DMX’s Ex-Wife, Tashera Simmons, Said She Wanted to ‘Save’ the Rapper but Their Relationship Became ‘Unhealthy’
Tashera Simmons, who was married to legendary hip-hop artist DMX, is opening up about their relationship and how she tried to “save” the rapper.
Tashera was married to DMX, whose real name was Earl Simmons, from 1999 to 2014 and they had four children: Xavier, Tacoma, Sean, and Praise.
On a recent episode of the podcast Angie Martinez’s IRL, Tashera shared that she believes her ex-husband died “unhappy” and with a “broken heart.”
“I was so broke from a lot of things that happened with us in the marriage,” she remembered. “I stayed as long as I did because I knew him. I wanted to save Earl. I saw the road that Earl was going down. It got very unhealthy for me in this aspect of [him] just starting to step out of our marriage and creating a bunch of different families.”
Tashera recounted that the rap star used to always tell her, “When I get married, I want to have only one home because I know what that felt like. It’s chaos. I want to be there. I want to make sure that I create a solid foundation.”
DMX had 15 kids from several different relationships, and while his and Tashera’s divorce was finalized in 2014, they actually split earlier in 2005. The two had been together since they were preteens. She believes that ending their marriage was for the best though, saying, “Had God not stripped me from that relationship, that marriage, I’d have probably been in a Looney Tune home …To keep everything all bottled up and try to wear a mask like everything is good is not the move.”
Tashera also once revealed that the “Party Up (Up in Here)” hitmaker was never afraid of death and dying.
“I used to think that this was insensitive to say, but I do believe he is in a better place, just because of the words he left me with. He was never afraid of passing on. And I used to be aggravated with that, but now I understand,” she said.
DMX publicly spoke about his struggles with substance abuse over the years.
In a 2020 interview with fellow rapper Talib Kweli on his People’s Party podcast, X revealed that his crack and cocaine addiction began at age 14 when a 30-year-old music mentor offered him a marijuana cigarette that had been laced with crack cocaine.
“This guy, this guy, this guy … he introduced me to the best part of my life, which would be the rap, but he passed the blunt around and I hit the blunt,” the “How’s It Goin’ Down” artist recalled. “I later found out that he laced the blunt with crack. Why would you do that to a child? He was like 30, and he knew I looked up to him. Why would you do that to someone who looks up to you?”
DMX died on April 9, 2021 from a cocaine-induced heart attack that caused a lack of blood circulation to his brain. He was 50.
How to get help: In the U.S., contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration helpline at 1-800-662-4357.
