The legendary Nigerian musician Tiwa Savage has spoken out about her divorce from Tunji “TeeBillz” Balogun, exposing the difficulties she encountered both during and after their 2018 split.
During her battle with postpartum depression, the singer revealed on The Receipts Podcast that her ex-husband was to blame for their breakup.
The 44-year-old talked about the harsh criticism she received, including attacks on her character and hostility from many Nigerians.
Even as the situation grew emotionally overwhelming, she remembered how influential people told her to keep quiet to protect her image.
Tiwa described how TeeBillz made their marital problems public on the internet, forcing her to take the brunt of the criticism.
The singer claimed that after making an effort to explain her side of the story, the criticism got worse. “They remarked, ‘How dare you go and talk?'” Because I was a woman, I was told I would never succeed. It broke my heart.
Tiwa Savage on my divorce’s emotional toll…
“When I came out, I was Nigeria’s sweetheart when I started and I could do no wrong in Nigerian’s eyes. I did everything by the book. I went to university and I wasn’t a baby mama. I got married then I had a baby so I did everything in the right order and everybody loved me and then everything happened.
“Then I started getting hate from blogs and I started getting hate from certain people. The way our situation happened, he announced it online. I didn’t break up with him but I was the one being attacked.
“At the time, my baby was just a few months old and I was dealing with postpartum and my body wasn’t the same and I was depressed. Everyone then went to him and only a few people came to see me.
“After I interviewed to tell my side of the story, it got worse. People were like ‘How dare you go and talk’ ‘You’re a woman and you’re supposed to build the house, it’s your fault’.
“I remember famous people calling me to ask how I could tell my side of the story cuz I’d never win. Ever since then, I was like I won’t ever talk about the situation because it was very heartbreaking how the public took it and blamed me.”
“It was an eye-opener for me and it made me depressed for so long. It got me angry then I became the ‘African Bad Girl.”
“I thought to myself that after doing everything right I was still attacked. Then I started getting tattoos and wearing short skirts and bikini. I was just wild.”