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The Fantasia Barrino Cheating Scandal Explained

According to ABC News, Paula Cook filed a complaint against her husband, Antwaun Cook, for custody of their two children in 2010. In the complaint, she named Fantasia Barrino as a witness and accused the singer of having an affair with her husband, thus breaking up their marriage. Paula alleged that Barrino met her husband in August 2009, when she came into the T-Mobile store where Antwaun worked. Paula claimed the two then went to "bars, restaurants, nightclubs and the like" and accused her husband of enjoying "the lavish benefits associated with the high-profile relationship," per ABC News. She also considered suing Barrino.

Barrino denied claims that she'd broken up their marriage, but she admitted she was in a relationship with Antwaun for 11 months under the assumption that the couple was separated. "Fantasia is certain that she is not responsible for the deterioration of [their] marriage," the singer's manager, Brian Dickens, said in a statement, per People. In a VH1 "Behind the Music" interview, Barrino told her side of the story: "When I met him, he was separated... wasn't living in his home. He didn't want to be back with his wife – that is what I was told. 

The stress of the controversy clearly took a toll on the singer, as she subsequently attempted suicide, according to People. "I remember waking up in the hospital [and thinking], 'It didn't work, I'm still here in this hellhole. Still here with all this drama going on,'" she said in the doc.

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Carisa Kissane

Update: 2024-05-18