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ICYMI: 5 Things We Learned From Toni Braxton’s Lifetime Biopic

January 25, 2016
Jamisha Daniels

This past Saturday, January 23, the Toni Braxton biopic Unbreak My Heart: The Toni Braxton Story debuted on Lifetime.

Although some were apprehensive about the network having anything to do with telling another celebrity’s story, minds were at ease knowing Toni herself had creative control over her story.

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There were times where the film seemed to be a bit rushed, but the casting was very much on point. Twitter had a field day per usual and the reenactments of Toni’s early life were interesting to see.

With a career as successful at Toni’s, and a hit reality show (Braxton Family Values) that discusses so many elements of each one of the Braxton sisters’ personal lives, we thought we knew we everything about Toni’s story. Here are five things we learned from the Lifetime biopic.

  1. Toni’s younger sister Traci is the one who advised her to pursue  her career without her sisters. After Toni and her sisters auditioned for Babyface and LA Reid, she received a call from Reid saying they were only interested in her and not the rest of the Braxtons. Toni was about to call LaFace Records and decline the deal when Traci grabbed the phone and told her to take the deal and leave them behind. Toni4
  2. Toni’s debut single “Love Shoulda Brought You Home” was originally for Anita Baker. Toni recorded the demo of the song for Anita to hear, but Anita couldn’t record the song for scheduling conflicts. When Reid asked Anita who should record the song she replied, “The girl in the demo,” and the rest is history.
  3. Babyface helped Toni to win her case against LaFace Records. Babyface was a witness in Toni’s lawsuit against her record label after her bankruptcy. The lawyers were trying to make Toni seem like a reckless spender, but once Babyface confessed he wouldn’t have signed a deal like the one they trapped her with, Toni was awarded all of her coins. TOni
  4. Toni had to abort her first child. In the beginning of the film, Toni began to have skin issues and one of her team members suggested she use acne medication, but warned her not to use it if she was trying to get pregnant. Years later after getting into a relationship with Keri Lewis of Mint Condition, she discovered she was pregnant and made the decision to terminate the pregnancy because of the birth defects her child may have suffered due to the medication.
  5. Toni didn’t want to record “Unbreak My Heart.” During the time the song was pitched to her, she was pursuing a “sexier” sound. When Babyface proposed the song, she wasn’t “feeling it like that.”