I plopped my butt down and watched Brandy’s Behind the Music episode that I had been waiting for over the past couple weeks. As a teen girl, I was enamored with Brandy. I listened to “I Wanna Be Down” and “Best Friend” on repeat every day and I didn’t dare miss an episode of Moesha. I watched the “Baby” video and convinced my parents to buy me a white bubble coat like the one she on, paying no attention to the fact that yes, the coat looked good during the course of a video shoot, but not necessarily through the slush and grime of a Northeast Ohio winter.
I thoroughly enjoyed her Behind the Music episode, just so I could hear from her how she feels her career derailed after her unplanned pregnancy. She spent her whole career being the “good girl” so when she wound up pregnant and unwed at 21, her management team went into crisis mode. Rather than buckle under the pressure to get married, Brandy says she figured she would just tell everyone she got married instead.
I guess I’m just out of the loop. I didn’t know she even had a kid or had marriage drama, fake or real. I’ve just always bought her music. I need to pay more attention to gossip.
I had no idea about the truth of her marriage. Things probably would have been different if she just came out and said she was a single mother, but she had an image to maintain for her fans and for her career. I guess I can’t blame her.
I don’t think things would have been different. People would have still bashed her. She made the choice she felt was right for her career. At the of the day, I think it is totally unrealistic for fans to expect these celebrities to be perfect. We pay them to entertain us not let us control their personal lives. And some of us can’t seem to separate the two.
I think being pregnant and unwed is always going to be looked down on from some people. You can’t please everybody. I for one will always love Brandy.
You got a white bubble coat after seeing her in it, too?! Girl… when I say I was a Brandy fanatic, I mean it. I was a Brandy FANATIC! I knew all the words to all of her songs and my sister and me would make up our own dances to “Best Friends.” I swear, I must have been the first person on line to cop me a copy of “Never Say Never” and I know that album like the back of my palm. Mmmm….
That being said, I was disappointed when I heard that she lied about her marriage. I can certainly see WHY she did it. I, too, had a squeaky clean image and had a lot of people looking up to me — then I got pregnant. It’s not easy. So, like you, I “get” it. I really do.
But I was happy that she said she was happy with the fact that her “husband” told their secret. It freed her. I can only imagine how she felt after a while when she realized she didn’t have to live a lie anymore.
Wow, I didn’t know she did that either! Thanks for sharing. Made me totally relate, as I was 21 too and the first thought both sets of families had was “get them married!” Why does everyone think that suddenly makes it “ok?”
I loved me some Brandy. She was one of my first role models. With that being said, I was only in the 6th grade when she got pregnant. So when I found out she lied about being married, I thought it was sort of strange. Like some of the other comments above me, I don’t think she could have pleased everybody. But at the same time, I do wish she would have been brave enough to stand up to her team and admit that she was an unwed mother, and she’s not perfect. Things happen. I’m glad she’s back!
I just thought it was silly because she did a whole reality show and blew the whole thing out or proportion just to lie about it and then didn’t even really get married. It was just too much effort. I think people would have been more forgiving about the baby – they were not forgiving about the fake “spiritual” marriage. Also – the pregnancy was not the issue so much as the fact that she got pregnant by a virtual stranger. Funny how we are moral compasses for celebs huh?
I feel the media expects you to gush about pregnancy child bearing experience as if your public property. People want to know the ins and outs of your situation and sometimes it really isnt anyones business. Just because you don t talk about your child or relationship status to strangers and social media doesnt mean you dont love and care for your child or partner. Your just protecting them from naysayers who always have something to say and judge.
I think she should have stuck with her music career. I was a huge Brandy fan and A lot of her fans didn’t know the truth. I only learn of it about a few years ago. As for the marriage there wasn’t a need to lie about it. Image isn’t everything.
I think her lies backfired and if she was honest with her fans I think we would have understood. In fact, more people would relate to her since there are so many single mothers who do amazing jobs raising their children.
I so understand why Brandy hid she was a single mom..When I got pregnant at 19, I was soo ashamed..then he was born and I was like forget being ashamed and I didn’t care who knew! I think in the end you have to be honest to everyone in your life!
I did see the interview and I had no clue she lied about her marriage. Honestly I don’t think anyone really cares. It seems like she’s trying so hard to be in the public eye with all these stories about her in the car crash and her eating problem now she is attempting to expose news about herself that no one really cares about. I think Brandy is just trying to get back in the spotlight and regardless if she told the truth about her marriage or not the fact that people aren’t feeling her music wouldn’t change.