Reality Star Says Suicide Attempt Was Over Reality TV Exploitation

Singer Tamar Braxton attends the Give Back Hollywood Foundation's benefit for VH1 Save the Music Foundation on August 26, 2011, in Los Angeles, California.

In July 2020, singer and reality star Tamar Braxton was found “unresponsive” in her hotel room by boyfriend David Adefeso. Because of Braxton’s hospitalization, the debut of her new reality series, Tamar Braxton: Get Ya Life, was pushed back from July 30 to September 10. Ahead of its premiere Thursday night at 9 p.m. Eastern and Pacific times on WE TV, here’s what you need to know about Braxton’s suicide attempt.

Adefeso Said Braxton Used Alcohol & Prescription Pills

When Adefeso found Braxton unresponsive, he called 911 and told dispatchers that she had “been drinking and had taken an unknown amount of prescription pills,” according to The Blast. The Blast also later obtained a screengrab of a tweet Braxton wrote but sent to her family members instead of posting to social media.

That message read, “I am a slave. I do not own my life. My stories. My pictures. My thoughts or beliefs. I’ve asked my massa to free me. I’m threatened and punished for it. The only way I see out is death. I will choose that before I continue to love like this.”

There Are Differing Reports About the Cause

According to TMZ, there are differing accounts of why Braxton was upset enough to attempt suicide. Adefeso claimed it was because Braxton was upset over the way We TV has portrayed her on Braxton Family Values and its spinoffs. But some of the Braxton family members alleged it was really Adefeso who had issues with the network.

According to Braxton’s relatives, Adefeso viewed the pilot of the new reality series, Get Ya Life, and became upset with the way he was portrayed in it. TMZ reported that his reaction is what set Braxton on a downward spiral. Relatives told TMZ that after Braxton and Adefeso got together, Braxton changed and her moods tend to align with Adefeso’s. They also said he’s very involved in her business dealings.

Finally, on September 8, Adefeso filed for a restraining order against Braxton, alleging he needed protection from her over a domestic violence incident, according to The Blast.

Braxton Addressed the Suicide Attempt on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDR145fBoFv/

In an Instagram post a few weeks after the suicide attempt, Braxton posted on Instagram thanking her fans for their support and talking about her ordeal.

Thank you to each and every individual who has prayed for me, thought of me, sent me their love and has showered me with their support. In this present moment, it is my only responsibility to be real with myself and to be real with the ones who truly love me and care for my healing. I have without fail, shared with you my brightest days, and I know that sharing with you what has been my darkest will be the light for any man or woman who is feeling the same defeat I felt just only a week ago.

Every one of us has a desire, whether small or big, to make it out of where we come from to an ideal future place that includes, freedom to be who we choose, security for our children and families, and fortune to share with the ones we love. We believe these things can co-exist with just being happy. I believed that, that as a black woman, as an artist, an influence, a personality I could shape my world, and with whom I believed to be my partners, they could help me share my world.

Over the past 11 years there were promises made to protect and portray my story, with the authenticity and honesty I gave. I was betrayed, taken advantage of, overworked, and underpaid. I wrote a letter over 2 months ago asking to be freed from what I believed was excessive and unfair. I explained in personal detail the demise I was experiencing. My cry for help went totally ignored. However the demands persisted. It was my spirit, and my soul that was tainted the most. There are a few things I count on most to be, a good mother, a good daughter, a good partner, a good sister, and a good person. Who I was, begun to mean little to nothing, because it would only be how I was portrayed on television that would matter. It was witnessing the slow death of the woman I became, that discouraged my will to fight. I felt like I was no longer living, I was existing for the purpose of a corporations gain and ratings, and that killed me.

Mental illness is real. We have to normalize acknowledging it and stop associating it with shame and humiliation. The pain that I have experienced over the past 11 years has slowly ate away at my spirit and my mental. I will do everything in my power to aid those who from mental illness, including those of us who’s mental illness was only a result from the toxic, systematic bondage that dwells in television. It was only God’s grace and his mercy on my attempt to end my pain and my life that I am here to utilize my voice.

It is only your prayers that have pushed me to rise above my own personal demise, pushed me to not only continue my fight for the freedom of my own thoughts, mind and soul, but to also use my voice and experience to be an ally for every black and brown person who has suffered from the continued exploitation of reality television. Reality TV personalities have no union, no coat of protection, no formal representation that protects our labor, our rights, or our voices. They promise us opportunity but produce exploitation, which has only developed a poor portrayal of black people in show business.

I am learning to grow through my pain instead of looking for an escape. I’m on an irreversible path to healing, I am taking my time. It is of the upmost sic) importance that I find my happy and my health, through professional treatment, for the sake of my whole heart, Logan, who I forgot in my moment of distress and desperation. And giving this journey my undivided attention. My rise will not be in vain. I will make it my mission to establish the initiative that fights for ethical business practices in reality TV, fights for the ownership of our businesses, promote growth and evolution, of our stories, and gives us 100% equity in our freedom. My love for my support system and everyone who chose to love me when I no longer loved myself, is infinite and I am forever grateful. I pray you will stand with me and be courageous enough to share your own truth.

With love,
Tamar Braxton

The new reality series follows Braxton through her ups and downs. The WE TV press release teases:

Tamar is determined to turn her life around and take matters into her own hands by sharing her truth in a revealing new docu-series that follows her every move. Tamar teams up with music and TV mogul Mona Scott-Young to bare it all and bring her ‘baggage’ — aka the camera crew — along with her for the ride. But nothing can prepare Tamar for the most epic journey of her life.

In a series of shocking revelations and extreme breakthroughs, it’s the most authentic side of Tamar Braxton ever as she vows to show the good, the bad, and the ugly. Cameras continue rolling during Tamar’s most vulnerable hours as she invites love back into her life with her new boo David, relaunches her music career, navigates co-parenting with ex-husband Vince Herbert, and battles the pressure to reconcile and reunite with her family.

Tamar Braxton: Get Ya Life airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. Eastern and Pacific times on weTV.

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