‘Power’ Star Naturi Naughton Was Supposed To Be a Cheetah Girl — Here’s Why She’s Not

Actor and singer Naturi Naughton-Lewis proved there is life after a devastating setback. Most of the entertainer's fanbase met her in the early 2000s singing group, 3LW, alongside Adrienne Bailon-Houghton and Kiely Williams. However, as her career expanded, Naturi found her footing in Hollywood, as the star of Power, Notorious, and other projects.

The multitalented star's later success came after she was notoriously fired from 3LW, a move that resulted in decades-long feud against her and her former group members. In the years that followed her leaving the group, Naturi shared that she was also supposed to be part of another famous, somewhat fictional girl group, The Cheetah Girls.

Here's the tea.

For those shamefully unaware, The Cheetah Girls was a movie adaptation of Deborah Gregory's young adult book series of the same name. According to Naturi's interview with SiriusXM’s Page Six Radio, she and her former 3LW group mates were in talks of starring in the movie as the main characters, and said Raven-Symone's name was already attached to the project.

"Cheetah Girls was pitched to 3LW. Why do you think it's a girl group?" she stated on the radio show. "It was three girls and Raven-Symoné. Disney was developing a movie that they had a big plan for, and 3LW plus Raven were supposed to be in it."

Naturi added that she, Adrienne and Kiely were planning to take a meeting with their former manager and Disney to discuss their roles, which she already knew about beforehand. However, she later found out that her band members went to the meeting without her, marking the beginning of the end for her and the group.

"They told me after the fact that Disney is going to offer 3LW a deal to do a movie called Cheetah Girls with Raven-Symoné," Naturi recalled. "I had already heard about it, but we were all supposed to be going to the meeting. The meeting happened without me. Then, they get back to the apartment. I'm like, 'Wait, so what?' They were like, 'Well, you're not gonna be in the group anymore,' and that was the beginning of the X-ing."

"They already had told Disney, and then I think they got a replacement after I was officially kicked out, so yeah," she continued. "I had a lot of resentment about that 'cause I was actually struggling."

Naturi made her exit from 3LW in 2002 following an altercation with Kiely and Adrienne that, according to BET News, included Kiely throwing a plate of KFC's chicken and mashed potatoes at Naturi's face. She was replaced by Jessica Benson before group disbanded altogether shortly after the release of their second album, A Girl Can Mack.

The Cheetah Girls role that was presumably slated for Naturi was ultimately given to Sabrina Bryan, who later toured and performed with Adrienne and Kiely as the standalone group, The Cheetah Girls.

Although she didn't receive the Disney Channel fame her previous group members had, Naturi doesn't mind where her career stands today. According to her interview with The Morning Hustle Show, she believed she wasn't included in the movie for a significant reason.

"I realized that, what was for me, is what I got," Naturi reflected. "What was for me was to play Lil Kim in Notorious. What was for me was to book Tasha in Power.

"What's for you is for you," she added. "I was mad at that time but God knew what he was doing. He protected me."