Budden didn’t hesitate. “I didn’t do a swap… I didn’t do a swap,” he repeated. “Melyssa stepped away, and Mona—we was negotiating for, for quite some time. Shouts out to Melyssa, we love her.” His tone left little doubt that Ford’s exit was voluntary and revered.

Jones shifted the main target to Mona, who joined the podcast earlier this 12 months and has shortly develop into a standout voice. “She is one of the most funniest… like touch your soul funny,” he mentioned. “Just her talk… She ain’t even gotta be funny. Her walk in, and you see her, you just want to laugh. She has that aura to her.”

Joe Budden Confirms He Did Not Fire Melyssa Ford From The Joe Budden Podcast

For Jones, Mona’s presence added a spark that instantly modified the present’s chemistry. “When I seen her on the couch, I was like, ‘Oh, now this show just got some more legs, ’cause this girl is a whole show on her own… Shout to you, Mona… You did that, girl. Show out time now.’”

Budden echoed the reward, revealing he had eyed Mona for years. “She’s been on time, just as funny as I imagined,” he mentioned. “I’ve been plotting on Mona for a while… she was in whatever contract she was there.”

Jones added that he had pushed her early on: “Even when she was with Gille and Wallo… That girl got some shit with her… I’m glad she with you.”

Budden closed the subject with a metaphor solely he might ship: “It’s only so long you can contain good talent like that… The dogs get big and gotta leave the cage at some point. So Mona is great. We love Mel. Shout out to her.”

The trade confirmed what followers suspected: Ford stepped away on her personal phrases, and Mona’s rise marks a brand new chapter—not a alternative—within the ever-shifting world of Budden’s hit podcast.