Tamar Braxton opened up about her July suicide attempt on Tamron Hall earlier this week, claiming her own TV show negatively affected her mental health and denying her ex-boyfriend’s domestic-violence allegations. “Our household became very hard, and it was hard because I wasn’t happy at my job, and I hadn’t been happy for years,†Braxton told Hall. She said she had become tired of appearing on We TV’s reality show Braxton Family Values “and having the stigma of the angry Black woman all the time.†(She has since left the show.) She agreed to work on her new spinoff series, Get Ya Life!, she added, in hopes of getting to eventually work on another more “positive†TV project. Eventually, she said, she sent We TV a letter because she “didn’t want to work in a toxic environment, be around the toxic, negative vibe [of] reality television.†“I told them that if I continued like this, I want to die, I want to kill myself, I can’t breathe,†she explained. “And I got a response that says, ‘You’re being dramatic.’†(In a statement at the time, We TV said, “Our first concern is for her recovery and well-being.â€) After her letter, Braxton said, We TV sent her a call sheet “as if I didn’t tell anybody that I felt like I was going to kill myself.†The network later sent her a breach letter regarding her contract, she claimed.
Braxton went on to address her appearance on Iyanla, Fix My Life, during which life coach Iyanla Vanzant revealed that Braxton had been sexually abused during her childhood. “And I’d never told anyone that,†Braxton told Hall. She went on to say she didn’t know how the information came out. “And it haunts me,†Braxton said, tearing up. “Because to be betrayed, just so people can tune in and laugh at you, and judge you, and criticize you, and make you feel less than when you already feel less than — it’s terrible.†“So you believe, you in your heart believe, that someone in your family gave producers information about you being sexually abused so that people could watch the show?†Hall asked. “I know for sure I didn’t tell her,†Braxton replied. She went on, “Then, at that moment, was the first time I felt like I didn’t want to live anymore. But then I got a call sheet to go to work the next day.â€
In the second segment of Braxton’s interview with Hall, she revealed that she had been diagnosed with depression and anxiety and is “in counseling every single day.†She added that she had contemplated suicide before but had not attempted suicide since her July incident. “It’s a lot of dark, hard times,†she said. She also questioned how Braxton Family Values was handling her suicide attempt as a plot point. “I’m still having a hard time trying to figure out ‘What’s the premise?’†she asked. “Is this to inspire, to help people with mental illness? To help Tamar with her new normal with depression and anxiety?†She went on to deny her ex-boyfriend David Adefeso’s claims of domestic violence, which led him to file for a restraining order against Braxton. “Not at any point was David and I in an abusive relationship,†she said, asking Adefeso to release his videotape from his car that he claimed showed Braxton assaulting him. “Is he acting like this because he failed me the way that he failed me?†she asked. “Probably. I don’t know.â€
Throughout the interview, Braxton expressed her discontent with making reality television. “I didn’t want to be an example of a family that fights and argues and always has turmoil,†she said earlier in the show. “That’s just not the show that I created. I created the Braxton Family Values because I wanted to be an example.†Toward the end of the interview, she added, “I wouldn’t go as far as to say I’m estranged from all of my family,†after the revelation of her abuse. “I have their love,†she continued. “I know my family loves me.†Hall ended the interview by asking Braxton if she was finished making reality TV “for a while.†“Not for a while, forever and ever, amen,†Braxton answered. “I feel like that’s the best thing for me.â€
If you or anyone you know are in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.