In a recent episode of Fox Soul’s Turnt Out with TS Madison, guest James Wright discussed the latest happenings in his life since blowing up on social media after reviewing Patti LaBelle’s sweet potato pies and the subsequent fallout with Walmart.
Wright’s humorous and musical review ignited people to dash to Walmart to purchase the pies. According to John Forrest Ales, the director of corporate communications at Walmart, one pie sold every second for 72 hours after the video went viral, CNBC reports.
However, despite the excitement around the pies and the revenue Walmart received from sales, Wright said he was never compensated.
“Walmart promised all of these things, we still got the emails, and they didn’t do nothing. They didn’t do nothing they said they were going to do, none of that,” Wright told host TS Madison.
In 2015, Wright made a viral video reviewing LaBelle’s sweet potato pie, singing some of her popular tracks like “On My Own,” “Isn’t It a Shame” and “When You’ve Been Blessed (Feels Like Heaven)” while eating the dessert.
TS Madison asked the social media influencer if he thought he could become a multimillionaire if Walmart had honored its promises.
“The lady became a multimillionaire from, the lady who created this whole thing, and she works for Target now,” Wright said, omitting who he was referring to.
He added that Walmart allegedly had meetings to discuss potential agreements with Wright.
“Don’t promise somebody something, like, ‘Oh we had an executive meeting last week, and the whole meeting was just about you and what Walmart is going to do and how they are going to give you a product and they’re going to do this and they’re going to do this,” Wright said.
He also mentioned walking off stage at an event when a woman that worked in Walmart corporate encouraged him to sue the retailer.
“She said they gonna settle, so sue them,” he said. “She said they know you sold that pie.”
Wright questioned the idea, but did not pursue legal recourse.
“But I just be feeling that I’m blessed, I’m happy, I’m blessed, the joy of the Lord is my strength, and I just be feeling that I’m at peace with everything,” he said.
