Tiwa Savage, a Nigerian music singer, has openly revealed her divorce from Tunji ‘TeeBillz’ Balogun, providing light on the struggles she faced during and after their split in 2018.
During an appearance on The Receipts Podcast, the artist stated that her ex spouse was the trigger for their split, which coincided with her battle with postpartum depression.
At 44 years old, she reflected on the harsh reaction she received, saying that many Nigerians turned against her and criticised her character.
Tiwa described how important people persuaded her to remain silent in order to safeguard her reputation, even as the emotional toll of the situation grew heavier.
She also discussed how TeeBillz publicly publicised their marital troubles, which subjected her to intense public attention.
Despite her efforts to present her point of view, she noted that the criticism simply became more intense.
“People said, ‘How dare you go and talk?’ I was told I’d never win because I was a woman. It was heartbreaking.”
Tiwa Savage discusses the emotional challenges she faced during her divorce.
“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.”