Award-winning R&B singer, dancer, and model Teyana Taylor and her husband, basketball player Iman Shumpert, discussed Black love, rumors, and raising Black girls in the latest issue of Ebony Magazine.
The couple opened up in the latest issue that featured images of the two alongside their gorgeous daughters, Rue Shumpert, 1, and Junie Shumpert, 6.
“Black love looks like the pain you share with someone else, so it’s not as heavy,” said Iman. “It means unconditional love because you’re going to celebrate together when it doesn’t hurt anymore. It’s affectionate and unapologetic; it is bold and needed in a world full of hate. I love Black love.”
He added that as a girl-dad to Black daughters, he felt it has been his and Teyana’s duty to nurture their strengths. This has especially rang true for their firstborn, who would emulate everything her mother did since she was born.
“[Junie] sees her mom do a lot of things that are just bold. Whether it’s in fashion, whether it’s on stage, whether it’s in a quick snippet of an interview—it’s very bold, and she watches her mom do it. So, for her to even try and emulate that at such a young age, it’s our job to nurture that and to keep preaching that. What I love most about being a girl dad is the consistency my daughters have in making sure that I don’t harden my heart.”
Teyana inserted that Junie was invited to fashion week and had been inspiring at just six years old.
“She’s so fearless. Junie has inspired me—even as a woman—in so many ways. I thought I was bold, but Junie is really just her parents, times three…She is one of a kind…the ‘it’ girl. She was invited to fashion week, and I was just her plus-one.”
However, despite loving her children unconditionally, she admitted to dealing with postpartum depression.
“Although people look up to me for maintaining my career and still being able to be a mom and a wife, it’s really not easy. ‘Til this day I still struggle with postpartum depression.”
She has always strived to be a good example for her daughters and, as such, she was hurt by rumors that she was on drugs.
“These types of rumors and lies hurt the most because I take pride in being a mother and would never be that irresponsible. I’ve never used drugs a day in my life, nor do I smoke, and [I] only drink occasionally,” the 31-year-old said.
According to reports, the singer was accused of drug use after she was rushed to the hospital on Nov. 27, 2021, because her body “gave out.” As a result, she was forced to cancel her Femme It Foward concert in Mashantucket, Conn, but a viral TikTok video alluded to her passing out from an overdose. The video’s creator recently made her page private, making users unable to see her original post.
“Touring with two kids and doing 90-minute shows night after night on top of meet & greets right after could cause anyone’s body to break down. That was simply what happened to me. Nothing more, nothing less,” she said in her Ebony story.
Iman chimed in, defending his wife, noting that the TikTok commentary was disrespectful.
“If she did coke, why would I be cool with that? Why would I not care about my kids enough to say, ‘Yo, you can’t be around my kids?’ It’s disrespectful in so many ways that people don’t think through,” he said. “I don’t know where people get off. I live a real-life, and [Teyana is] really my wife, [Junie and Rue] are really our kids, we really love each other, and we’re really going to go hard.”
The couple began dating in 2014 and got married two years later, in 2016, after having their first child in 2015. In 2018, the then-family-of-three made their television debut on VH1’s Teyana and Iman.
Then, they had their second child in 2020 before starring in their 2021 show, We Got Love Teyana & Iman, which aired on E!.
“We’re working to build generational wealth. We’re young and what I respect about Iman and I’s dynamic is that we empower and push one another to be better versions of ourselves all across the board,” Teyana said.
