Brandy (47) Reveals How Ex Wanya Morris (52) Took Advantage of Their Age Gap – ‘The Shame Ends Here’

Brandy is finally speaking out about a relationship from her past that has haunted her for years. In her new memoir, Phases, the 47-year-old R&B star talks about her romance with Wanya Morris of Boyz II Men, which began when she was just 16 and he was in his early 20s.

The pair first worked together professionally on the 1994 song “Brokenhearted,” and what started as a collaboration soon turned into a secret romance. Brandy says the pressure to hide the relationship from her family and the public was overwhelming.

“I was in over my head. Sneaking around with Wanya and lying to my parents had become a constant. They barely liked the idea of me dating at all, and telling them about us was out of the question,” she wrote.

To protect their reputations, they claimed to be just friends waiting for Brandy to come of legal age. The singer recalls that she lost her virginity to Morris, but the relationship quickly became a source of insecurity and confusion. She says he often compared her to other famous singers and made himself difficult to reach, sometimes needing her to page him just to talk.

Looking back, Brandy says she now sees the warning signs clearly. “These are the things that, with hindsight, you realize are wildly obvious signs of something wrong. Neon warning signs that I chose to ignore because I didn’t know what the hell I was doing, or what he was doing with me. Just that I was in love — or what I believed was love,” she explained.

The relationship ended when Morris admitted to being unfaithful. He has previously downplayed the situation, describing it as an unrequited teenage infatuation, but Brandy rejects that.

She emphasizes that the age difference created a clear power imbalance. “The shame ends here. The silence ends here. I was not a fast girl with a crush. I was not a dramatic teenager who couldn’t handle rejection. I was not an unstable, obsessive fan. I was a child. And he was an adult. And it’s time the world understood the difference,” Brandy wrote.

Since releasing Phases, Brandy has been active promoting the memoir and speaking out about the need to protect young performers in the industry. Hanover Square Press published the book, and Brandy is using its release as an opportunity to highlight these important issues.

Through her story, Brandy hopes to make it clear that young people should never be silenced and that the mistakes and abuses of adults should be recognized for what they truly are.

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