Why Black Promoters Boycotted Toni Braxton in the ‘90s
Not many celebrities file for bankruptcy twice, but Toni Braxton did. The trouble began with the singer in the mid-1990s amid the success of her sophomore album, Secrets. After joining the tour of a popular musician, Braxton ended up losing money instead of earning money. Things were further complicated when Black promoters became upset with her, resulting in a brief boycott of working with her.
Black promoters boycotted Toni Braxton in the 1990s
In 1996, Braxton was approached by singer and musician Kenny G with an offer to do a collaborative tour. Braxton was already doing promotional performances across the country, where she worked with several promoters. But Kenny posed as a better option for her to widen her audience and sell more records. It seemed like a good fit as she’d done nearly solo dates, would add an additional 42 dates with Kenny, and then resume her solo tour in Europe.
According to an episode of Calvin Michaels’ series So What Happened series, the Black promoters Braxton was working with on her own before she was named as the opening act for Kenny became upset with the “Unbreak My Heart” singer because Kenny’s dates were in partnership with white promoters. Black promoters felt slighted and left out of the tour. As a result, Braxton considered dropping out of Kenny’s tour, but the promoters already listed her publicly and threatened to boycott, leaving her no choice but to continue on.
She’d eventually work out a deal in which the Black promoters would be added to certain dates. The tour continued but would turn out to be a disaster for Braxton.
Her first tour, coupled with a bad recording contract, caused her first bankruptcy
Fans were stunned when Toni filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Jan. 1998 after a sold-out world tour and millions of albums sold. At the time of the filing, Braxton’s two albums generated more than $170 million in sales. The move came just a few weeks after she sued her record label, Arista/LaFace, to terminate her recording contract. Her lawyer told the LA Times that Toni only received 33 cents per album, making it difficult for her to earn money from album sales.
It was quickly learned that she didn’t make any money from her tour with Kenny because the label refused to dedicate a large touring budget due to her previous album budgets and other expenses. While on tour, Braxton took out a loan from the label, but it wasn’t enough to cover the tour expenses. She eventually took out a personal loan, and even sold her four-bedroom home and moved into a condo to cut back on expenses. But that still wasn’t enough. When she received her royalty check from her tour sales and sophomore album, it was less than $2,000 as the label took recouped their expenses, plus interest and other fees her team was due.
Variety reported in Dec. 1997 that Braxton’s lawyers contended that due to her superstar status, she was entitled to a better deal – one that included a royalty rate and advances higher than other artists on the label. After weeks of failed negotiations, Toni filed for bankruptcy. She eventually settled, and Arista paid her $20 million, but she was forced to stay quiet under a gag order that lasted 10 years.
She filed for bankruptcy again in 2010
Braxton bounced back quickly, releasing her third album, The Heat, in 2000. But she didn’t tour to promote it. Instead, she began work on another album after releasing two singles, married Keri Lewis, and became a mother.
Big news came in 2006 when she announced a Las Vegas Residency, replacing Wayne Newton as the casino’s new headlining act. Toni Braxton: Revealed was at The Flamingo six nights a week. Her show was so big that she extended it through 2010. Unfortunately, she would be unable to see it through to the end after she collapsed on stage during a show in April 2007. The singer announced in May of the same year that she was canceling her show due to health reasons.
After a three-year break to focus on her health, she filed for bankruptcy for the second time in 2010. A Lupus diagnosis and issues with her heart left her unable to perform, leaving her self-financed Vegas show to be canceled. She decided to self-finance the show as a way to avoid the financial troubles she had dealt with previously, but her health got in the way. She told ABC News in 2012, “The Vegas show, I just renewed my contracts with all my vendors,” she explained. “And then a month later, I got sick.
I couldn’t work and could not afford to pay them back.”She settled the bankruptcy in 2013. Since then, she’s earned money via reality television with Braxton Family Values, touring, and, more recently, focusing on acting.
