What is Tokyo Toni Doing for a Living? What is Her Real Name?
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Tokyo Toni is a 52-year-old American businesswoman and television personality, best known as the mother of the American socialite, television personality, and model Blac Chyna.
Early life and education, source of career
Tokyo Toni was born Shalana Jones on 8 October 1971 [Not 12 October, as claimed online] in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. In her RealLyfe Productions interview from March 2023, Toni said that she grew up in the Southeast, one of the most challenging parts of Washington DC USA to raise a family. Despite that, she had a fantastic upbringing because ‘her father, TC Tolliver, was well-known and spent his time with Hollywood stars.’ TC was a drummer for Plasmatics, a well-known rock band, and later collaborated with singer Wendy O. Williams.
Toni said that she had nine brothers and five sisters, played piano as a kid, and had one at home as an adult. Toni’s education was impacted by unexpected pregnancy; her daughter Blac Chyna, born Angela Reneé White, was conceived on 2 August 1987 and born on 11 May 1988 in Washington DC, when Toni was 17. Toni had to leave home and raise Angela as a single mother.
Career
In 1991, Toni enlisted in the US Army and later worked at the Movie Extra A-List Talent agency and the EOTM Radio and Media broadcast station, according to People. However, she started her publicly known career in entertainment in 2014 when she founded On My Grind Entertainment and Promotions LLC, a talent agency. Toni promoted the company on her Instagram account, shalanajh, but stopped posting in May 2014. However, Toni said that people started recognizing her as early as 1994 because she worked as an escort for about 10 years, and filmed pornography.
TV debut
Toni rose to greater prominence on 18 December 2016 in the “Rob & Chyna Baby Special” episode of the reality TV series “Rob & Chyna,” starring her daughter and her daughter’s fiancé, television personality Rob Kardashian. Besides the birth of Rob and Chyna’s baby, the episode was notable for Toni’s verbal clashes with Kris Jenner, the Kardashian family matriarch. Toni was already a grandmother – her daughter, a former stripper at King of Diamonds in Miami, Florida, met rapper Michael Ray “Tyga” Nguyen-Stevenson in October 2011 at the club. They started dating shortly afterwards, and welcomed their first child, son King Cairo Stevenson on 16 October 2012 in California, US. Their relationship ended in 2014.
Tyga went on to date model and businesswoman Kylie Jenner, while Chyna started dating Kylie’s half-brother, Rob, in January 2016. Chyna and Rob became engaged in April of that year and welcomed their daughter, Dream Kardashian, on 10 November 2016, but they broke up in 2017. Rob leaked several nude photographs of Chyna to Instagram afterwards, which he claimed was retaliation because she sent photos of herself in bed with another man on 4 July. Chyna also accused him of physical abuse, according to InTouchWeekly.
Clashing with Chyna
Toni had deep-rooted issues with her daughter, and one reason was revealed in 2018 when US Magazine reported that Toni said that ‘Angela was a mistake and a statutory rape baby,’ which hurt her daughter profoundly. She reportedly tolerated her only because she was her only child, regretted giving birth to her, and claimed that Chyna wouldn’t be successful without her backing and guidance.
Rob and Chyna agreed to co-parent Dream despite not being in a relationship, but also to prevent Toni from seeing their baby and cut contact with her. As they started a custody battle, Toni said that ‘something was terribly wrong with her daughter and that Rob should get temporary custody.’ Rob refused to respond to her requests to see Dream, even when she offered to make a video call. Toni also complained that she hadn’t heard her granddaughter’s voice yet.
That prompted Toni to reach out to Amber Rose, a fellow model and TV personality, and Chyna’s best friend, via social media. She explained that she doesn’t care if her daughter never talks to her, ‘as she only has /yes/ people around, all of whom she hates.’ Unfortunately, neither Amber nor Chyna responded to her pleas.
Signs of love
Noticing all the turmoil, the producers of her daughter’s reality TV series, “The Real Blac Chyna,” contacted Toni, and she agreed to star in nine episodes from July to October 2019 on Zeus Network. Although they were at peace at times, disagreements marked the series. They sometimes led to physical alternations, and Chyna brandished a knife and threw a chair towards Toni, according to TMZ. Chyna also threatened to commit suicide, but Toni seemed indifferent.
US Magazine spoiled the content of the last few episodes, filmed months in advance, by reporting that Toni and Chyna seemed incredibly close while attending the Sparkles roller-skating rink event in Atlanta, Georgia, in May 2019. Toni said at the event, ‘I love her to death; nothing else matters but family.’ Chyna posted a video of them hugging on Instagram and wrote that ‘family and love were the most important things in the world and that she loves her mommy.’ Zeus Network producers created the “Tokyo Toni’s Finding Love ASAP!” series to celebrate the restored mother-daughter bond. In it, Toni interviewed several eligible bachelors to find her perfect match but ultimately remained single.
Court problems
Toni resurfaced in the mainstream media in April 2022. According to Daily Mail UK, her daughter started a custody battle with Rob Kardashian, and sued the Kardashian family for $100 million in damages for defamation. Chyna alleged that the Kardashians conspired to portray her as a violent abuser by claiming that she beat Rob with a metal pole, threatened him with a loaded gun, choked him with a phone charger cable, and used alcohol and cocaine in 2016.
Toni supported her daughter during the initial court appearance. She called the Kardashians violent, and said she and her daughter merely stood up for themselves. Unsurprisingly, Toni was barred from entering the courtroom again because Kris petitioned the judge to ban Toni due to concerns for her safety. Consequently, Toni started an Instagram Live on her account, tokyo_toni, on which she has amassed over 21,000 followers, and commented on the proceedings as they happened.
Besides disparaging the Kardashian family members for their appearance and behavior, Toni exclaimed, ‘This put me out the courtroom?! Oh, I can’t wait, I’m gonna get that judge!’ Pagesix.com reported that someone reported her to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) because threatening a judge was a federal offense.
Chyna’s transformation
Considering Toni’s support and Chyna attending her mom’s wedding in 2020, bystanders assumed that they had finally buried the hatchet. That seemed valid until Toni’s daughter announced that she was on a path to physical and mental transformation and was growing more religious towards the end of 2022. According to People, Chyna started using her birth name, Angela White, wherever she could. She also stopped drinking, became interested in fitness, and started reversing the results of her surgical operations. That included removing facial fillers in her jaw, cheeks, and lips and the enhancements in her buttocks and breasts, possibly made of silicone or her fat.
Toni’s dissatisfaction with her daughter’s all-black outfit at the 2023 Grammy Awards seemingly started new disputes. Complex reported that Toni thought that her costume ‘was sickening and looked like the devil and that her daughter dressed for a worship ceremony.’ She also alleged that her daughter was trying to impress the guy who lives with her, as it looked like his style. Angela stated that she blocked her mother on social media in March.
Insults continue
Toni resumed scolding her daughter publicly, ridiculing her religious journey and accusing her of faking her transformation, attributing it to a public relations (PR) stunt, calling people who applauded the change clowns, according to TheRoot. Insults in April focused on her daughter’s tendency to sleep around, and bring many men into her children’s lives. Toni also claimed that Chyna refused to let anyone be above her, and couldn’t care for the people she reportedly loved.
Things grew weirder when Toni started accusing her daughter of conspiring with the Illuminati. According to Toni, that secret society controlled Hollywood for decades, and killed Kanye West’s mother, Donda. Toni also claimed that the ‘Illuminati marked her for death, so she didn’t want to be near her daughter without weapons.’ Things escalated later that month, when Toni threatened to ‘Marvin Gaye’ her daughter. She was referencing singer-songwriter Marvin Gaye, whose father killed him in his room in 1984, following a life of resentment and hostility.
Reunion
On Angela’s birthday in 2023, the former model posted a video in which she hugged her mother before they fell to the ground and smiled. Shortly after, Zeus Network announced that the two would be guest judges for the audition process in the “Baddies East” reality TV competition. Toni also praised her daughter for being sober for a year in September 2023, according to E! Online. She explained, ‘Seeing her sober, no makeup, fillers gone, that’s who I birthed. She’s very beautiful; what you see is what you get.’ Tonni explained that their previous quarrels were due to lies and called the situation a mess.
Consequently, she supported her daughter during her custody agreement battle with Tyga, during which she sought joint custody. JustJared reported that it ended in early December 2023, and the judge decided that King Cairo would spend Friday through Monday with Angela and that Tyga wouldn’t have to pay child support.
Yep, you see it!! 😜 The MAIN STAGE JUDGES for the #BaddiesEastAuditions will not only be the Baddest Baddie herself @missnatalienunn but joining her is #TokyoToni and #RubiRose!! 🤯 Y’all ready to pull up and show us why you’re a Baddie or Nah?!
Link in bio to subscribe!! ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/JuZGbdXkh7
— @ZeusNetworkOfficial (@The_ZeusNetwork) May 6, 2023
Current work
Toni mentioned owning or operating a trucking company in the RealLyfe Productions interview. Additionally, she is an investor in cryptocurrency. Toni calls herself ‘a grinder and a hustler’ who isn’t attracted by her partner’s finances. She also said that religion is part of everything she does and said that she would ‘label herself as an Israelite if Lord came back to Earth.’ In January 2018, Toni announced her book entitled “Silent Whispers,” presumably her tell-all memoir. However, despite her asking her followers to pre-order it, it has yet to be released, potentially due to the lack of interest.
Fling with Eric Holland
Toni had Chyna with Eric Holland from a one-night stand when she was a teenager, and never saw him again. Eric lived in Maryland State, US, in 2016 when Daily Mail UK interviewed him. He said that he gave his blessings for her engagement to Rob, and that she remained in contact with him. Eric added that she always believed that she would be well-known, and ‘she wanted to achieve great things since she was 13 or 14.’
Toni said in her RealLyfe Productions interview that growing up with nine brothers, whom she had to watch non-stop, affected her decision not to interact with men until she had intercourse with Eric. Toni was also worried when Angela started taking off her clothes at 12 and feared that she might make a similar mistake. Angela only told her about one drug dealer boyfriend in the 10th grade, who later moved in with them, and never saw her with a boy afterwards, which added to her anxiety.
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First husband Phillip
Toni’s first husband was a military man named Philip. Toni admitted to having sexual intercourse with her best friend and Phillip and said that it was ‘as fucked up as it was supposed to be.’ Although Toni had grown tired of Phillip’s excessive meticulousness and considered a divorce, his cheating with her best friend at a later date sealed the deal. During the promotion of “Tokyo Toni: Finding Love ASAP!” Toni clarified that she never liked hookups, preferred traditional dating, and had more husbands than boyfriends.
Ex-husband Curtis
Toni only revealed that her second husband, Curtis, was in prison in 2023, serving 60 years for a bank robbery. She confessed to telling him to make money, but didn’t expect that he would rob a bank. Curtis reportedly cheated on her with the woman who helped him commit the crime – that woman reported him to the authorities, and Toni divorced him.
Third husband Anthony
Toni’s third husband, Anthony, is the only one with whom she planned a wedding ceremony, except with Marcellus in 2020; she merely went to the courthouse all other times. However, Toni changed her mind two hours before she was supposed to tie the knot. At the ceremony, Toni showered to remove all her makeup, undressed, and was ready to quit. Her mother was furious and dragged her to the altar, but her marriage didn’t last.
One reason for her rebellion was that she was robbed and injured at the shopping mall while preparing for the wedding, and had a big gash. Another was that Anthony felt trapped and frequently avoided coming home. The main reason was that he once choked her in a fit of anger, not knowing that she was three months pregnant with twins. She didn’t specify whether she miscarried or had an abortion.
Ex-husband Marcellus
Toni’s fourth husband was named Marcellus, whom she described as ‘a man with short stature problems, who, for some reason, wanted to be married.’ After divorcing him, Toni set him up with one of her best friends, and said that they were happy.
Current husband Marcellus Hunter
Toni started dating Marcellus Hunter in 2009, and married him in 2012. She said that they met at a park when he approached her, concerned about her safety. He invited her to his home afterwards, and she noticed that it smelled exquisite. She paid particular attention to cleanliness and scent and immediately thought that ‘Marcellus was her kind of man.’ When Toni complimented that, Marcellus asked if she was jogging in the park and was sweaty. When she noted that she wasn’t sweatier than usual and bathed frequently, Marcellus seductively asked her to prove it by removing her clothes.
Sadly, they divorced in 2017. During a bitter divorce process, Marcellus filed for a restraining order because Toni reportedly ‘gets violent when angry and sends hundreds of threatening texts.’ Toni said that they divorced because of a woman from Marcellus’ previous relationship with whom he had a child. Toni confessed to experimenting with women sexually, presumably after her divorce. Although she seemingly never fell in love with a woman, Toni considers herself bisexual, according to her conversation with the Radio One D.C. host. However, Toni and Marcellus remarried on Valentine’s Day 2020 in a small ceremony in California. Toni said that she rekindled the relationship with Marcellus’ ex, whom she called ‘the best and the sweetest.’
Physical characteristics
Tokyo Toni has black hair and dark brown eyes, is 5ft 2ins (1.57m) tall, and weighs about 143lbs (65kgs). She has a distinctive gap in her front teeth and dimples. In May 2023, Toni had ‘Angela’ tattooed over her heart.
Net worth
Toni has a net worth of about $300,000. She said in 2023 that she has ‘a bad shopping habit‘ and spends her money abruptly and based on emotion. According to Bet.com, Toni said in November 2016 that she only had $33 to her name, but felt rich spiritually despite being poor financially. She noted that people ‘can be rich motherf***ers and still on their way to hell.’
