best part of the story is how he got revenge that very same night, and it just so happened to involve one of her friends.
“This the sickest part of the whole thing. After we had partied in the hotel, me and partners was getting ready to go out. Two of her main squeezes that was with her, was with us that night. And I’ma keep it funky, I downed one of ‘em. Ya feel me. But that’s her friends though. Yeah I did it. Shole did. If ima trick $300,000-$400,000 Ima get some get back. They couldn’t wait.”
Listen to Jackson’s entire sermon below:
