Back in the boy band’s prime, it was always assumed he had an unnamed eye condition. Rumors circulated that held R&B diva, Brandy, responsible for the signature look. While Jones has alluded to the patch in the song, “Look Down On Me,” from his solo album, Food For Thought, he’s never fully explained the reason for it. The group’s recent appearance on Power 106’s, Nick Cannon Mornings, is how we got the truth. 

As each member of the group shared some of their own stories from back-in-the day, Nick Cannon asked Rome if the Brandy rumors were true, regarding his eye patch. Rome confirmed that Brandy was the cause of his eye condition. Much to the rumor mill’s surprise, it was no joke, but an unfortunate accident.

According to Jones’ recollection, he and Brandy were in (one of their) rooms horsing around instead of packing for their parent’s pickup. At one point, Brandy got into a heated argument with former IMx member, Half Pint.

Jones remembers, “[Brandy] and Half Pint got into it. She had a book in her hand [and] just tossed it backward, not thinking I was that close to her. [It] cut my retina [and] detached it. The lens to my eye fell out. And, actually, Brandon Adams was there and caught it. So, he was there, holding my [eye] lens. He didn’t know what was going on. Marq come in and we tryna hide it.”

Marques recalled coming into the room, alarmed to see his Romeo lying on the bed, shouting. Rome said Marques tried to de-escalate the situation to avoid getting Brandy in trouble. In a panic, Marques ran to the group’s manager, Chris Stokes, who handled it, rushing Romeo to the hospital for treatment.

Listen to Rome’s  recollection below: