In this episode of Karamo’s talk show, host Karamo mediates a fraught conversation between Jade and her mother Stacy. Jade describes a childhood marked by emotional neglect, physical fights, and being forced into a caregiving role for her siblings after her mother became a functioning alcoholic and drug user. She recounts specific incidents of abuse, including witnessing men assault her and an accusation from Stacy that Jade “killed her child,” which stemmed from a miscarriage complication. Jade seeks an apology for that comment and broader acknowledgment of the harm caused. Stacy, now sober for six‑seven years from alcohol and two years from pills, offers apologies, explains her addiction’s grip, and admits she did not know how to intervene. The dialogue explores the lingering pain, the need for honest communication, and Karamo’s encouragement toward counseling, mutual listening, and healing. The episode also touches on Stacy’s past suicide ideation, highlighting the depth of mental‑health struggles within the family.
Chapters
Your relationship with your mother is strained.
It is.
My producers told me before I came out here that you two physically have fought each other.
Yeah, we have.
When was the last time you physically fought?
The last time we fought was last year, the end of August.
Oh, last year.
Yeah.
What was it like growing up in a house with her?
I felt bullied. I didn't feel any affection. I felt like she really didn't want me around.
Mm.
Yeah.
So when did she start treating you different?
I'll say maybe around 10. I remember her telling me like, 'cause I used to ask her like, "Why don't you hug me, kiss me?" And she was like, "It's a certain age where you don't receive affection." But she—
That was her response to you at 10?
Yeah.
Wow, wow, wow, wow. What was she like when she was intoxicated?
She was a functioning alcoholic, but when she was on drugs, she was like a zombie. So it's like I had to take on the responsibility of being a mother to my siblings.
Mm. At what age did you start being a mother to your siblings?
I'll say maybe 15.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
Yeah, what a lot of pressure for you.
Right.
Yeah. My producers told me that you feel like she's chosen things over you.
So I wrote a list. I felt like she chose men over me because the type of discipline that I got I felt like it was sometimes excessive. So I remember that happening to me. Like the, I think it was abuse. I'm gonna be honest. So she would actually be in front of me while it was happening and I would call for her and she wouldn't, like she would just stand there.
'Cause the men would be hitting you?
Yeah, like weapons or anything. The addiction took a toll on me because I just had to grow up faster than I wanted to. Something simple as hygiene. A relative taught me how to keep myself up, not her. And I'll say a sibling because I have a younger sibling that's a middle child and she wouldn't let anything happen to her that she let happen to me.
And what do you need from your mother to move forward today?
I would like an apology for her saying that I killed my child. I want an apology For, I want—
[Speaker] Hold on, I gotta back up. Why would your mother say you killed your child? What happened?
[Speaker] So I had a baby shower and I was, I didn't know that I wasn't supposed to stand on something and reach. I didn't know. A couple of days, like 2 days after, she was like, I said, "Ma, I don't feel like the baby moving." And if I turn one way, the baby will move. It was just flowing weirdly. I'm like, "Something not right." So I told her, I went to the hospital. They told me that the umbilical cord wrapped around his head And I felt, I did feel like it was my fault because she told me don't reach. Was it my fault?
Yeah, let me tell you right now, you did not kill your baby. You reaching, that did not do that.
Right.
And I know that's gonna take some time for you to process. So she said that to you?
Yes, she did.
Okay, well I think it's time to meet your mother Stacy so we can get her side and hear what she says about this. So everyone please welcome Stacy to the show. Hey, Stacy, nice to meet you.
Thank you, Karamo.
How do you feel about what was just said?
I never told her that she would stop receiving love. She would tell me that, but I never told her that.
Okay.
You know, I've apologized to her for the things that I've done in my addiction. You know, I was lost.
We didn't talk, we never talk about, you know, what's going on. It's like everything is sweeping under the rug.
And that's how I grew up. With my mom going through certain stuff and we never talked about anything.
Why did you get physical with her when she was 12?
'Cause she was getting smart mouth. She was getting real smart mouth.
And how long have you been sober now?
It's been like 6 years, 6 or 7 years from the alcohol, like 2 years from the pills.
2 years from the pills, okay. When did you first expose Jay to your addiction?
Like she said, I was a functioning addict, so it's not like I wasn't working. I would get off work, come home, drink, get up in the morning and just do it all over again.
Yeah.
Like the blackouts and, you know, things were happening and I didn't know that they were happening until the morning. So, when she was like 12, 13?
12, 13.
So she got the bulk of my addiction. So I mean, you know how you see those memes, if I can go back with the knowledge I have now or take $100 million, I will go back with the knowledge that I have now.
Yeah.
But it's just to think that it was some things happening and you would be there and I'm like, I'm crying and I'm saying, "Ma," and you just like, why didn't you intervene?
I didn't know how to do nothing different.
The whole thing is that she feels like you're shutting down, like you're not showing up. And so when she asks you to listen to how she felt, that's when you don't tell her how you felt. Jade said she needed an apology from you about killing the baby. How you feel about that?
We was in a heated argument. This was the last time she was at my house. We was just in the heat. I never felt like that.
Yeah.
You know, because it's nothing that she could have done for that to happen.
Mm-hmm.
And I do apologize for that.
Tell her, because you know that's sticking with her. That's gonna be with her for the rest of her life. That is one of those things. No, you're okay. You're okay. That's one of those things, and I understand where your addiction was, but that's gonna be with her forever. And the only person who's gonna be able to heal that is you. I would encourage you right now, to go walk to your baby.
Okay.
Mom, I'm sorry.
I don't think you're there, Anise, Mom.
So what do you need me to do, Jade?
Be more active. You're so isolated. You think everybody is so against you and they not. I don't know why you think like that. Why?
I mean, you already know how the family is. So what we need to do is just work on our relationship. It's like you keep just trying to push back to you did this, you did this, you did this. I don't know what you say you want us to have a better relationship. Okay, let's try to do that. But I can't keep living in the past.
I have to talk about the past 'cause it happened. I'm still affected by it every day.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
I heard it, I heard it, I heard it, I saw it. I wanted to see how y'all interact. You have to get to a place where you're able just to say, when she tells you how she feels, you just say, "I hear you and I'm sorry." If you can get anything else from this show, it's gonna be that.
I wanna know like, why were you in a space in the house where you felt like you couldn't defend yourself?
It was about trying to be accepted. Just trying to feel something 'cause I was so depressed. And when you're an addict, people think, "Oh, it's just so easy to quit," when you just trying to feel something besides sadness and wanting to maybe kill, 'cause I was planning on killing myself one time. Y'all don't even know it. I came and kissed all y'all goodnight. I was gonna kill myself one night.
I know that's a lot for you to take in. So the thing is that there's gonna need to be time and grace You know what? Because one of the things with addiction that y'all both need to understand is that when you have addiction, both of y'all are hurting on both sides. So what I wanna do is I wanna figure out how to set y'all up with somebody who can help y'all to understand how to work through this sobriety. Would y'all allow me to help you find that? Because that's what it's gonna take. Because on this stage right now, there's so many years of what happened with the addiction that you're not able to figure it all out right here. There's things that you gotta write down. Same way you wrote that list down, We gonna need to write down a bigger list of the things that you affected, the things that you're copying and patterns, the things she said. And then you were gonna have somebody who's gonna sit there and talk to y'all. Unfortunately, this is deep. This is deeper than what we can do on a television show. Your mother, I feel, is in a place where she is sorry, but it's gonna take time for you to actually believe that. And that's all right. And you deserve that time. So listen, I'm gonna support y'all, all right? I wish y'all the best of luck, all right? Seriously, I wish y'all the best, best of luck. Y'all gonna be all right, okay? All right. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of self-harm or suicide, free and confidential support is always available. Please call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988. You are not alone in this.
