Source: (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) (Photo by Astrida Valigorsky/Getty Images)
It’s Stacey Dash’s birthday and she has had quite the career and reputation throughout her 59 years of living.
As a Bronx beauty, she captured many hearts in the late ’90s and early 2000s with her green eyes and bronzed skin. She was a true “It” girl of her time and often booked gigs where she was either a leading lady, or a character where multiple men swooned over her.
Years later, Dash’s conservative views and outspoken support for Donald Trump left her publicly estranged causing admirers to distance themselves. But she has since apologized and even backed away from speaking about politics. Now she focuses on making videos and taking photos on social media which is slowly winning back the love and support from fans.
Let’s take a closer look at how her public image has evolved over the years.
Moving was one of Dash’s earliest films where she got to share the screen with the likes of legendary comedian Richard Pryor and singer Morris Day. Pryor plays a civil engineer who, after losing his job, sells his New Jersey home and attempts to relocate to Idaho after landing a new role. But along the way, he runs into unexpected obstacles. Dash plays Pryor’s daughter. Check out this scene between them.
2. Stacey Dash in Mo’ Money (1992)
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Years later, after getting other TV and movie opportunities, Dash booked the lead role in Mo’ Money. In this ’90s movie, Damon Wayans’ character is a petty criminal. He ends up meeting and falling for Amber Evans, played by Dash, and decides to stop committing crimes and instead gets a job where she works. After realizing how poorly compensated the job is, he plans to do one more crime—stealing from a credit card company to prove to Evans how well-off he is. Instead, he runs into more trouble when a blackmailer demands he help him commit a bigger crime.
3. Stacey Dash in Clueless (1995)
Clueless was released in 1995 and it became one of Dash’s most recognizable projects to date. Dash plays Dionne Davenport, who is best friends to the lead character of the film, Cher Horowitz. Cher is a popular high schooler who helps other students find love with her matchmaking skills. From the fashion outfits worn by the characters, to the quotable scenes, Clueless easily became a ’90s classic.
4. Stacey Dash in Paper Soldiers (2002)
Paper Soldiers starring Kevin Hart, Beanie Siegel, and Memphis Bleek tells the story of a rookie criminal who commits small-time crimes with a crew of thieves. Dash acts as the beautiful Tamika who has every man drooling for her attention.
5. Stacey Dash Plays Love Interest in “All Falls Down”(2004) By Kanye West Featuring Syleena Johnson
Kanye West’s “All Falls Down”is one of those early 2000s hits that still has heads bopping and voices singing more than 20 years later. From his thought-provoking lyricism to Syleena Johnson’s soulful and gritty voice, the song has stood the test of time and often brings on a beautiful feeling of nostalgia. West tapped Dash to play his leading lady in the video, giving her more screen time than himself, as they rush through an airport to make her flight.
6. Stacey Dash in “Super High” (2010) By Rick Ross Featuring Ne-Yo
Dash’s beauty and talent got her another love interest role in 2010, this time for Rick Ross’ “Super High” music video featuring Ne-Yo. In it, Ross is head of a motorcycle crew, who pulls up next to a man and his woman (Dash) in a yellow Corvette. With a little flirting, Ross convinced Dash’s character to leave her man stranded and hop on the back of his ride instead.
7. Stacey Dash Endorses Mitt Romney (2012)
2012 is the year that Stacey Dash first sparked online outrage after publicly endorsing then-Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Although she claimed she voted for President Barack Obama in 2008, Dash said she wanted to see a change in the future. Explaining her decision, she told Piers Morgan on Piers Morgan Tonight, “I would say because of the state of the country, and I want the next four years to be different. I believe him. I watched him, the Governor and his wife, on Meet The Press with David Gregory, they spoke to me, they seemed authentic and genuine,” she said.
8. Stacey Dash Slams BET and Black History Month (2016)
Dash’s newly publicized conservative views peaked the interest of Fox News and they hired her as a contributor in 2014. It was there that she shocked the world—mainly the Black community—with her strong beliefs about eliminating platforms that highlight and celebrate Black culture like the Black Entertainment Television network and Black History Month.
9. Stacey Dash Endorses Donald Trump (2016)
In the same year, Dash made it clear that Donald Trump is who she was voting for as the next president of the United States. She wrote a post defending his character and debunking the discourse about him being violent. She called it “a total misread.”
“First of all, he’s not responsible for what every random guy does—out of thousands,” she wrote. “Second of all, he’s not violent, he’s just ‘street.’ He was born in Queens. Of course, that doesn’t mean he was hustling on the street, dodging bullets. I know he had a privileged upbringing that no doubt isolated him from much of the violence and strife that some people grew up with in the city.”
She later added that “Americans LOVE Trump” because they are tired of being pushed around and he doesn’t tolerate being bullied.
10. Stacey Dash Runs For Congress In 2018
Dash campaigned for Congress in California’s 44th District. She submitted paperwork to run as a Republican congresswoman using the slogan “Dash to DC.” However, just one month later, she withdrew from the congressional race. Dash pointed to political bitterness and pressure on her family as being reasons why she decided to drop out.
11. Stacey Dash Backs Trumps Statements About “Unite The Right”Rally
In 2017, a rally that took place in Charlottesville,Va., turned deadly. White supremacists and neo-nazis banded together to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Later violence and street fights ensued among the far-right group and counterprotestors. Things took a turn when a 20-year-old white nationalist plowed his truck into a group of counterprotestors, killing one woman, Heather Heyer, and injured others. Instead of condemning the acts of the far-right group, Trump attempted to place blame on both sides and even said “You also had some very fine people on both sides.”
Dash agreed during her appearance on MSNBC in 2018. She said, “I think he’s absolutely right. There were two extreme sides. And here’s what it boils down to our right. They had a right to assemble. Both sides had a right. But they were both extremes. And here’s where I said in the beginning, we have to listen to each other, if we do not listen, there will be no solutions. It’s just a bunch of banter and noise.”
12. Stacey Dash Is Arrested For Domestic Battery (2019)
Stacey Dash spent some time in the slammer after pushing and slapping her then-husband Jeffrey Marty in the face during an argument. The incident took place in New Port Richey, Fla., and the report says the unidentified victim “sustained red scratch marks to his upper left arm from being pushed.” Dash was taken into custody and transported to Land O’ Lakes detention facility where Marty later bailed her out. The couple got married the year prior, just 10 days after meeting, and Dash filed for divorce nine months after her arrest.
13. Stacey Dash Turns A New Leaf
Following the Jan. 6 deadly riots where a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, Dash declares that she was “truly done.” In a 2021 exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, she walked back some of her political behavior in 2016, citing her anger as being the cause of her comments.
She said, “There are things that I am sorry for. Things that I did say, that I should not have said them the way I said them. They were very arrogant and prideful and angry. And that’s who Stacey was, but that’s not who Stacey is now. Stacey’s someone who has compassion, empathy.”
She added that being a Black conservative has led her to being blacklisted. “Being a supporter of Trump has put me in some kind of box that I don’t belong in. But he’s not the president. I’m going to give the president that we have right now a chance,” she said referring to former president Joe Biden.
14. Where Is Stacey Dash Now?
Now Dash appears to be thriving on her social media pages. Posting fun trendy skits and liberating dance videos, she seems to have been able to win back some people who just can’t get enough of her everlasting beauty.
