If you watch Love and Hip Hop Atlanta or tuned into Love and Hip Hop New York over the years, you know that star Yandy Smith adopted a then-teen girl named Infinity Gilyard whom she mentored for years. This occurred while her husband, Mendeecees Harris, was in prison.
In the latest season of the Atlanta franchise, which Yandy recently joined, things between mother and daughter are in a complicated place. Infinity is now a college-aged adult and Mendeecees has returned home. And after she allegedly declined coming home for the Christmas holiday, only to find that Yandy, Mendeecees and all of the rest of their children shared a family photo together, Infinity became upset. Feeling purposely left out, she claimed she was going to write a tell-all book. In addition to that, there was some friction between Infinity and Yandy because the young adult was sent to stay with her biological grandmother. That happened after she found herself caught up in a relationship with an older man who wasn’t the best influence. When Yandy didn’t want them to date because of the man’s age, he allegedly threatened to call TMZ with lies about the TV personality. Infinity allegedly continued to see him, which caused a breakdown in their relationship. It was something that was addressed in a recent episode of the series.
“When that person got involved in our life, it tore our relationship apart,” Yandy told Infinity during a face-to-face conversation, noting that despite the man’s false claims, she stayed with him.
“Yes, I did make a decision. You wanted me to stop, and I chose not to stop dealing with that person,” Infinity said. “But just because I made a decision, did I deserve to be sent back to the wolves?” Did I deserve to go live back with my grandmother?”
“Yes. Absolutely, Infinity.” Yandy replied. “I said Infinity, ‘if you do this, you cannot stay under this roof.’ And behind my back, you did it.”
The two were able to hash out their issues and Infinity tried to return to how things were before all the drama. However, Mendeecees, in the latest episodes, has made it clear that he’s not comfortable with her returning to live in their home based on how she handled things.
Viewers of the show have been split on the situation, with many saying that Infinity is paying the consequences for her behavior while others say that Yandy and Mendeecees could be more forgiving. That has left some wondering what the state of the mother and daughter’s relationship is behind cameras. Yandy recently gave some insight into that after an individual on Instagram asked her why she sent Infinity “back.”
“give her back?! WHAT?!! First of all she’s not an item. She’s a person. A person I love,” Yandy responded. “She went to college. That’s first! Silly. Then second when she aged out of foster care she made the grown decision to continue to live her life as a woman making her own decisions that were outside of my rules. She is forever welcome in my family.”
She went on to ask that the commenter and others quit with the negativity spewed about her and her family.
“Y’all know there are feelings and people attached to the situations you speak of. You do know we occasionally read comments…stop talking to us like we’re emotionless objects. That’s for all that speak on her,” she said. “Be kind or you will be blocked. That’s my baby even if she’s grown and out from under my roof.”
It can’t be easy dealing with parenting struggles in the public eye, and issues with adult children are even more complex. We hope the relationship between these two stays in a good place, and doesn’t find itself impacted negatively by social media and reality TV moving forward.
