A few years back, singer, Monica, publicly put “Keep On Walking” singer, CeCe Peniston, on blast for crushing her young heart and her spirit back in the day. The only problem was that CeCe didn’t even remember doing it, nor did she know that her fellow R&B colleague actually had been holding a grudge against her for 17 years.

Monica Recalls Hurt From CeCe:

Monica publicly exposed an incident between she and CeCe in a prior interview and this is how she said it all went down:

Monica: “I remember years ago when I was like 10, I went to an expo and my manager-cousin Melinda asked CeCe Peniston, who was huge at that time, if I could sing for her. She did everything she possibly could while I sang and I remember her being so rude. She was so horrible to me that I was devastated and I never forgot that”, [94] said Monica.” [via NecoleBichie.com]

CeCe Peniston Responded:

Soon after that, one of CeCe Peniston’s friends told her what Monica said about her in that interview, and CeCe immediately went into action. Nope, she didn’t come for Monica and try to retaliate, nor did she try to discredit Monica’s words and feelings. Instead, CeCe did what any real woman would do- she owned up to any pain/disrespect she showed Monica; and publicly apologized to her in an open letter. Here’s what CeCe wrote:

Hello, Monica. I don’t even know where to begin. A good friend of mine called me yesterday and told me about the interview you did for “Necole Bichie”. I actually read it myself and my heart just dropped.

I wanted to apologize from the bottom of my heart for anything that I may have said or done to make you feel that way. I honestly don’t remember this, so for that reason I can’t deny it. I absolutely LOVE children, that’s why I’ve been wrecking my brain to remember this. I’ve always encouraged and supported children in their dreams and aspirations, especially when they’ve wanted to demonstrate a talent to me.

You said in the interview that I did everything I could do to stay busy while you were singing. The only thing I can assume is that maybe at that time I had a lot of people pulling me in a hundred different directions and I should have told them to wait while you were singing. At that time I was young and still pretty new to the industry myself, and so I hadn’t learned how to balance everything just yet.

It really hurts me that I made you feel like that. I’ve always prided myself on staying grounded, being real to people and loving my fans. But after reading the interview it showed me that I wasn’t always on top of my game and I am very sorry for that. As an artist you know that you’re always expected to be at 100%, but we both know that we just can’t deliver that all the time.

I want you to know that I’m very proud of the woman you’ve become and everything you’ve accomplished both professionally and personally. I hate that at such a young age that’s the memory you have of me. Stay blessed in everything you do and I wish you all the best with your new album. Sincerely, CeCe.

That was really cool of CeCe to do that, because she could have simply been offended by Monica’s interview and taken this thing in a whole ‘nother direction.

Monica Humbly Thanked CeCe Peniston:

After Monica saw CeCe’s response, she released this public message to her:

“CeCe, with all my heart I believe what you are saying. I was only 11 years old and it had an affect on me in a positive way, especially as an artist. It was great for me because to fans I don’t say no to things that are fair or within my reach.

But only a REAL woman would care about the story after all the years have passed. I never told the story with the intent of hurting you. I’m nothing like some of these messy chicks that recklessly speak and then back down, but I did it to make a point to the many new artists that I meet who clearly feel they owe fans nothing and clearly, CeCe, you don’t feel that way to have even addressed it after 17 years.

So thank you, CeCe, at 28 years old (Monica’s 39 now) it still meant a lot to me that you addressed ME directly, and at this point I feel that story should never be told again because the second greatest point this ENTIRE story makes is that artist is still human. Thank you very much for even caring about my feelings. All my love, Monica and my entire family (who were all there that day) say we thank you and love you.”

Maybe CeCe was a “Just One of Them Days” moments when she allegedly threw shade at Monica (hint, hint). Or maybe CeCe really did want Monica to “Keep On Walking” during their encounter back in the day. But whatever the case, it’s a beautiful thing to see these two ladies call it a truce, and there you have it ILOSM family! Alls well, that ends well. Monica and CeCe Peniston are proof that not all disputes between young African American women have to be solved by throwing hands on reality TV. Good for them.