Tamar Braxton speaks for the first time after suicide attempt

Tamar Braxton has addressed the public for the first times since she tried committing suicide and taking her own life.
The singer-reality star, who was hospitalized two weeks ago after being found unconscious by her boyfriend in her hotel room, took to Instagram on Thursday to thank her supporters and reveal what led her to “attempt to end my pain and my life.”

“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,” said the 43-year-old Braxton. “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.”

The “Braxton Family Values” star also reflected on the past 11 years of her work in the reality television business and how she felt “betrayed, taken advantage of, overworked, and underpaid.” She said that she wrote a letter to WE tv asking to be released from her contract, which she called “excessive and unfair,” but she was ignored. Instead, the network moved forward with plans to air her new reality show “Get Ya Life!”

“I explained in personal detail the demise I was experiencing. My cry for help went totally ignored,” she shared. “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.”

Tamar addressed mental illness and credited God for sparing her life. “The pain that I have experienced over the past 11 years has slowly ate away at my spirit and my mental,” she said. “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.”

According to TMZ, Tamar grew upset with WE tv when she saw the first episode of “Get Ya Life!” and felt the network went against their word, portraying her as the “angry black woman” who was choosing a man over her family. Her boyfriend, David Adefeso, was also reportedly not happy with his portrayal in the first episode, which triggered Tamar’s emotions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNQBL2aAM-k

“Reality TV personalities have no union, no coat of protection, no formal representation that protects our labor, our rights, or our voices,” Tamar wrote. “They promise us opportunity but produce exploitation, which has only developed a poor portrayal of black people in show business.”

Tamar was rushed to the hospital after she was found unresponsive by her boyfriend at the Ritz-Carlton Residences in downtown Los Angeles on July 16. WE tv has delayed the premiere of “Get Ya Life!” until September, but sources say Tamar does not want it to air at all.

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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