Black Ink Crew’s Dutchess Lattimore Talks Being Suicidal After Leaving Show: Reality TV Is Meant To Diminish Mental Health

Black Ink Crew’s Dutchess Lattimore Talks Being Suicidal After Leaving Show: Reality TV Is Meant To Diminish Mental Health

Reality star and tattoo artist Dutchess Lattimore (born Crystana Lattimore) spent several years of her life in front of the camera as a tattoo artist and fiancée-turned-ex to Ceasar Emanuel on VH1’s Black Ink Crew.

Dutchess is one of several people who have opened up about the challenges they’ve faced with reality television and the negative mental health impact that it potentially has.

During a recent chat, she expressed,

“Reality TV is meant to diminish mental health not only for the people on the show but for the people that watch the show.”

The woman who spent five seasons on the popular show continued,

“You really have to have a certain level of disdain not only for yourself but for Black people in general, to want to watch something that you keep seeing Black people, and they never come to a place of success. Every f–king episode is fight or f–k.”

Dutchess alleges that she stayed on the show for five seasons because of contractual obligations but noticed that the show was going in a different, and negative direction after the 1st season, according to the star.

“When I started seeing they was playing with that, that’s when I was like, ‘Yeah, I don’t know. This sh-t ain’t for me.’”

She continued to share her experience as she came forth with pretty strong allegations.  She said,

“I’ll tell you what drove me crazy more than that. What drove me crazy more than that was the group of white producers that was literally instigating ignorance and negativity trying to make you feel like you really are f–kin’ crazy.

“They are a group of racist white individuals that created a relationship with Viacom to further the propaganda of what I feel racism is in this country.”

But it was after Dutchess left the reality show that the real trouble came.  According to the reality star,

“When I left the show, I went through therapy.  It was necessary. I tried to kill myself seven times. I went through so much bullsh-t. I lost my grandma while I was on the show. I felt so f–ked up because I literally hadn’t gone home in [almost] a year. These muthaf–kas was telling me I couldn’t go to my own grandma funeral ’cause I had to film, y’all. When they did that, that’s when I was like, y’all ain’t of God. I can’t do this sh-t. The devil is really in this and I can’t do it.”

What are your thoughts on Dutchess Lattimore’s experience with Black Ink Crew?  Share below.