Tamar Braxton and WE tv have officially severed ties, following Braxton’s emotional open letter about the “toxic” reality TV environment.
In a new statement from WE tv, obtained exclusively by Variety, the network said, “Tamar Braxton has been an important part of our network family for more than a decade. As she focuses on her health and recovery at what is clearly a difficult and personal time, we will work with her representatives to honor her request to end all future work for the network. We wish her nothing but the best,” reads the WE tv statement.
The decision comes just one day after Braxton said the network “betrayed, overworked, and underpaid” her.
Until now, Braxton was the second highest paid star on the network, behind only her sister, Toni Braxton.
On Thursday, July 30, the 43-year-old R&B singer broke her silence about WE tv’s betrayal that drove her to attempt suicide.
“First and foremost, Thank you,” she wrote. “Thank you to each and every individual who has prayed for me, thought of me, sent me their love and has showered me with their support.”
Braxton said producers betrayed her deep dark secret that she was repeatedly raped from age 6 to 16.
“Over the past 11 years, there were promises made to protect and portray my story, with the authenticity and honesty I gave,” the singer said. “I was betrayed, taken advantage of, overworked, and underpaid.”
Braxton eventually appealed to network officials at WeTV two months ago to release her from her “excessive and unfair” contract, but stated, “My cry for help went totally ignored.”
“Who I was, begun [sic] to mean little to nothing, because it would only be how I was portrayed on television that would matter,” she continued. “It was witnessing the slow death of the woman I became, that discouraged my will to fight. I felt like I was no longer living, I was existing for the purpose of a corporations gain and ratings, and that killed me.”
She went on to insist, “Mental illness is real,” and credited “God’s grace and His mercy” with saving her life, as she vowed to use her voice going forward to ensure no other reality stars face the kind of exploitation she insists she was subjected to for over a decade.
Braxton’s new reality TV series “Tamar Braxton: Get Ya Life” will premiere on WE tv on Sept. 10.
