In audio of a jailhouse phone call from October 2022, Shirley Strawberry and her then-husband Ernesto Williams talk about Iyanla Vanzant.
Iyanla is an inspirational speaker, author, and life coach who once hosted “Iyanla: Fix My Life” on Oprah’s OWN Network.
The Steve Harvey Morning Show co-host implied that she sought counseling from Iyanla.
“I talked to her. We talked about possibly working together in the future,” Shirley told Ernesto.
Ernesto, 58, is still locked up on fraud, forgery and identity theft charges in the Atlanta area. He seemed intrigued when Shirley mentioned Iyanla’s name. “That sounds good. That sound good. That’s a wonderful match,” he said sarcastically.
Commenters noted that Ernesto was intimidated by Shirley speaking to Iyanla because he felt his control over Shirley was threatened.
At one point, Shirley brought up a supportive friend, who Ernesto referred to as a “gossip”.
One YouTube commenter wrote:
“She mentions a friend that reached out and told her ‘No judgment’. He sounded supportive, but immediately threw a slug saying ‘she gossip a lot, but she good people’. This is a subtle tool of a manipulator, he plants a seed of doubt about others to isolate you and have you only listening to him. He played Shirley like a fiddle for eight years and her naive religious beliefs were the perfect tools he used to get her to question, first family then friends!”
Shirley recently filed for divorce from Ernesto, after the audio leaks revealed he had a side chick in Florida.
Audio: Shirley Strawberry tells jailed husband she can’t afford to buy shoes
Shirley, 69, lost her home and cars and nearly lost her job as a radio host due to her husband’s criminal activities.
Listen to the audio below. Shirley mentions Iyanla at the beginning and the end of the audio.
