DMX's Son Xavier Defends Iyanla Vanzant: 'She Did Not Make Things Worse' (VIDEO)
The son of troubled rapper Earl "DMX" Simmons has spoken out against claims suggesting TV host Iyanla Vanzant ruined his family on her hit reality TV show "Iyanla: Fix My life."
Xavier, who up until the show's taping had not spoken to his father in over one year, insists that contrary to DMX's bizarre rant, Vanzant was very "supportive" during their reconciliation process.
During Saturday night's airing of Vanzant's show, viewers saw Xavier come face-to-face with his estranged father and the encounter did not end well. DMX, 42, has battled addiction problems for several years, and he defiantly rejected his son's request for him to stay clean in order for them to rebuild a relationship.
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"If there's gonna be a condition ... if there's gonna be a demand when all I've given you is unconditional love, I'm not gonna allow that," DMX responded to a tearful Xavier.
After berating Vanzant, DMX, which is an acronym for Dark Man X, then walked out on his son after angrily saying "I'll see you at my funeral." In a recent interview, the rapper accused Vanzant, who helps mend broken relationships, of making his life worse, which Xavier refuted in the spiritual teacher's defense.
"Iyanla did not make his life worse, he did that!" Xavier said during a video discussion posted on YouTube. "The older that I've gotten [I've] learned to see him as a person and I'm starting to see now that he loves to play the victim role."
Xavier was left "hurt" after his father simply walked out after being asked to lay off drugs, but Vanzant counseled him and helped him get through the ordeal. The singer explained what exactly he got out of the experience with Vanzant.
"Trying to dig in to more of [DMX's] disease you know the addiction part of it, not just seeing him as 'Dad' ... I got a lot out of it," Xavier said.
"I can't begin to thank her enough. Just for supporting me the whole time, hand on my shoulder like a guardian angel ... She was guiding the conversation, it was great," he went on.
Xavier was asked about whether there is a possibility of a reconciliation in the future, and although he was skeptical, he revealed that he is open but only on the condition that his father seek help and stay clean.
"I feel it's done [but] I mean he'd have to show me 100 percent ... just a complete turn around," he explained.
In a statement, DMX slammed Vanzant and suggested that he was tricked into appearing on the show.
"DMX agreed to be a guest on 'Iyanla: Fix My Life' with the understanding that she would be helping his relationships with his 10 children," a representative for the rapper said in a statement.
"When he arrived for the taping, most of the content was focused on his struggles with drugs and poor parenting. Iyanla did not 'fix' DMX's life just made his image worse, and does not have DMX's personal written consent to use the footage," the statement continued.
Meanwhile fans of the "Party Up (Up in Here)" rapper along with a number of fellow celebrities took to social networking site Twitter after the show aired to show support for DMX. Prior to the show airing, Vanzant had requested that the public show their support for the troubled rapper by using the hashtag #supportDMX in their tweets, which resulted in thousands of encouraging messages being sent out in honor of DMX.
