That eye patch was more than just a fashion statement.
Prior to Marques Houston becoming a solo artist, the R&B singer was a member of the group Immature. The teens primarily sang innocent love songs, but they were a hit and toured the world, performing for their young, and mature, fans. Each of them had their own nicknames: Marques was “Batman,” Kelton Kessee was “LDB,” and Jerome Jones was known as “Romeo.”
The latter stood out from the other two because he sported a black eye patch, and while some thought it was a fashion statement, Jerome shared years ago that it stemmed from an incident that happened with fellow singer Brandy Norwood. Rumors circulated that the Moesha actress was responsible for Romeo’s eye injury, but while the gossip made it seem as if it was a purposeful move, Jerome confirmed in a recent interview with Nick Cannon that it was all an accident.
Cannon asked about the patch and the rumors about Brandy, and Jerome explained, “Yeah, her and Half Pint had got into it. She had a book in her hand, just tossed it back, not thinking anyone or I was that close. Cut my retina. Detached it. And the lens to the eye had fell out and Brandon Adams caught it. He was there with us. So, he’s standing there holding my lens. He’s not knowing what’s going on. Marq come in and we were trying to hide it.”
Marques chimed in that no one wanted to say anything because they wanted to make sure Brandy didn’t get scolded. “I was like ‘What’s going on?’ Rome is on the bed,” Marques said. “I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ Rome is like, ‘Nothing. Nothing.’ Brandy’s like, ‘He don’t want to get me in trouble. Nothing, nothing.'” When he found out, he immediately ran for Chris Stokes and rushed Jerome to the hospital. Unfortunately, he became blind in that eye. Check out the clip below.
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