Remember Maia Campbell who played Tiffany on the late 90s sitcom “In the House”?
You might remember seeing a video of her that surfaced in 2009 that didn’t paint her in the best of light. She appeared to be intoxicated and drugged up while sitting in a Monte Carlo, yelling obscenities at the men filming her. The video prompted a ‘Pray4Maya’ trending topic on Twitter, and shortly afterward there were rumors that she had checked into rehab. However, another video of Maia exhibiting “Felicia-like” tendencies surfaced a year later, followed by a mug shot, and it looked as though she had fallen onto pretty hard times.
Now, years later, Maia is speaking about what she was and still is struggling with. She was hurt by the videos that surfaced online, but she said the attention helped her turn her life around. Now she’s clean, sober and working on a comeback. Some of her goals include a reality show, working on her music career, pushing her mom Bebe Moore Campbell’s novel ’72 Hour Hold’ to movie producers and searching for positive acting roles.
Check out excerpts from her interview on a BlogTalk Radio show below:
What’s going on in her life.How exciting! Maia also revealed that she is careful about the company she keeps. She has surrounded herself with people who can help her navigate the Hollywood scene and keep her well protected from those who don’t have her best intentions at heart.
I’ve been sober for two years, and a lot of people can’t say that. I’m timid, shy and broken a little bit by some of the responses [online], but then again so much support from the people saying “No! She’s none of that.” Real friends stepping up … And just showing me who the real people were in my life. It helped me find myself and find out that there’s a real true artist inside of me–that no matter what obstacles may come, he’s not going to let you fall, and he’s not going to let you down.
I started ministering to myself and looking at my heart … Finding my voice … And it just made me stronger. If it doesn’t kill you, it will make you stronger. Like Drake says, “It’s far from over…” I listened to the music that people were making, and it kept inspiring me. I started making music, and I just stepped out on a limb. My mom died … So much has happened. I miss people in my life. I miss LL [Cool J]. Debbie Allen came back to the community … And for once so many miracles. I swear so many miracles!
On the state of her career and the youtube videos that surfaced:
I went on to do movies, and nobody talked about it, and that hurt me. I did a movie called ‘Rim Shop’ after Katrina had happened in New Orleans. We went down there, and that place looked a mess, seriously. We shot a film out there just to help those people, to bring revenue in and just show our support to their situation. Then, I did a gospel kind of Tyler Perry play called ‘Friends and Lovers’.
I’m trying to reach out to Tyler Perry about one of the mom’s latest novels. She was nominated for a Noble Peace Prize for literature. [It's called 72-Hour Hold] it was a story about her and my relationship, and I wish that Halle Berry would pick it up and read it if you’re listening. I would love for her to play the lead character.
There are so many goals and dreams that God has put in my heart while I’m sitting here sober. And I’m not doing the things I use to do. The way they attacked me on the Internet–it was BS. These guys said they were going to shoot a video for my music. I was trying to work independently–and I’m not saying that I was clear headed to believe them, but I was not doing what the heck they said I was doing. They blasted me with the words they put on the screen and just made everybody look at me another way. And I’m like, “That’s really messed up if anybody believes that!” But a lot of people didn’t. And they knew that and came to my rescue and said, “Let’s just get you all the way right.”
On her future
I went to Spelman, but a lot of HBCUs named a month after my mom for mental health month because she supported the mental health … Her book was about a girl with a bi-polar mental health issues and her relationship with her mom. It was kind of a bougie little girl that was prive to every freakin’ thing, raised up in The Hills and just had it like that. Nobody took the time to deal with her psychologically. And that’s what ’72-Hour Hold’ is about. That’s the next project that I want to basically get out to producers and Tyler Perry to see if anybody is interested in pushing it.
I want to attach myself to anything-–reality shows, movies–but positive characters. I don’t want to play the crazy girl like, ”Craig, Craig let me borrow your VCR!” It’s too much of that in life, and we got kids out there … I wish they would take that type of stuff off the Internet because the kids have to go to school and deal with reality of that, and it makes it hard for them to learn.
On her background and family
I went to school in LA. I was born in D.C. I have a little girl–She has a video out right now. She just turned 11. She just did an India Arie video. It’s on YouTube, check it out it’s called “Heaven.” It’s real emotional and really sweet. She’s acting in it, and it’s a real touchy video. Somebody I went to school with at Spelman directed and put it together. We actually had her and one of my former acting friends Kareem Barnes–from a TV show called “South Central”–he played the father. It was kind of an interesting piece about being bi-racial.
On the book she’s working on called ‘Sagittarius’
I’m terrified. We just got to the process where we’re ready to release. Most of it is a sweet little memoir about … My mother has put out about 10 books, so I should be a veteran because I’ve watched my mom put out book after book with no problem. There’s just something about this industry, and I don’t want to make more enemies than friends. I know there’s a code, and you need to keep most of these things … You just don’t … I don’t know. I just don’t know. I don’t know if I’m ready to put this book out.
I know my life is an open book. I know people know everything or think they know things about me and already made assumptions behind what they’ve heard and what not.
I have a portion of it that definitely inspires. It definitely comes of age and it focuses on inspiration. It focuses on the learning, it focuses on the story telling and it focuses on that I’m a product of my behavior. I’m a child of God and a product of my intelligence and life. And my life is not just rolling along doing what people tell me to do. I make intelligent choices, and [contrary] to popular belief, this is a statement of God’s hand in my life. So in theory that’s what any author hopes to say to his audience. I just hope somebody gets that. I don’t want people to pinpoint one page and say, “Oh, no she didn’t.” Then it becomes someone feeding into something–like the YouTube thing. That wasn’t even what it was supposed to be. That was a trip that went all wrong, and I spent all this time trying to recover. That’s another thing … You have to be careful with what we choose to say to the public.
On working on ‘In the House’ with LL Cool J and Debbie Allen
It was a growing experience. It was a very nurturing growing experience. It was almost like being one of the Cosby kids. For me it was like –-there were moments, for example, when Debbie Allen used to take me under her wing. Her and Norm Nixon used to take me to the theater in their Rolls Royce or their Bentley, and we would eat at Mr. Chow’s. It was fabulous. She taught me so many things about networking. I learned from a queen about networking. She would take me out with all her investors who would be old farts. It was great and she taught me a lot. She took me to the ballet.
Then, Todd [LL Cool J] of course we would be on a ship going to Mexico overlooking the ocean and he would say some of the most prolific things while they were setting up the lighting and cameras on us.
A lot of things that they said I will never forget. These are the people that shaped my life and young mind as an actress. I can’t reach out and touch them anymore, but in my mind I can sometimes go to places where it comforts me to know that I was once in the same room with these people. I know they live lives that people dreamed of. They reached their dreams, and that’s a good thing for some people–and to do it it safely and not have any drawbacks … I saw him [LL Cool J] on the Hip Hop Awards, and he still has the same mind in tact. One thing my grandmother says, “To reach the top and still have your mind in tact…”
Listen below:
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
