I was visiting wardrobe one day in-between scenes, discussing something about which outfits would work for the next green screen setup. Behind me I hear an operatic voice singing: "De-neeesss Shiiinnnn..." and turned to see [an always lively] Erica Ash belting her greeting. I didn't know her well, but well enough, after working together for four seasons on Real Husbands of Hollywood (RHOH) with Kevin Hart.

She was hilarious, intelligent, witty, sweet, approachable and dedicated to her craft. Erica played Kevin's [pretend] ex-wife, Bridgette, and it was flint and gasoline watching them perform together. She was one of the few cast members that I connected with outside of filming, and I would regularly send her clips for her socials.

One afternoon, Erica invited me to her home to discuss her vision — a whole social push representing her multifaceted talents and background. I had no idea she was also a singer, model, writer and speaker — interestingly, everything except standup comedy. We watched her old clips, she shared stories about Mad, it was fun and inspiring. She was so trusting of me and gave me all her social accounts and logins to design a new website. You really have to want to be on camera, so this venture was a no-brainer. We talked business, tech, family, Hollywood...and just joked about things that still make me laugh today.

One day we were on the lot hanging out in front of the stage and Johnny Mack was jabbing at me, as per usual:

Now mind you, this was a daily exercise, and I definitely got my return-fire in [1 out of 3 jokes, so I wouldn't have my card revoked]. But that day, Erica wasn't having it and she just gave J-Mack this look in my defense — he actually paused to explain that it was in good fun. But that's what kind of person Erica was — she just wanted to make sure I wasn't receiving random punches for no reason.

During all those seasons of filming, I only saw her blush exactly once. We were finishing a VFX setup with Kev, and Erica came by the stage before our next scene. They were discussing something and then suddenly Kev turns to the crew and says, "Listen up people — just want to say congratulations to Erica for getting SNL! Erica Ash is gonna be on SNL!" In the midst of the clapping, Erica's eyes widened and she said, "I didn't say I got SNL, I said I just got an audition for SNL." Kevin goes, "Nevermind....ok, well she's gonna get SNL...forget what I just said, as you were." Erica was just standing there smiling.

Right after that funny announcement, I went up to her and said, "Hey, let's take a pic before you leave us for SNL." She was such a good sport:

We completed the last season of RHOH during Covid without her due to scheduling conflicts. It would have been amazing for Erica to be in that last season with us, it felt special. It's hard to imagine that I would find myself a part of a tight unit at BET, but it just goes to show that you don't always choose your family. And that's what it really feels like when you're with the same cast and crew for so many years. Which is why hearing of Erica's passing was such a shocking punch in the gut.

Wayne Stamps and I get on the phone pretty much every other week to discuss creative work and life. It's always hard to talk about losing family members — we still often talk about Billy Washington and Carl Craig. Nobody really teaches you how to respond to those updates. You just turn the page and the script suddenly comes to an end. It doesn't feel like that's how the story should go.

To anyone that has known Erica, I just want to say what a pleasure it was to work with her, connect with her, and be a very small background character in her story. It seems like there should definitely be more pages here. What a beautiful spark that went out too soon. It sounds ridiculous, but she was just so kind to me. The least I can do is write this small, insignificant tribute in my quiet corner of the web.

Thank you Erica for the few short seasons we spent together, and for treating me with equality and kindness.