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LisaRaye says it’s a shame that Tisha Campbell said when she divorced Duane Martin she left with $7, but it’s not a surprise because she too has been there.
The 53-year-old opened up on Cocktails With Queens about how she was so ready to be done with the drama of being married to and trying to divorce ex-husband Michael Misick, the former premier of Turks and Caicos, that she left with just about nothing. So when co-host Vivica A. Fox inquired as to how Campbell, with a career spanning more than 30 years, could end up with only $7 after more than 20 years of marriage, LisaRaye said she could understand.
“That’s the part to me that’s so unfortunate because I can identify with that part,” she said. “I was like Tina Turner. I was like, ‘I just want to leave with my name.’ You know what I mean? I’m just gon’ start all over. To some people it’s like ‘What? You were in a marriage and he had more than you and you helped him get even more than that and you all were together and building together at least for a couple of years. Don’t you deserve something?’ But sometimes you walk away because you deserve your peace. So for me, as I was fighting, fighting and it became more and more expensive, and more and more of my time and more and more of my peace, then it was like, you know what? It’s very obvious that I have to start over. I was in Turks and Caicos, so I was over there with different rules and different laws and stuff. Coming back over here, it was clear that I had left my career. So to me, it’s very clear that Tisha has had a huge career, and it’s very clear to me as well that she made her own money and the bulk of the money, which helped them as a family. So for her to walk away with $7, something was wrong, whether it was with the attorney, or that he was smarter or sharper or sneakier or conniving-er or — y’all get the point. So for her to have kids and say, ‘Have at it,’ that speaks to the type of woman that she is because she rised above it and said, ‘It’s cool. I’m talented, I know I’m talented and I know that I can make more money. You have at it. Keep it. If that’s going to get you off my a– then go ahead,’ and that’s what she did.”
Campbell said in a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight’s Kevin Frazier that when she and Martin divorced, she basically had nothing financially.
“No one knows that but I had nothing,” she said tearing up. “Nothing in the bank. Nothing. I had maybe $7 to my name and I was scared. It was like I was starting all over.”
As for LisaRaye, she and Misick were married from 2006 to 2008 and had a contentious divorce. It came at a time when he was accused of corruption while premier for the Turks and Caicos. She did say in an interview with Essence in 2009 following the divorce that she was trying to get back to work after leaving behind acting (and the money that came with it) for three years to be Misick’s first lady.
“Honestly, I feel great. I’m back down to my TV-size and ready to do what I’ve been missing for the last three years,” she said. “I gained that weight because I wasn’t in Hollywood and didn’t have to be so concerned with my weight and was constantly entertaining all the time, eating peas & rice and just being an island girl. Now, I’m back to being the LisaRaye that does television, movies, hosting and sharing my story in hopes to help someone else.”
Hit the flip to see photos of LisaRaye and Misick from happier times during their marriage, and to learn more about what life with him was like from out of the star’s own mouth.
Source: Patrick McMullan Archives/Getty Images / Getty
Though LisaRaye said she opted against fighting for money from Misick, she initially did want what she felt was owed to her.
“In April, my divorce was granted to me, but I’m still fighting for a settlement,” she told Essence in 2009. “I don’t understand why he wants to make the attorneys richer by keeping this thing going. He needs to focus on the political fight he has ahead of him and give me what I’m due. I don’t want his money, only the money I contributed to the marriage.”
IRELAND ISLAND NORTH, BERMUDA – OCTOBER 5: First Lady of Turks & Caicos LisaRaye Misick and Chief Minister Hon. Dr. Michael Misick (of the Turks And Caicos Islands attend BERMUDA MUSIC FESTIVAL 2006-Day 2 at The Dockyard on October 5, 2006 in Ireland Island North, Bermuda. (Photo by Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan.com/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
