Brandy, 47, is confirming a years-long rumor claiming she dated Boyz II Men star Wanya Morris, 52, when she was 16 and he was 22. For years, Wanya has denied dating an underage Brandy, claiming they fell in love after she became 18.
In her new memoir, ‘Phases,’ the R&B superstar opened up about Wanya being her “first.” She said the age-gap relationship has haunted and left her scarred. The Grammy-winning singer further admitted how she now feels like he “took advantage” of her youth and naïvety.
While detailing her late ‘90s relationship with Wanya, Brandy revealed things began after they collaborated on the hit song “Brokenhearted” in 1994. Shortly after, their friendship turned romantic and they began “sneaking around.”
According to USA Today, Brandy wrote, “I knew full well that what was happening between Wanya and me was wrong. And yet, my attitude was, ‘This is special. This is real. People just can’t understand.’” She “genuinely believed” they had “true love” and lost her virginity to him. She wrote:
“For years, I struggled with how I was treated in this relationship. He saw a 15-year-old girl with rising fame and admiration for his talent, and I believe he deliberately took advantage. This was a 22-year-old man who I believe knew exactly what he was doing when he pursued an underage girl.”
Brandy claimed Wanya began telling her behind closed doors, “My girlfriend is sixteen.” She said:
“I don’t remember when he first said it. But those four words started rolling off Wanya’s tongue whenever we were alone. I couldn’t tell if this refrain was meant to soothe his own conscience or temper the questions shimmering in my gaze.”
Brandy Recalls ‘Sneaking Around And LyingTo Parents’ While Dating Boyz II Men’s Wanya Morris When She Was 16 And He Was 22
According to PEOPLE, the “I Wanna Be Down” singer also wrote:
“I was in over my head. Sneaking around with Wanya and lying to my parents had become a constant. They barely liked the idea of me dating at all, and telling them about us was out of question. But it wasn’t just about upsetting — or disappointing — my parents. Wanya and I understood, with diamond-cut clarity that public knowledge of our relationship would ignite scandal, potentially threatening everything we’d both worked for, so he and I opted for elaborate fiction: we would pretend patience and claim we were waiting until my 18th birthday before pursuing any romantic connection.”
Brandy claimed that as their relationship grew, Wanya began comparing her to other superstar R&B singers, like Mariah Carey, with whom he sang “One Sweet Day.” She said he also became hard to get in contact with and that he made her page him before calling. She wrote:
“These are the things that with hindsight you realize are wildly obvious signs of something wrong. Neon warning signs that I chose to ignore because I didn’t know what the hell I was doing, or what he was doing with me. Just that I was in love — or what I believed was love.”
Brandy said she split from Wanya after learning he cheated, to which he admitted. She also said that for years, he’s been describing their relationship as “the young ingénue having a schoolgirl crush and getting her heart broken.” However, she now insists that Wanya manipulated her throughout their relationship. She wrote:
“I believe he took advantage. The shame ends here. The silence ends here. I was not a fast girl with a crush. I was not a dramatic teenager who couldn’t handle rejection. I was not an unstable obsessive fan. I was a child. And he was an adult. And it’s time the world understood the difference.”
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