Strange Things About Omarosa Manigault Newman's Marriage
Omarosa Manigault Newman experienced heartbreak when her fiancé, The Green Mile star Michael Clarke Duncan, died in September 2012 after suffering a heart attack. "I am devastated," the former White House director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison told Radar Online. "He was the love of my life."
Thankfully, the former star of The Apprentice would have another shot at love after meeting the Reverend Dr. John Allen Newman in Washington D.C. while she was teaching a class at Howard University, and he was working for a nonprofit, Newsweek reported. The couple got engaged in July 2016, followed by dual April 2017 wedding ceremonies – one of which was held at Trump International Hotel in Washington D.C.
On paper, they seem like the perfect match. They have a lot in common, including their faith, with John being the appointed "shepherd" of Mt. Calvary church in Jacksonville, Fla., and Omarosa as an ordained assistant pastor at a church in Los Angeles, News One revealed. Photographs constantly show them together with huge grins on their faces, but looks can be deceiving.
From her husband's polar opposite political views to rumors that death threats caused them to change the date and location of their wedding, here are all the strange things about Omarosa Manigault Newman's marriage.
She allegedly crashed the White House for a wedding photo shoot
Her wedding day began with a traditional service with Omarosa Manigault Newman walking down the aisle in a $25,000 champagne wedding gown she acquired from Kleinfeld Bridal (which was documented on TLC's Say Yes to the Dress), Vogue magazine reported. Then, she and John Newman took part in a traditional Nigerian wedding ceremony to celebrate her African roots, according to Today.
Following the dual ceremonies, the then-White House employee and 39 members of her wedding party allegedly made a mad dash to the White House's Rose Garden to take some fancy pictures.
Politico dished the dirt many of the senior aides and White House lawyers were befuddled upon Omarosa's arrival, claiming they weren't briefed in advance of her plans.
The guests were said to have "loudly wandered around" the garden and the West Wing, and although they weren't immediately given the boot, Omarosa was reportedly under strict orders to refrain from posting the pictures from her unscheduled photo shoot on social media, with White House officials "citing security and ethical concerns."
The Howard University graduate later denied such a thing ever happened. "You do not show up with 39 people unannounced at the White House," she said in a statement to TODAY. "That is ridiculous."
We want to believe her, but this outlandish antic sounds right up her alley TBH.
They're taking a bipartisan approach to their political differences
Omarosa Manigault Newman was initially registered as a Democrat, and she even worked for Vice President Al Gore during President Bill Clinton's administration, People magazine reported. However, once she joined then-presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign, and was appointed the director of African-American outreach, she made the switch to become a registered member of the Republican party. John Newman, on the other hand, is a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat who worked on both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton's presidential campaigns.
The differences in this strange couple's political beliefs were brought to the forefront during an interview with Elle. "There are some things that as a Democrat ... cause me some concern," John said while speaking of Omarosa's former employer and friend, President Trump.
In an interview with People, Omarosa insisted that their political differences wouldn't affect their union. "We're the most unique political couple in America in the sense that we're literally on as far ends of the spectrum as you can possibly get," Omarosa said, before adding, "The love that we have for each other transcends all political parties, views and stances."
That's sweet and all, but we wouldn't be surprised if Omarosa's former White House gig caused more than a few arguments in the Manigault-Newman household.
She said yes to engagement, wedding, and anniversary rings
After dating for less than a year, John Newman decided it was time to take their relationship to the next level. He reportedly proposed to her in front of his congregation at Mt. Calvary church in Jacksonville, Fla. in July 2016.
As far as her engagement ring goes, John went all out, Omarosa told People magazine. The sparkler was designed by one of his good friends who just so happens to be an Atlanta-area jeweler. The bling bling wasn't just an engagement ring, though, it also included a wedding band and an anniversary band, and she gleefully wore all three of them prior to walking down the aisle. "The thing is spectacular," Omarosa gushed to the publication.
Traditionally, the wedding band is worn after a couple ties the knot. And as for the anniversary band, duh, it's given to the spouse on the day of their anniversary. What the heck is the rush?
We're all sorts of confused but not totally surprised by John's grand, unconventional gesture, though, because there's nothing traditional about this marriage at all.
Did death threats put a damper on their wedding ceremony?
The Daily Mail reported Omarosa Manigault Newman and John Newman initially had their wedding date set for March 25, 2017, at his Jacksonville, Fla. church. However, following alleged death threats and backlash from members of the congregation who were angered over her then-allegiance to President Donald Trump, the website reported the couple decided to rethink their wedding plans.
"She is really concerned about her safety. There have been calls, emails and social media messages from people threatening to do harm to her and she feared that she wouldn't be protected adequately at his church in Jacksonville," an insider close to Omarosa told the website.
At the time, the Daily Mail reported the wedding had been pushed back to April 8, 2017, and would be held at an undisclosed location, which later turned out to be Washington D.C.'s Trump International hotel.
Though the Daily Mail is a publication that certainly doesn't get it right all the time, it was on the money in terms of the actual date of Omarosa's rescheduled nuptials. So, there may be some truth to the death threat allegations after all.
Her bridesmaids dropped like flies
Omarosa Manigault Newman planned to have a huge wedding, with some of her high-profile friends included in her bridal party. One friend, in particular, White House reporter April Ryan, revealed in her book, Under Fire (via Page Six), that Omarosa allegedly texted her, saying, "I said yes to him! Now will you say yes to me? Be my bridesmaid?"
Ryan stated that their friendship fizzled out once Omarosa began working for President Donald Trump's administration, and they even got involved in a very heated altercation. In other words, their friendship was on its last leg, and thus, Ryan wrote in her book, "It became increasingly difficult to avoid her constantly approaching me to get a commitment to be her bridesmaid."
Ryan wasn't the only one who wasn't down for standing by Manigault's side on her big day. According to Vogue magazine, four women dropped out of the ceremony, so she had to resort to having only three bridesmaids on her wedding day. Bummer.
Most people would see it as a red flag if more than half of their bride's wedding party jumped ship, but John was able to look past all the drama. It's still a weird way to start a marriage, no? Let's just hope it doesn't turn into a bad omen.
Did thousands of guests decline their wedding invite?
During an interview with People magazine, Omarosa Manigault Newman revealed the couple's initial plans to hold their wedding ceremony at John Newman's church in Jacksonville, Fla., confirming a portion of the aforementioned tea spilled by the Daily Mail. But there was another potential snafu outside of the alleged scary death threats.
"The tricky part is, his church is invited and my church in Los Angeles (where I am an assistant pastor) is invited. His church can hold 3,000 people and mine can hold 500, so we are trying to find a reception venue that can accommodate everyone," she said, before adding that their union would be a "marriage of two congregations."
In the end, the confirmed number of guests was reported as 150 people, according to Ebony magazine. So what happened to the thousands of church members they planned on inviting? Did they mark "no" on the invitation because of Omarosa's political affiliations? We may never know, but something's definitely fishy.
She's ballin', and he's allegedly broke
Thanks to the reported $179,700 annual White House salary she banked before being fired, her reality television career, and profits from her New York Times' best-selling book, Unhinged, Omarosa Manigault Newman has allegedly amassed a sizable fortune to the tune of an estimated $3.5 million. And it looks like she may be the breadwinner because she and her husband aren't equally yoked when it comes to their finances, according to the Daily Mail.
The tabloid magazine reported John Newman had filed for bankruptcy twice, most recently in 2013 when he listed debts totaling over $1.22 million. Whoa!
The website went on to report that he also fell behind on payments for a car that was later repossessed. Not only that, after he and his first wife divorced in 2014, he was granted possession of their marital home, but he reportedly fell behind on many of the home's bills due to what the Mail described as his "modest annual income of $48,000."
Something tells us Omarosa wasn't privy to his past financial blunders prior to tying the knot. While reciting traditional wedding vows, rather than taking John as her wedded husband "for richer, for poorer," she switched the words to say, "for richer and for richer." Ruh-roh.