Mary J. Blige began to feel like she was nothing after her marriage failed.
According to editors at PageSix.com, the R&B icon's marriage to her former manager Martin 'Kendu' Isaacs broke down after 12 years last July (16), and she admitted the deterioration of their union left her “beginning to think I was nothing”.
Blige has been vocal about her marital issues and spoke out again when she was invited to be a guest on a panel at the 2017 Essence Music Festival in New Orleans last week (end02Jul17).
“Mentally, you’ve been beaten down and manipulated, in front of the world," she sighed, reported Page Six. “You’re trying to protect the person. You’re trying to hold yourself together, so when you’ve been beaten down mentally, you go home, and you deal with that... I was beginning to think I was nothing."
The nine-time Grammy winner was recently ordered to hand over $30,000 (£23,000)-a-month in temporary support to her ex, who she claimed had an affair with her protege, singer Starshell. She went on to discuss how Isaacs made her feel unattractive and that her celebrity status didn't protect her from pain.
“Being Mary J. Blige, the celebrity, is secondary. I’m a human being first. I suffer like everybody else," the No More Drama singer explained.
Eventually "vanity kicked in" and Blige took control, and she started focusing on herself, unveiling her killer abs during her performance at the annual festival.
“People were saying she’s on the divorce diet. Her body was hot and she flaunted her abs during her show. She looked like young Mary,” a source told the publication.
During her performance at the festival on Saturday, Blige criticised the judge for ordering her to pay he ex support.
“How is it that somebody gets to cheat and destroy everybody’s life, but I’ve got to pay for it?” she asked the crowd. "That ain't fair!"
