Former reality star and singer Tamar Braxton candidly talked about her purported suicide attempt during a new interview with People magazine released on June 30.
The 44-year-old — who initially promoted the issue’s cover on her Instagram page with the caption “Cover Girl. #extraordinaryTamar🍀❤️ on stands NOW” — shared how drastically her life changed for the better and the reason behind the attempt nearly a year following her hospitalization after being found unresponsive in her rooms at the Ritz-Carlton Residences in downtown Los Angeles by her then-boyfriend David Adefeso. Braxton was in the middle of filming her We TV reality series “Tamar Braxton: Get Ya Life!” around the time the incident occurred last July.
Braxton told the publication as she recollected the darkest “time” of her life, “That time of my life was so dark and so heavy. I didn’t see how I was going to come out on the other side. I didn’t even know that there was another side. But I chose to change my life.”
She also explained what happened on July 16, 2020, despite the public’s assumptions. “Most people think, ‘Oh, she went to a hotel, probably took a bunch of drugs, was on a binge.’ It didn’t happen like that. It was just everyday life, trying to figure out how to get through the day and then …”
Braxton, who began her reality television career in 2011 after starring in We TV’s “Braxton Family Values” alongside her family members, added that consistently being on camera was one factor that contributed to her downfall. She listed her son’s apparent disapproval about her portrayal “on television” as the other.
“I didn’t want to continue being a disappointment for him. How can his friends’ parents respect me if this is what they see every day? I wouldn’t let my kid go over to a child’s house if this is what was portrayed on television. In my sickness, I thought that if I can take the embarrassment out of his life, maybe he would have a chance to have the best life.”
Despite Braxton’s initial thoughts of what she felt was best for her then-7-year-old son, the “Pieces” vocalist now knows that the best option she could have done for Herbert was to get help. “I know now that that probably would have destroyed him, that the best life that I can set for him is to be the example, get counseling and show him how to communicate.”
Since the incident, Braxton shifted gears career-wise and has left reality television while also parting ways with We TV. She is now currently the host of “Under Construction,” a self-help podcast that debuted last November, and is working on new music not yet scheduled to be released.
