Nigerian musician, Tiwa Savage has talked about her difficulties with how the public views her, especially following her divorce in 2016.
Tiwa Savage talked about how the widely reported divorce affected her public image in an appearance on the Receipts podcast.
At first, the public embraced her, Tiwa said, and many people admired her for taking the conventional route of schooling, marriage, and motherhood. But after her divorce, she was the target of harsh criticism and scrutiny, with many people holding her responsible for the dissolution of her marriage.
The singer said that because she was coping with the emotional fallout from her divorce, postpartum depression, and body changes, the public’s response was especially difficult.
Tiwa Savage reflected on how this experience taught her to prioritize her own well-being and to be cautious about sharing her personal life with the public.
In her words:
“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 books, I did everything by the books, you know, 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. And that’s how our situation happened, he actually announced it online. I didn’t break up with him but I was the one being attacked and I my baby was just a few months old and I was dealing with postpartum and my body wasn’t the same and I was really depressed. Everyone then went to him and only few people came to see me.”
“After I did an interview 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”.
