Originally Posted by
RanRan79
Berry Gordy was the boss. Had he really cared about the Supremes post Diana, when, for whatever reason, he deemed Jean the wrong move, Jean would've been out on her ass and there would've been nothing Mary could do about it. Berry Gordy was a control freak where his female acts were concerned. I can't think of a single moment where any of them ever had a say so in their careers, particularly if it was something Gordy wanted and they didn't. Between 1961 and 1969 Berry Gordy probably consulted Mary Wilson about one Supremes related issue: what to do about Florence. And as we all know, although some fans prefer to become selective amnesiacs at this point, that Mary's answer was that Flo had to go. Now I'd like to see a show of hands of those who believe that had Mary's response been "Flo stays", that Flo's Supremes story would've ended any differently. Anybody? Somebody? Nobody? Yeah, I didn't think so. Gordy would've reminded Mary to be careful lest she find her ass out right next to Florence.
Perhaps the only power play the Supremes had was Diana siding with them. Gordy might have been willing to give in on some things in order to keep the ship righted. Flo being unhappy made for a rocky ship. Diana being unhappy could've sunk the ship. With Diana out, who did Gordy really have to keep happy in the Supremes? Gordy had been telling Mary what to do for almost a decade of her life. Cindy had been in this thing for about two and a half years, but Gordy surely didn't have any loyalty to her. So if he really didn't want Jean, if Jean really was a breaking point for him with the group, he'd have fired her, called Mary that morning to tell her of his decision and then hung up on her ass before she could say another word.
I think Berry always knew that, Jean or no Jean, he was out of the Supremes business when Diana was out of it. And if Mary's story is to be believed, this made for a great response to the question of "Why aren't you in our corner like you were when Diane was in the group?" Easy answer: "You refused to make the change, so now you deal with the group on your own." It makes the entire situation Mary's fault and Gordy's hands, well, they're washed clean.
Gordy was a man of the streets. He knew how to do this shit.