Tamar Braxton has opened up about a secret she’s only ever shared with two people in her life. And she says she was forced to go public with it after her family mediation session with Iyanla Vanzant.
During a stop on “The Wendy Williams Show” Thursday, Sept. 13, the star explained why she walked out of the Iyanla Vanzant counseling session, which she said was meant to be about her and sisters Towanda Braxton, Toni Braxton, Trina Braxton, and Traci Braxton “talking about things.”
“This is not a typical Tamar meltdown walkout situation,” Tamar explained. “I’ve been battling myself on whether or not I want to say really what happened or not because everybody wants you to be political … a lot of things happened in my childhood that I was too afraid to talk about or too ashamed to talk about. But the truth of the matter is that I have been molested by both sides of my family.
“It’s nothing I’ve ever talked about and I never thought that I would sit around a table with Iyanla, who’s here to talk about me and my sisters and their problems and to bring that up and sex shame me, basically, in front of everybody. So that’s why I got up and walked out,” she added.
The session, which is set to air on the two-part season finale of “Braxton Family Values” later this month, saw the siblings try to hash out their problems after Traci continued filming the show after her siblings walked off the set. It reportedly did little to solve the family’s problems.
About an hour after Tamar’s appearance on “Wendy” aired, she posted a lengthy statement on Instagram further explaining why she shared her history of abuse.
“Since someone there decided that they would ask me about something so private, so embarrassing, so secretive in front of EVERYONE that was there, I felt like my life was flashing before my eyes and IMMEDIATELY started to cry … because once again my right to choose was taken from me all over again.
She added that she has “been a victim of abuse not once, twice, ten, but multiple times by multiple ‘family members'” and that she’s only told two people about the incidents before, including her new boyfriend.
“I never EVER again want anyone to feel so little and so small or even ashamed about something they had no control over,” she concluded. “I wanted to create a space where you can tell your OWN story without anyone commenting or making you feel ashamed EVER again!!
“Go to and tell your story and empower yourself starting today! I wanted you to know that no matter how many scars you have… you are the PRETTIEST 💕 I love you all so much,” she wrote before sharing the link to noneedTBshame.com. The website also includes the full music video for her song, “Prettiest Girl.”
Fans began pouring out with supportive messages soon after the star’s post was made.
“💖💖💖💖 💖💖😘❤️❤️ ur brave boo proud of u #proudtamartianindeed.”
“Shine bright hunny 💪🏾”
“Prayers and congrats on speaking your truth and taking your power back.🙏🙌👏👏👏💜”
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