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Tameka Raymond is still making her PR rounds when it comes to the disastrous custody case going on between her and Usher. Though most people aren’t particularly in either parent’s corner, Tameka tends to catch a little more of the grief, and in an interview with The Grio, she attempted to clear her name and explain her side once again.

“I did not start this,” she said. “I did not file this. Usher did. I begged him to withdraw the petition, but he didn’t listen. The media jumped on my answer to his petition for custody as if I initiated it, and I did not. Why would I try to keep his children away from him? We have joint custody and I want to continue to have their father around to help out. Raising children is a lot of work.

“My ex-husband and I are not enemies. We’re not. But people still find a way to make it more salacious than it has to be. I don’t know how he deals with it, but I refuse to let the media manipulate what should be a personal situation and turn me into the villain.”

Tameka’s pretty much been the villain from the very beginning, with people assuming the single mother was just out for Usher’s cash. She insists despite the public not taking a liking to her—or Usher’s mama— things were good when the couple first started out. But there seemed to be one particular event that made things go south.

“Well, if I had to point to one thing, one time, it would be after the birth of our second son, Naviyd,” Tameka said. “Until that point, we were a very passionate, very loving couple, but then the pressure of the entertainment industry began to slowly creep in and poison our marriage. There comes a point when as a married man with throngs of adoring female fans, you still have to pretend you’re available, but he wasn’t available… and that began the problems.”

That’s clear from her allegation that Usher was dipping all up and through her bridal party. I’m not sure he ever pretended to not be available but hopefully they can wrap up that legal mess soon before any more of their behind-the-scenes buffoonery gets exposed. What’s interesting is that although we saw Usher break down on the stand a couple of weeks back, Tameka appears to still be as cool as she looked in this photo last week. For any woman going through what she is, she has this advice:

“Always keep your dignity and stand firm. My marriage was a beautiful thing, but I’m not stuck in that time. I loved my ex-husband more than air, but it’s over and that’s fine. I would rather have loved and lost, than to not have these memories. Life is nothing without real love – at least once.”

Hope it was worth all this aftermath.

via MadameNoire

Divorce Files: Tameka Raymond Delights In Usher’s Pain, Laughs At Him On the Stand

Usher’s Ex-Wife Attacked Him And Girlfriend [VIDEO]