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5 Black Celebrities Who Went To War With Their Parents Over Money

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tianna sue

Tianna Madison

American Olympic gold medalist Tianna Madison was experiencing the best year of her career with a gold medal for the 4×100 relay at the 2012 London Olympics. Her joy was short-lived when both she and her husband John Bartoletta were sued by her parents for slander and defamation of character.

Madison’s parents sought $50,000 in the suit. According to ABC News, Madison “told news outlets that her parents mismanaged her finances and knowingly allowed a boy who had molested her previously to be in her presence at their home.”

In the lawsuit, Madison’s parents claimed Bartoletta told them Madison would be filing a lawsuit against them for “misappropriation of funds and fraud based on her power of attorney” and that he had hired a bodyguard to protect her.

Madison’s parents added that prior to the Olympic games they received a text from their daughter that read “after the Olympic Games, she would ‘break the story’ of the Madisons’ selfish, controlling, and utterly abusive ways and treatment’ of her, and that ‘it is going to be brutal.'”

The lawsuit was never filed nor did Madison reveal her family’s dark secrets. Madison’s parents were reportedly shocked by the allegations, but they dropped the lawsuit by spring 2013.

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