Oprah: Tyra Banks Opens Up About Abusive Ex-Boyfriend
LatestToday, Oprah focused on relationship abuse – emotional and physical – and Tyra Banks came on to discuss her own experience with an emotionally abusive man. We think we might know who she’s talking about.
The springboard for the show, essentially, was the attack on Rihanna by Chris Brown. Oprah seemed horrified at the idea that Rhianna would still be with him, insisting that once a man hits, he will hit again. Tyra began her segment by saying she’d interviewed both stars on her own show, and both of them had spoken to her about growing up in households in which their parents fought constantly. She added that Chris told her that his mother was beaten by her boyfriend, and it affected him so much that he used to wet the bed. (I actually remember that episode. Tyra was wearing a jumpsuit and she tried to dance around him, and the entire crotch split open. Check it out here.)
Tyra also opened up about an emotionally abusive relationship she experienced when she was in her 20s. She said she felt trapped in it because of low self-esteem (at the time she was already a supermodel and a “youth correspondent” for Oprah, which just goes to show that even the famous and successful suffer from crippling insecurities). Because she was a correspondent for Oprah from 1998-2001 – and based on her dating history – I wonder if the abusive ex in question is Rick Fox, a pro basketball player turned actor. Fox later married Vanessa Williams, whom he met through Tyra while she was still dating him. He was reportedly caught cheating on Vanessa a few years later and the couple divorced.