Tameka Raymond Opens Up on Usher Court Drama, “I did not start this…I begged him to withdraw the petition.”

In a recent interview with the Grio, Tameka Raymond discusses her highly public court proceedings with her ex-husband, Usher Raymond, responds to rumors that she was a gold-digger and responds to the critics about what we speculate via the media. Peep a few excerpts:

On the breaking point in their marriage:

“Well, if I had to point to one thing, one time, it would be after the birth of our second son, Naviyd….Until that point, we were a very passionate, very loving couple, but then the pressure of the entertainment industry began to slowly creep in and poison our marriage. There comes a point when as a married man with throngs of adoring female fans, you still have to pretend you’re available, but he wasn’t available… and that began the problems.”

On instilling entrepreneurship in her children:

“My kids take precedence over business; however, I do business for my kids. I want them to know that their mom works and she’s independent. I have to leave a legacy for my sons, so that eventually when I go on to glory….they have the savvy to keep it going. I definitely want to birth an entrepreneurial spirit within them. I don’t believe in silver-spoon children and you will not see my boys hanging on a beach all day, posing for paparazzi.”

On being a young and single mother, at the age of 19:

“I could have easily opted out; I’m sure there are many girls who choose to opt out every day, but abortion wasn’t an option for me. And I think that was a courageous move. I weathered the storm as a single mother for a very long time and I couldn’t be more proud of the man my son has turned out to be.”

On being in love with Usher, for who he is, not his money:

“I’ve been a mother for a very, very long time and for anyone to think that I would put a relationship — especially a relationship they believed to be founded on superficial reasons — above my children is not something that I take lightly. I had enough money of my own to last a lifetime and I think it’s an insult to my ex-husband to insinuate that I chased him for those reasons. What, because he’s affluent, he’s not lovable? It’s not dissing me to say he’s unworthy. He was really attractive, funny, sweet and we were friends first. Even more hilarious, is that these people spreading the rumors don’t even know him, yet they ‘love’ him. I’ve known Usher over 10 years, why is it impossible to believe that I loved him? There are over 100 ‘Mrs. Raymonds’ following me on Twitter and they’re married to a poster. It’s just a backwards concept.”

On who initiated the court proceedings, that resulted in their highly public battle:

“I did not start this. I did not file this. Usher did. I begged him to withdraw the petition, but he didn’t listen. The media jumped on my answer to his petition for custody as if I initiated it, and I did not. Why would I try to keep his children away from him? We have joint custody and I want to continue to have their father around to help out. Raising children is a lot of work.”

On why she is not the villain:

“My ex-husband and I are not enemies. We’re not. But people still find a way to make it more salacious than it has to be. I don’t know how he deals with it, but I refuse to let the media manipulate what should be a personal situation and turn me into the villain.”

Read the full interview here. P.S. do you think the media is giving fair media coverage on Tameka Raymond during this trial?