Brandy believes in marriage before sex

Jet, April 6, 1998

Brandy is an all-around star. She has a multiplatinum, self-titled debut album to her credit as well as a top-rated TV sitcom, "Moesha," in which she is the star. The teen sensation also holds steadfast to commendable morals, which include believing that one should be married before having sex.

"Look, if I say I'm a virgin, there's one group of people who say, `She's lying,'" the teen superstar told Lisa Robinson in the New York Post. "And if I say I'm not a virgin, then there's a group of people who say, `Oh my God, Brandy's not a virgin.' So my best bet is to say that I believe in marriage before you have sex. That's what I believe."

The 19-year-old, who's currently in the studio putting the finishing touches on her much-anticipated sophomore album, Never Say Never, also told the columnist that she and Los Angeles Laker star Kobe Bryant were never a romantic item, but she and Wanya Morris of the hit-making quartet Boyz II Men were.

"I never dated Kobe. I went with him to his high school prom, and we became friends," she told the New York Post. "I never dated Shaq (Shaquille O'Neal) or whatever those rumors were. Wanya was my first real boyfriend, for about two years."

Brandy and Morris, who performed a duet on the ballad Brokenhearted, are no longer romantically involved. The versatile actress admits that she never thought twice about having to explain their breakup to others, namely the media.

"When we broke up, I didn't think about what I'd have to say to the press about it. I thought about not being with him and missing him and getting over the fact that he was my first love," explains Brandy, who is getting set to make her big-screen debut in the sequel to the hit box-office thriller I Know What You Did Last Summer. "Then I realized that people would ask me to talk about it. But I'm cool with it now; he checks on me and sees how I'm doing, and I'm OK."