Lifetime premiered the Toni Braxton movie, Unbreak My Heart, on January 23. Before telling her story, Toni mentioned she only wanted the movie to be honest.
If you know anything about Rhythm & Blues, you know that Toni Braxton is a name that shouldn't be forgotten. From her distinctive vocals, to her uncanny beauty, many realize the significance of this movie.
In the movie, after Toni Braxton was given the opportunity with LaFace Records, she stated, "What should've been one of the happiest moments of my life became one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make." Toni chose to leave home and pursue her career after L.A. Reid heard her voice.
Unfortunately, things weren't as glitzy and shimmering as they appeared. According to Alabama Media Group, although Toni Braxton[1] made LaFace Records a lot of money, she rarely saw an adequate share in the dividends — due, in part, by her "artist budget."
Is it just me or did everyone on LaFace records get screwed, @tonibraxton TLC that's crazy……. #ToniBraxtonMovie[2][3]
— Melanie Montgomery (@mmontgomery91) January 24, 2016[4]
Essentially, if Toni Braxton could press a redo button on her first few years in the industry, she said that she would do it. At the cost of many trials and errors, Braxton had to file for bankruptcy twice, says the source.
The source also mentions that Toni Braxton elaborated on part of the Unbreak My Heart movie, as follows.
"I think what we show in the movie is that once I had success, I was still governed by the old contract and it's supposed to change… I did get some bumps and some raises, but it was so minimal and it wasn't reflected on the sales."
Even as recent as 2015, Toni Braxton has still won awards, as reports Hollywood Life. As an inclusion to her seven Grammys, nine Billboard, and seven American Music awards, that year, Toni brought home a Grammy for her collaborative duet album with Babyface.
And thru it all guess what?? @tonibraxton is still the baddest!???????????????????? #ToniBraxtonMovie pic.twitter.com/0s7vLFe9oY[5][6][7]
— Liris Crosse (@LirisC) January 24, 2016[8]
Plus, on top of all the issues and stress with which Braxton's dealt, she has had to endure a lengthy fight against lupus[9]. According to the Lupus Foundation of America[10], the illness is defined as follows.
"Lupus is a chronic, autoimmune disease that can damage any part of the body (skin, joints, and/or organs inside the body). Chronic means that the signs and symptoms tend to last longer than six weeks and often for many years.
"In lupus, something goes wrong with your immune system, which is the part of the body that fights off viruses, bacteria, and germs ('foreign invaders', like the flu)."
So, this Braxton has had to deal with some serious life issues. You may see her on Braxton Family Values, and the end result of her years of hard work. However, as seen in the movie, Toni Braxton comes from very humbling beginnings.
In Toni Braxton: Unbreak My Heart, Braxton had to deal with the thought of abandoning her sisters and family for stardom and fame.
Wow!!!!! So proud of my big sis @tonibraxton???????????????? Yep she Paved the way for (me) to be where I am today!!!! Thank you T. #BFV[11][12]
— Traci Braxton (@TraciBraxton) January 24, 2016[13]
Unfortunately, she was making "bird food" compared to what LaFace Records was pulling in from her hard work.
In the movie, L.A. Reid mentioned that it was possible that Braxton "go gold." Toni said that she would do better and "go double-platinum." To this, he stated, if you can go double-platinum, I'll buy you any car you want, and Toni shook on it. Realistically, if someone goes double-platinum, that person should be able to buy any car desired with the money he or she is making.
However, when you don't know the business, starting out, you don't know when you're getting "taken for a ride." The Alabama Media Group quotes Toni Braxton as she explains her careful nature, in regards to this movie.
"I think it's very important in any business that, especially in our business, to guard secrets. Sometimes while you're telling your story you tell other people's stories, and a lot of things happened that I would never feel comfortable talking about — ever, ever. So that was the most challenging part, even writing the book, once it was in black and white, you know, there were some stories that needed to be completed, but we can't talk about that."
Have you seen Toni Braxton: Unbreak My Heart? What were your thoughts about the movie? Did you know Toni started out as she did? Feel free to share in the comments.
[Photo by David Buchan[14]/Getty Images Entertainment]
References
- ^ Toni Braxton (www.al.com)
- ^ @tonibraxton (twitter.com)
- ^ #ToniBraxtonMovie (twitter.com)
- ^ January 24, 2016 (twitter.com)
- ^ @tonibraxton (twitter.com)
- ^ #ToniBraxtonMovie (twitter.com)
- ^ pic.twitter.com/0s7vLFe9oY (t.co)
- ^ January 24, 2016 (twitter.com)
- ^ fight against lupus (hollywoodlife.com)
- ^ Lupus Foundation of America (www.lupus.org)
- ^ @tonibraxton (twitter.com)
- ^ #BFV (twitter.com)
- ^ January 24, 2016 (twitter.com)
- ^ David Buchan (www.gettyimages.com)
