Tamar Braxton Goes HARD After WE tv In Raw First Letter To Fans Following Suicide Attempt

Tamar Braxton is on the mend and sharing her story. 

Earlier this month, the singer was found unresponsive in her room at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Los Angeles following a suicide attempt. Thankfully, she was able to get help in time, and is now on the road to recovery. On Thursday, Braxton broke her silence about the incident and opened up about her mental health struggle. 

Related: Naya Rivera Laid To Rest In Hollywood, Death Certificate Confirms Tragic Details

The reality star began her statement with gratitude, writing: 

“First and foremost, Thank you. 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.”

The former The Real co-host then dove right into being “real” about her “darkest” days:

“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.”

She wrote about the universal desire to experience freedom, security and happiness and how her career in television obstructed those goals.

And then she went after WE tv.

Implicating the powers that be at the network which hosts her reality shows, she wrote: 

“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.”

The 43-year-old went on to affirm that “Mental illness is real,” while pledging to provide aid and raise awareness for mental health issues.

She also spoke in defense of other reality stars of color who she says are being exploited: 

“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.”

Damn!

The Love and War singer closed her statement by saying she would be taking time to seek professional treatment and “grow through [her] pain.” She expressed love for her son Logan, whom she said she “forgot in [her] moment of distress and desperation.” She concluded: 

“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.”

Related: Ellen DeGeneres Addresses Toxic Workplace Allegations In Letter To Staff

What a truly powerful statement. 

These were some of the strongest criticisms of reality TV we’ve ever heard, especially from someone inside the industry. We wonder if other reality stars will rally around Tamar’s story… could this call to action open the floodgates for others to share their experiences? Only time will tell. 

See Braxton’s statement in full (below): 

View this post on Instagram

First and foremost, Thank you. 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. (Swipe to finish )

A post shared by Tamar Braxton (@tamarbraxton) on Jul 30, 2020 at 12:57pm PDT

[Image via Tamar Braxton/Instagram.]

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