LisaRaye McCoy and Duane Martin are both staples of ’90s black cinema. Both actors are tied to some of the most popular films of the era, from Players Club to Above the Rim. They starred opposite each other in the UPN series All of Us from 2003 to 2007 and became close friends. Duane Martin was married to Tisha Campbell-Martin at the time, and the two’s marriage was very inspirational to McCoy. So when she finally found her dream partner in Michael Misick, she immediately introduced Duane and Tisha to him.
Michael Misick was the former Premier of Turks and Caicos Islands. The politician and island royalty has a pension for the high life and whisked LisaRaye off her feet, quickly making her his wife and the first lady of Turks and Caicos. LisaRaye says that after getting married, she leaned into her friendships with Duane and Tisha because they inspired her and helped give her guidance on how to be a wife. Unfortunately, things turned sour when Duane and Michael became too close and began partying and spending a lot of time together. It is alleged that the pair aided one another in cheating on their wives and were overall bad influences and enablers. LisaRaye’s marriage to Michael would dissolve in 2008 after two years. She’s had not had a nice thing to say about Duane since.
When LisaRaye and Michael announced their separation, many were shocked. LisaRaye fully committed to her role as the first lady of Turks and Caicos and stepped away from Hollywood completely to be a wife and cultural figurehead for her people. LisaRaye has stated that she opened theaters and created festivals while living on the island, helping to increase tourism and visibility. Despite this, things did sour between LisaRaye and Michael. LisaRaye maintains that Michael was out doing wrong behind her back with the aid of Duane Martin.
In addition to this, it was announced the same year as their divorce that Michael was involved in some shady business dealings. He was asked to resign from his position after it was revealed that he had amassed “a multi-million dollar fortune since he was elected in 2003 when he declared assets of only $50,000.” He was said to have been selling off Crown land to fund his investments.
Things got so bad that, unfortunately, LisaRaye McCoy left the marriage with nothing. While discussing Duane Martin and Tisha Campbell’s split in 2020, where Tisha was reportedly left with $7, LisaRaye says she understands because the same happened to her. She recalls telling herself, “I’m just gon’ start all over. To some people, it’s like, ‘What? You were in a marriage, and he had more than you, and you helped him get even more than that, and you all were together and building together at least for a couple of years. Don’t you deserve something?'”
In the 13 years since her divorce, LisaRaye has thrown herself back into work and rebuilding her brand as an actress and television personality. She is currently the host of Cocktails with Queens, where she dishes on her life and hot topics. She’s also done some dating, even competing in a reality dating series called The Proposal. LisaRaye fielded advances from rapper Meek Mill who expressed interest in getting to know her after she joked about giving fans VIP access to her last year.
Despite all of this, she has had a hard time shaking her marriage to Michael. She’s spoken fondly about them in the years since the split explaining, “The love I have for him is based on the time we spent together. The start of our relationship was phenomenal, and when we came together, it was something special. He embraced my family and I knew he cared about me.” Despite this, she admits that she was not in love when she married him and only married because she saw the potential for them down the line. “It was the potential of falling in love, but I should have been in that before the marriage,” she said a few years ago.
Despite moving on and rebuilding her life and brand, LisaRaye has yet to forgive Duane Martin. While discussing how Martin Lawrence and Tisha Campbell have been able to reconcile ahead of their television reunion special, LisaRaye explains that Lawrence came around and publicly apologized, allowing Tisha to forgive him. In LisaRaye’s case, Duane has yet to do so.
While LisaRaye “prays” she can forgive him, she admits that she doesn’t “feel that way” just yet. The shady remake left Vivica A. Fox gobsmacked.
