Fans of Grammy-nominated singer and reality show star Tamar Braxton have taken to social media with prayers and words of encouragement after news came out that she has been hospitalized Thursday evening after police responded to a report of a possible overdose and suicide attempt. The call alerted police to rush to a residence in a downtown Los Angeles high-rise.
According to numerous reports, officers were called about 9:45 p.m. to the Ritz Carlton Residences in the 900 block of Olympic Boulevard, where a woman was found unresponsive and unconscious, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department said. TMZ reported that she was transported to California Hospital Medical Center, which is located about a mile from the skyscraper, and was listed in stable condition.
Some reports coming in say that she is unresponsive. Other reports say she is in stable condition. We are looking to confirm one or the other.
The platinum hit singer and "Braxton Family Values" reality show star has had to go through a few trying times these past few years.
In 2003, Braxton began dating Vincent Herbert, a record executive whom she met through her sister, Toni. The couple married on November 27, 2008. Braxton gave birth to a baby boy named Logan Vincent Herbert in 2013. In October 2017, Braxton filed for divorce from Herbert, citing "irreconcilable differences" and seeking joint custody of their son. Their very public divorce was finalized in July 2019.
On an episode of the daytime talk show, The Real, Braxton revealed that she suffered from vitiligo. On November 10, 2015, Braxton discovered that she had several pulmonary emboli in her lungs. The illness forced her to withdraw from Dancing with the Stars. Braxton was later fired from that show in 2016.
Even with the stuff that she's been through, it seemed like things were looking up for Braxton. Just this week, WE tv debuted the new trailer for Braxton's series, Tamar Braxton: Get Ya Life! The teaser offered fans a look at the upcoming series, which explores the star's journey with motherhood, love and her career as she records a new album.
But it seems as though that relationship with WE tv had been strained. As a matter of fact, Braxton took to social media and changed her name to, Tamar "Slave" Braxton and shared this tweet:
"I am a slave. I do not own my life. My stories. My pictures. My thoughts or beliefs. I've asked my massa to free me. I'm threatened and punished for it. The only way I see out is death. I will choose that before I continue to love like this. Please help me."
The Blast reported that weeks earlier, Braxton sent an email to the WE tv company outlining their policies that "destroyed" her family.
“We fight with each other, we betray each other, and now we’re physically assaulting each other — all happening because...
...your show [“Braxton Family Values”] has chosen to show the absolute worst side of a strong, independent and successful African American family; a show that I created to showcase a strong Black Family as a beacon of hope for all the young black girls and boys out there; instead you coached and cajoled us into finding the worst in each other.”
She referenced the network to “cruel white slave masters who once chained our forefathers, and the oppressive police forces that now terrorize our communities,” she added, “I hope those ratings were worth it because you succeeded in destroying a great black family.”
Meanwhile, she said that “the final stake into the heart of my family” was “the day you dug up a secret I’d never shared with anyone, a secret I was so ashamed to talk about that I hid it even from my own mom: the fact that I had been assaulted and raped repeatedly from age 6 to age 16, sometimes multiple times a day.” Braxton said that producers had “exposed it on your show in front of my entire family and 100 crew members.” She added, “You broke me that day and I considered ending my own life then for the shame I felt!”
She ended the email, “I have news for you! Today, I take my power back. I will no longer tolerate being oppressed. I am asking you to break the chains NOW and LET ME GO I am suffocating! I CAN’T BREATHE!!”
"I lost my family, I lost my dreams," Braxton, says in one scene. "It's time to give myself a shot."