BMF has been centering Markisha Taylor (La La Anthony) in season 2. However, the real-life Markisha, Tonesa Welch, is finally getting to tell her own story on BET+. Starz’s BMF tells the real-life story of Demetrius “Meech” Flenory (Demetrius “Lil Meech” Flenory Jr.) and Terry “Southwest Tee” Flenory (Da’Vinchi), brothers who began their drug organization as teens in Detroit before becoming two of the biggest kingpins in the country.
Welch, a longtime girlfriend of Terry, would become The First Lady of BMF and will get her own biopic separate from the show.
Who plays Tonesa Welch in ‘BMF’ series?
On BMF, Tonesa Welch’s story is told through the character Markisha Taylor, portrayed by Markisha Taylor. According to Deadline, “Markisha is the smart, sophisticated, and street-savvy wife of a powerful Detroit dealer. Despite the risk, Terry begins to pursue her relentlessly, and they develop a friendship.”
In the series, Markisha is married to a rival drug dealer who is physically abusive toward her. However, Terry has been so enraptured with her that he has been willing to do anything he can to be with her. Though she hasn’t become an integral part of BMF yet, those who know the Flenory brothers’ story know that Meech’s disdain for Markisha will play a role in the brother’s estrangement.
“Meech has this thing with Markisha. Meech does not like Markisha at all,” Da’Vinchi told POPSUGAR. “And I think that starts making the brothers build a certain tension again, which some could argue and say that that could be part of the brothers’ demise.”
Tonesa Welch is getting a BET+ movie
While Anthony portrays Markisha in the series, Welch will be able to tell her own story in a forthcoming BET+ movie. According to Deadline, The First Lady of BMF: The Tonesa Welch Story will be directed by veteran actor Vivica A. Fox.
The film synopsis reads, “The biopic charts Welch’s rise from teen mom to drug dealer to being labeled by federal prosecutors as “The First Lady of BMF.” Dreams and desires, craftiness and creativity, hustle and hard work, Welch tells a harrowing story about riches, remorse, personal responsibility, and redemption set amidst the lavishness and extreme violence of Detroit’s crack era and America’s “war on drugs.””
Welch first began sharing her story in the BET+ series American Gangster: Trap Queens.
Tonesa Welch ‘BMF’ character
Welch is not at all a fan of how she is depicted on BMF. The show is fictional though it is based on real-life events. However, the series’s timeline does not match the way events occurred in real life. As a result, Welch has found it very upsetting. In the series, Terry is in high school, and Markisha is a married woman with children.
“WTF who wrote this part of the Story?” she shared on Instagram via The Jasmine Brand. “Terri 17 I’m 26 years my Husband a king pen, but I’m having sex with a 17-year-old who’s supposedly still in high school. So before Terri goes on the run, he comes to my job; it’s close for the day we sneak in the janitor’s room and have Sex. I guess he’s too young to have an apartment. He’s still in high school or lives with his parents. I guess they have Markisha looking like a pedophile.”
Welch says that she and Terry did not begin dating until he turned 25. Now, she can tell the story through her own lens and perspective.
