Maia Campbell Internet Video Shows a Sad Display of a World Gone Wrong...by Paula Neal Mooney



Sad. Sad. Sad. That's all I can say about the internet video of actress Maia Campbell that's circulating right now like so much filth. It’s odd that I was just wondering how Maia Campbell was coping with the recent death of her mother, writer Bebe Moore Campbell.

Maia Campbell may look familiar to folks who used to watch her play Tiffany Warren on LL Cool J’s sitcom In the House. I always thought Maia Campbell was so gorgeous, and having a mother like Bebe Moore Campbell to boot!

A New York Times bestselling author of books like Brothers and Sisters, Singing in the Comeback Choir, and Your Blues Ain't Like Mine, Bebe Moore Campbell died of brain cancer on November 27, 2006, at the age of 56.

But I didn’t realize until today when researching why the Maia Campbell internet video was such a big deal just how badly Maia’s been doing lately. Allegedly given drugs in exchange for taping the video, Maia Campbell begins by singing then disrobes in a vile display of sadness. I didn't know it was Maia Campbell at first, but thought her face looked familiar. After I realized what was happening, I had to turn the video off. So I didn’t see it all, but it’s very sad. I hope to God Bebe is in a better place. Imagine the feeling of watching your daughter do something like that...

The rumor mill abounds with reasons why Maia Campbell shot the video. There are reports of long-term drug abuse, and more astute writers and readers point out the fact that Bebe Moore Campbell’s common theme throughout many of her writings surrounded mental health.

Bebe Moore Campbell’s 72 Hour Hold is the story of a mother trying to cope with her daughter's descent into mental illness. Though 72 Hour Hold is a novel, Bebe reportedly said it was based on real-life events that engulfed her own family.

So Bebe might have been referencing her own daughter, Maia Chinassa Campbell, who may in fact be bipolar. My heart sinks deep in my chest for Maia, whom I always remember in a cute scene from In The House where Debbie Allen took a maternal peek at the burgeoning Maia Campbell and asked, “Where’d you get that body?”

It was cute back then. A young girl blossoming into a woman and coming into her own. Seeing the sordid shape Maia Campbell is in now, I’m truly praying that she can be delivered from the demons surrounding her and inside of her, and pray that the people who possibly drugged and exposed Maia and uploaded it on the internet are prosecuted. Pray with me please...