It’s official… there’s no question that Tamar Braxton?was definitely FIRED from her hosting gig on ‘The Real’ and the separation was clearly NOT a mutual one.
After days of online chatter surrounding the ‘talk show shake up,’ it’s now being reported that Tamar was given the boot for THREE major reasons including: On-set tantrums, ‘p*ssing off’ sponsors, and a focus group ?that revealed Tamar’s ‘aggressive eye-rolling and mouth-smacking’ was an issue with ‘educated women’ viewers as they are ‘indicative of behavior African-American women have worked years to overcome.’
According to the DailyMail, Executives of ‘The Real’ reportedly fired Tamar because of three major REAL reasons:
1. negative feedback on her ‘ghetto’ persona received from focus groups of the daytime talk show,
2. on-set insubordination
3. Advertiser complaints – (The show’s sales team made it clear that advertisers did not want her in their segments due to her antics and lack of cooperation).
On Saturday, May 21, Braxton and her co-hosts (Adrienne Bailon, Jeannie Mai, Loni Love and Tamara Mowry) all got phone calls from the show’s parent company Telepictures/Warner Bros. letting them know that the show would be moving forward without Tamar.
It was a move that neither Tamar, nor her four co-hosts saw coming.
‘Everyone was caught off guard. None of them saw it coming and everyone was completely blindsided by the decision,’ a source close to production tells Daily Mail Online.
The cast was shocked because as Loni Love stated in her video response, all five cast members had just completed a new photo shoot for images that were supposed to be used to promote their upcoming third season (click HERE if you missed that).
They were also supposed to travel to New Orleans together over the July 4th weekend for a rare off-season multi-day taping to occur at this year’s Essence Festival, where they were scheduled to film episodes of their show and premiere them when they returned in September.
But apparently the last few tapings of the show was the straw that broke the producers’ backs regarding Tamar. The show’s executive producer cursed her out in earshot of other staffers on set a few weeks ago, after Braxton reportedly sulked over losing a game during the taping.
‘It was an ugly scene. Pinterest was sponsoring the segment and Tamar was genuinely upset she was losing the game.
‘She really acted out during the taping in front of the studio audience and then exploded behind the scenes once the show was done.
Producers had to heavily edit the segment to make it presentable to air on TV, but the sponsor was on set for the segment and witnessed it all,’ the source explains.
According to production staff, Tamar’s outbursts on set were frequent and she regularly blew up at the executive producer and oftentimes her husband Vincent Hubert and/or her co-hosts would have to work to calm her down.
‘Let’s just say she was becoming unbearable to work with,’ the source added.
It was during Tamar’s stint on Dancing with the Stars that producers realized the show could survive without her.
It was peaceful on set, as the other four ladies are quite easy to work with, and the ratings maintained and at times, went up depending on whom was guest co-hosting the show,’ the source explained.
After Telepictures received a two-year renewal of ‘The Real’ on all Fox stations and on BET where it re-airs, execs reportedly wanted to see what they could do to make the show better for Seasons 3 and 4. Enter the focus groups…
The research from the focus group was also a major factor in the decision to fire Tamar. Apparently Braxton doesn’t score well amongst educated women.
‘The focus group research showed that most educated and working women did not identify with Tamar’s show vernacular and her use of words known to be popular among drag queens and some gay men – phrases like “get your life,” “where they do that at,” “have several seats.”
‘It was even said she seemed more suited to be a judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race on Logo instead of a talk show host on The Real,’ revealed the source.
‘The research went on to say that most educated and working women found her to be ‘ghetto’ and that her aggressive eye-rolling, neck-rolling and the smacking of her mouth were indicative of ‘stereotypical behavior that African American women have worked years to overcome,” the source continued.
The Real’s executive producer used the three REAL reasons above (the focus group findings, on-set insubordination and the sales team issues about advertisers not wanting Braxton in their segments) to convince Warner Bros. to give Tamar the boot!
And for those of you who keep referencing Tamar’s husband Vince Herbert’s production credit on ‘The Real’, reports are that he was kept in the dark about the network’s desire to ditch his wife.
‘He knew they were having problems with her and he shielded Tamar from a lot of what was being said and done, but in the end his producer credit on the show was more about vanity and less about control,’ the source revealed.
For the record, Warner Bros. wanted to work out an exit agreement with Tamar that wouldn’t make viewers aware she was being fired but before they could hammer out a joint statement and an agreement that was good for both parties, Tamar had already posted that cryptic message on IG about betrayal and an unnamed person who she feels ‘stabbed’ her ‘in the back.’
‘It’s that type of impulsive behavior and lack of self control that is why she is off the show,’ the source said.