Tionna Smalls: On Behalf of Fantasia

Friday, August 13, 2010 Written by Olivia /// Find in The Wrap Up

Friend to Empressmag.com, Tionna Smalls who we interviewed on our site recently, wrote an open letter to Nancy Grace in regards to the Fantasia mess. It appears that the night Fantasia tried to commit suicide, Nancy Grace had some harsh words for the singer for her affair with a married man.

Video of Nancy Grace speaking about Fantasia

So in defense to Fantasia, Tionna wrote this open letter to Nancy Grace:

I am writing you this letter because I feel like you were way too harsh on American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino regarding the alleged lawsuit against her from her former lover, Antwan Cook's, wife. It was evident by the piece that your producers didn't do much research on Fantasia or the situation at hand. Instead of giving Fantasia her legal right and practicing presumption of innocence, a stance that lawyers are supposed to take, I felt that you made hasty judgment on the situation. Whatever happened to "Innocent until proven Guilty?"

Nancy, I don't like to pull the race card, but success brings on different results for black celebrities than it does for other races. Unfortunately, black people suffer from a "crab in a barrel" mentality that derived from the slavery days. In most black celebrity cases, as soon as they get some kind of success, people come after them and try to take from them what they have, whether it is money, fame, or in Fantasia's most recent case: Love.

If you or your producers would have taken a second to sit down and actually delve deeper into Fantasia's history, you would have learned that she came from nothing. And once she got a little taste of the fame and money after winning "American Idol," her own father, yes, "biological dad" as you like to call him, sued her. Could you imagine, going from nothing to something and the first thing that happens is you get sued by your own family member? If that's not enough, once she eventually became a successful music artist, everyone in her family started quitting their jobs and hopping on the "Fantasia Family Plan."

As her reality show clearly depicted, she went through more problems as time went on. So, now, let's fast forward to Antwan Cook: the alleged lover. Did you ever stop to think that in this recession, maybe he and his

wife could have set Fantasia up? Yes, the North Carolina law states that you can sue the 3rd party if, in fact, the mistress was the reason for the break up. WelI, what better way to prove that it in court than to get it on tape? I don't know much about him, but I do know that he has to be a hustler. How many real estate agents do you know who also work at T-mobile? Just like we all are familiar with North Carolina archaic domestic violence (anti-jumpoff) laws, so is Antwan Cook...and his wife, Paula.

Yes, Fantasia is wrong for ever having any kind of relationship with a married man. But it doesn't matter if she's a celebrity or not, she is, after all, a woman first. She's a young woman who just wanted to be loved like anyone else. She has daddy issues. No one around her who just loves her for who she is over for what she can provide for them. So, of course, she is going to make decisions that may come back and bite her in the butt (like many women have) but how can we be so sure that she wasn't "bamboozled" by her supposed "lover?" He could have easily appeased her by saying, "I'm in the middle of a divorce" or "I live by myself" and whatever other fabricated lie that these trifling men use these days say to get in where they fit in?

Being that Fantasia is a celebrity, she can't talk much or tell her side of the story because whatever she says can and will be used against her in a court of law. Isn't that right counselor? This is, unquestionably, why she is being silent about the whole ordeal. If Fantasia's lawyer can prove that she was under false pretenses and that Antwan's marriage was, in fact, done before she ever stepped foot in that T-mobile store, she will not be liable in civil court. This is my hope. She has just got herself back together, I would hate to see her lose it all because she made the wrong decision in the man she chose to be with.

think that you showing past American Idol  contestants turned criminals was done in bad taste. If falling in love with a wretched man is a crime, you might as well convict every woman in

the world. You make mistakes when you're young but that doesn't mean you should be placed in the same category as those who have really committed drug and violent crimes. Now, a day after your "exposé" on Fantasia, she was hospitalized for a medication overdose. I hope that, in the bottom of your heart, you can muster up some courage and take some kind of responsibility for it. I am not blaming you entirely, but Nancy you are a pusher and you may have been what caused her to go off the edge. Bringing up this "mistress" situation that is over 8 months old and having commentary from a black journalist, who had no clue on what's going on, talk about her money and her personal life can make anyone lose it. Have we not learned anything from the death of Melinda Duckett who committed suicide after you badgered her on your show? Let's do better! I advise you and your producers to do more research, wait for someone or their representative to comment on the story before you air it and never ever again compare someone who made something out of themselves to a criminal. It's not right or is it okay in circumstance. Investigative journalism is one thing but at what cost? Pushing someone to attempt to commit suicide is not worth it.

Fantasia and her family will get through this, just as you did with the death of your Fiancé. This is just the test before the testimony. As an Author and Television Personality myself, I admire you and your work, but I expect more from you on the advocacy of women. You and I know very well that women are being used and abused, now more than ever. Think about what Fantasia may be going through right now. Yes, losing yet another person who claimed to have loved her. It must be hard. I would never want to be in her shoes. Nancy, please be a role model, a person someone could look up to when they are going through adversity, rather than an enabler. You are giving them (Antwan and his wife) what they are looking for, and that's publicity. I hope you read this letter in good faith.

Good night Friend! (In my best Nancy Grace voice).

Sincerely,

Tionna Smalls" - Source: Associated Content

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Now, I actually never thought of the possibility that Mr Cook and his wife both set Fantasia up, which can be true. Regardless of ifs that true or not, shouldn't Fantasia be held responsible for her role in this fiasco or should we be more sensitive to Fantasia considering we don't know the full truth and her troubled past?