Iyanla Vanzant Says She Received Death Threats While Filming Her OWN TV Show
During a recent appearance on The Tamron Hall Show, Iyanla Vanzant said that she wanted to focus on other ventures following the filming of eight seasons of her OWN show Iyanla: Fix My Life. After such a successful run, filming almost 150 episodes, it’s understandable that the Brooklyn native would want to try something new.
That’s become difficult, however, because Vanzant says she’s been receiving death threats for years over her trademark show. Specifically, she’s been receiving messages on social media from viewers as well as calls to her personal cell phone from people who wanted her guidance.
“I’m very sensitive to energy. Because you go into people’s homes [On her show Iyanla, Fix My Life], you’re in their bathroom, you’re in their kitchen and then they think they know you and they think they have a right to say certain things because we’re not clear and conscious of the energy we send out,” she said. “So through the emails, through the social media, people would come into my home. I was getting death threats, because they didn’t like something I said about it. And I’m like, I want to be free of this. I don’t want this. I got death threats around certain shows, around certain issues, around things that I said.”
She added: “People would come to my home, you know, because with the internet, they can find you anywhere. They would call me, ‘I know you don’t know me, but I need help.’ Wait a minute, hold up! I have so many vehicles and avenues where I serve people. I’m on social media, I have classes, I teach. You don’t get to call me on my private phone at two o’clock in the morning. So I just wanted to be free of that. That was more important to me.”
Also during the interview, Vanzant spoke about the death of her daughter, Gemmia, who died in 2003 from colon cancer at just 31 years old. She detailed how difficult it was for her to be able to help others but felt helpless when it came to her own child.
“I’m flying all over the world helping people and supporting people. Then as ‘Mommy,’ my pup was sick and there was nothing I could do,” Vanzant said. “You know, cancer is a formidable challenger. So I’m like ‘how can I help people save their lives and fix their relationships while my child is sick and there’s absolutely nothing I can do but stand here.’”
She continued: “Of course, it was the ego just making me crazy, but I was walking around feeling like ‘if I can’t help my own, how can I help other people?’ It was really a challenging time. It was really a challenging experience.”
Watch the full interview segment below.
