Former Destiny’s Child singer Latavia Roberson says her “bad divorce” from the 1990s girl group left her battling depression, alcoholism and drug addiction.
LaTavia along with LeToya Luckett were the original background singers for Beyonce Knowles and her play sister Kelly Rowland.
The group started out as classmates who formed a quartet that shot to fame with its second album, 1999’s The Writing’s on the Wall, featuring hits like “Bills, Bills, Bills” and “Say My Name”.
As the group soared to fame, Beyonce’s ego spiraled out of the control, and the backup singers clashed with group manager Mathew Knowles and his favored singers, Beyonce and Kelly.
LaTavia and LaToya were infamously dumped from the group in 2000, after they tried parting ways with Knowles. They only discovered they had been ousted from the group when the video for “Say My Name” was released, featuring new members Michelle Williams and Farrah Franklin.
Franklin departed months later, leaving Beyonce, Kelly and Michelle to continue on as a trio, establishing the group as one of the most successful girl bands in pop history. They disbanded in 2006.
In an interview with People magazine to promote her upcoming memoir, I Am LaTavia, she recalls the deep depression that led her to drug and alcohol addictions.
“I never left Destiny’s Child,” she tells PEOPLE. “That is something that people say. But who would leave Destiny’s Child? That’s crazy! I was dismissed from the group.
“It was very difficult because of the way that I found out about it. I hate even talking about it, and it’s been 20 years – but it is what it is. We saw the ‘Say My Name’ video on TV, and that’s how I found out I was no longer in the group.”
She said her inability to cope with the rejection sent her on a downward spiral.
“It was almost like a bad divorce. You’re no longer with your friends, people that you love so much. So that was hard in itself, and then being by myself at that time, when other aspects starting taking a hold of me, it led me into a depression. And it wasn’t pretty…”
She adds, “There are a lot of things that I’ve gone through – molestation, dealing with alcoholism and drugs.”
