A viral video of Lauryn Hill’s daughter, Selah Marley, has sparked an intense debate about spanking that prompted a confession from Lil Wayne‘s baby mama, Nivea B. Hamilton.
In the video, Selah was honest and raw as she spoke about her painful childhood trauma. She said that her mother, Lauren, was always angry and spanked her. As for her father, Rohan Marley, he was absent from her life and often argued with Lauren.
The 21-year-old artist explained in her surprising two-hour Instagram Live video: “When I was younger, my mother, just like her parents, she would spank us. [Hill] was just very angry. She was so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so angry. She was literally unapproachable. Not easy to talk to. And half the time I didn’t live with her, I was living with my grandparents half the time. She was very angry.”
She went on to reveal how she felt about corporal punishment: “‘Go get the belt.’ That’s how you know you’re in trouble… You go walk to your doom — it’s like walking to your death. And my mother is an amazing woman, but, um, she obviously didn’t do everything right.”
Rohan, the son of Bob Marley, decided to apologize to his daughter after the video surfaced.
He promised that he would continue building on the progress they have made and will heal together as a family.
The businessman explained: “Selah’s expression on Instagram is a healing process for her. I’m pleased that she is fearless in her expression. I love her very much and apologize for any contributions I may have added by arguing in front of her as a child. I’ve grown as a man, a spiritual being and a father. I am constantly growing and will teach my children always to take the higher road in any disagreements.”
Hill also issued a statement on the matter where she defended how she raised her five children.
The legendary singer revealed: “We’re both learning and healing, and each of my children has a similar story and journey. All of you in a rush to crucify someone, careful who you string up or nail up. You might have a minimal view of the actual reality. We all hate abuse and exploitation, sometimes to fight against it, we can easily become the abuser, the exploiter, and THIS is what we have to watch for. No one is exempt from needing to watch themselves in this way.”
Nivea, who was engaged to Lil Wayne, with whom she shares a son, appeared in the comment section where she made her own confession.
She revealed that she also used to spank her children, but she has changed her ways.
She wrote this: “Parenting doesn’t come with a book but this is exactly why I stopped whipping my kids’ many yrs ago.”
After getting bashed for spanking her children, Nivea came back with this comment: “I’m shocked at these comments tho….then again, no, I’m not.”
The young woman has deleted the video and explained that her comments were part of a larger conversation about “trauma that I experienced from a lack of unity” in the household that she grew up in.
She also asked that people stop bashing her parents for their shortcomings.
