Kenya Summer Moore (born January 24, 1971) is an American actress, author, entrepreneur, television personality and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss USA 1993. Moore was born on January 24, 1971 in Detroit, Michigan to teenagers Patricia Moore and Ronald Grant and raised by her paternal grandmother Doris Grant and aunt after her mother abandoned her three days after her birth.
Kenya Moore is ready to embrace Kenya Moore. After celebrating her birthday at Paris Fashion Week, The Real Housewives of Atlanta mom sat down with People magazine to reflect on her major life changes, including her new and empowering mindset. Kenya admitted she had spent years living with self-imposed restrictions, as she struggled with outside pressures that led to internal criticism. But the mother of one insists that's no longer the case.
Kenya told the magazine she recently freed herself from those burdens and gave herself "permission" to live in her truth. “I’ve never given myself that before; allowed myself the freedom to just let go and walk through life fully embracing every part of myself,” she told the outlet. “That’s what I want to do moving forward because I’m tired of holding myself back. This ‘next chapter,’ as I’m calling it, is all about flourishing, removing myself from those burdens and stepping into me.”
Early Life and Upbringing
The reality-TV-show star revealed that her mother never named her. "Since birth, my mother made the decision at age 16 to pretend she never had me. She has never spoken to me," Kenya wrote. "Even if present in the same room with other people and family, she pretends that I simply don't exist. She pretends I'm invisible," Kenya revealed on her Bravo blog.
Moore graduated from Cass Technical High School in 1989. While still in high school, Moore experienced domestic violence from a much older boyfriend. Moore began modeling at the age of 14, and was the January 1992 cover girl for Ebony Man magazine. She also modelled for the Ebony Fashion Fair cosmetic line. Moore has also appeared on the covers of Glamour, Seventeen, Ebony, and Essence magazines. At 22, Moore won Miss Michigan USA 1993 and then became the second African American woman to win Miss USA.
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Religious Background and Beliefs
In the season 8 finale of Real Housewives of Atlanta, Kenya Moore revealed that she was raised a Jehovah’s Witness. “I’m not big on celebrating holidays because I grew up as a Jehovah’s Witness and we didn’t really celebrate,” she said.
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Kenya said she was always judging herself through the eyes of her grandma, an “old-fashioned and very religious” woman who helped raise her. “While I appreciated that and appreciated her morals, I feel like I’ve been wound a little too tight in the past,” she said about her grandmother. “I’ve always contained myself, especially in my personal relationships. And I’m done doing that.”
Relationships and Forgiveness
Kenya Moore is questioning her fellow "Real Housewives of Atlanta" co-star Phaedra Parks' Christian beliefs. The two women have publicly feuded for years following Moore's decision to copy an idea for an exercise video and Parks' estranged husband accusing the former of inappropriately propositioning him. While Parks' estranged husband Apollo Nida admitted he lied about the suggestive claims made about Moore, the latter seemed to want to wipe the slate clean with her co-star.
However, Nida's admissions were not enough to make things right in Parks' eyes, which has caused Moore to question her co-star's Christianity in her latest Bravo TV blog. In the latest episode of "Real Housewives of Atlanta," Parks prayed before meeting with Moore and other co-stars but continued to call the beauty queen a w---. Moore spoke out against Parks' prayer in her latest blog Tuesday.
“Clearly when a woman who prides herself as a Christian while praying to God as she calls someone a w---- and a s--- is the real devil to be protected from…,” Moore wrote. "All the nasty rumors on this show about me being bipolar, broke, an alcoholic, a w---, and someone who pays for boyfriends and has a rented car all came from Phaedra's vengeful, hate-filled mind. No outstanding Christian should repeatedly call another woman a w--- and be unapologetic about it."
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While Moore insists she has apologized for her own questionable behavior, she spoke about her own faith and forgiving Parks. "I have apologized countless times; I have corrected my behavior, which may have lead to persons misjudging me; and through it all, I have decided to forgive Phaedra even though she refuses to apologize to me for her actions," she wrote. "I thank my Grandmother for introducing me to God and providing me with a moral compass, empathy for others, and the ability to admit my shortcomings. I may stumble from time to time, but I have my faith and God to uplift me."
Parks explained why she found it hard to be friends with Moore. "After Apollo said he had been lying, Kenya has been doing the vindication dance and expecting the rest of us to have an epiphany that she is a wonderful human being. The fact remains that Kenya often acts in an inappropriate, disrespectful, and unbecoming manner towards a lot of people," Moore told Bravo in a Q&A. "Kenya's consistent behavior from inappropriately interacting with married men to screaming at people, who are in close proximity, through a bullhorn is unacceptable and independent of anything Apollo may or may not have done or said. In short, as it relates to whom and how Kenya is, her consistent actions speak louder than Apollo's words."
Personal Growth and Reflections
Kenya Moore reflects on her divorce from Marc Daly. Although Kenya didn’t reveal the catalyst for her new mindset, it’s worth noting that her comments came following her split from Marc Daly. The former couple tied the knot in 2017 and welcomed their first child together, a daughter named Brooklyn, in the following year. Kenya and Marc called it quits in the summer of 2019 and finalized their divorce in late 2023.
“For years I blamed myself for my divorce - in the same way I judged myself, that was my default,” Kenya continued. So I said, ‘I’m sorry, but I’m not going to do this to myself.’” She continued: “The only thing that I can say with me is that once I did see the red flag, I should have gotten out then. I needed to stop being Captain Save-a-Ho, Some hoes can’t be saved!”
In addition to being a single mom, Kenya continues to make waves in the entertainment and beauty industries. She’s landed several on-screen gigs over the past year and has taken Kenya Moore Haircare to new heights.
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Other Celebrities and Their Faith
Different faiths for different folks. Grammy winner Gladys Knight joined the Mormon faith in 1997 and LDSLiving that it was her son (a priest) who was able to baptize her, “It was such a precious thing to me. NBA star Amar’e Stoudemire is Jewish after being introduced to the faith my his mother. He told The Jerusalem Post that the religion played “a subtle but important role in [his] development.” In 2010, he made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem and incorporated elements of the religion into his 2012 wedding. Community actor Donald Glover told the Daily Beast in 2015 that being a Jehovah’s Witness shaped his creative outlet. “Being a Jehovah’s Witness was interesting,” he said. Pro Golfer Tiger Woods was raised as a Buddhist.
Kevin C. Naomi Campbell was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness. Dave M. Sammy Davis, Jr. In 1972, singer, actor and comedian Sammy Davis, Jr. became the first African-American entertainer to host or co-host the show in the history of the Academy Awards. He hosted alongside Jack Lemmon, Helen Hayes and Alan King. The rapper was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness until his mother left the region in his formative years. Q-Tip, one third of legendary hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest, converted to Islam in 1996, ”I read the Koran and it appealed to me.
Comedic family, the Wayans, grew up as Jehovah’s witnesses. Keenen Ivory Wayans said in an interview to the Westword in 2013 that their strict household was a result of his father’s faith. “I don’t think religion has as much impact on me, because my mom was not a Jehovah’s Witness, and she would point out all of the funny and contradictory things about religion. So we had a unique, side-eye view on religion. My dad was the Jehovah’s Witness. My mom was not, and there was always conflict about that. And that was part of the humor of my house.
Actress Rashida Jones, daughter to mega music producer Quincy Jones and Mod Squad beauty Peggy Lipton, is an Ashkenazi Jew from her mother’s lineage. Yasiin Bey, aka Mos Def, was introduced to Islam but his dad at age 13 and declared is faith at age 19. Russell Simmons is a renowned Buddhist. He told Faith Street that “I’m a Buddhist. I practice yoga every day. I practice religious yoga. I meditate twice a day. I’m a vegan. My brother says I’m a Christian Yogi. I like Jesus, Moses, Abraham. I believe the prophets came at different times. We’re all part of one body Yoga is 5,000 years old. It’s a textbook for happiness. I believe people are all the same and we are connected ultimately.
Sisters Venus and Serena Williams are tennis superstars. Serena has gone on record stating that she owes all her success to “Jehovah God.” In 2007, she told The New York Times as reported by Huffington Post, “You have a strong solid foundation, tPhe Bible says, you won’t crack, but the man who built his house in the sand, his house went down spiritually. I have a really strong foundation. Drake was born to a African American father, Dennis, and a Jewish Canadian mother, Sandi. The creator of Girlfriends and Being Mary Jane, Mara Brock Akil and her husband Salim, are Muslims. She told The Hollywood Reporter in 2012 that she “believe[s] in divine order all the time.” In her creative process, she said she “felt the presence of God all the way through.
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