Tashera Simmons, the ex-wife of late rapper DMX, had to stop wanting to “save” her former husband to emotionally protect herself.
The Dying to Self author, who was married to DMX from 1999 to 2014, discussed the depths of her past marriage in the Wednesday (Mar. 18) episode of podcast Angie Martinez IRL. The former spouses shared four children and in April 2021, DMX, real name Earl Simmons, died from a cocaine-induced cardiac arrest that caused brain failure. The rapper was 50 years old.
Around the 31-minute mark of the episode below, Simmons told Angie Martinez that she believed DMX died “unhappy” and with a “broken heart.”
“I was so broke from a lot of things that happened with us in the marriage,” she continued. “I stayed as long as I did because I knew him.”
“I wanted to save Earl,” Simmons continued. I saw the road that Earl was going down. It got very unhealthy for me in this aspect of [him] just starting to step out of our marriage and creating a bunch of different families.”
Simmons recalled one of her earliest conversations with DMX was when he explained that he had “three different fathers” among his siblings. DMX would go on to father eleven more children among eight other women outside of his first marriage.
“‘When I get married, I want to have only one home because I know what that felt like. It's chaos. I want to be there. I want to make sure that I create a solid foundation,’” Simmons recalled her husband saying at the time.
Simmons added that she wanted to see DMX “happy and healed,” but never got the chance to.
The history between Simmons and DMX will possibly be recounted in the upcoming 50 Cent-produced Narratively podcast Look Thru My Eyes: Becoming DMX, which Jadakiss is attached to host.
