Lil’ Mo once told us that she is only human but that she can also be a “superwoman”. The singer has been through some crazy highs (even produced Heaven on earth by way of her daughter), and has seen some hellish lows, but through it all remains strong and resilient despite whatever circumstance.
Cynthia Loving, aka Lil’ Mo, has given the world r&b anthems such as “Superwoman” and “4Ever”, while also featuring on some huge songs with Missy Elliot, Ja Rule, and others. While she has written some incredible love songs, she hasn’t been the luckiest in love.
The singer has been married three times, first to Augustus Stone whom she was married from 2001-2005. Her next marriage was to Gospel recording artist Phillip Bryant from 2008-2014. Lil Mo’s marriage to Bryant ended in divorce due to his chronic infidelity.
In 2014, Mo announced that she had wed pro boxer Karl Dargan, who is also known as “The Dynamite”. During Lil Mo’s marriage to Dargan, the couple shared two children (her 5th and 6th overall). Even throughout having a pretty solid career, being the mother to her 6 children, and what finally looked like a marriage full of love and happiness, the singer soon revealed that she had been going through some seriously dark times.
During a sit-down with REVOLT TV, the singer revealed some tumultuous times she’s experienced, sharing that she can say that she “survived the turn up”. “I’ve been at that low point. I’ve done the drugs but it never made the internet,” Mo candidly shared.
She then began to speak more about her depression and the toll it began to take on her. “Depression in this industry, I would say that’s one of the darkest clouds that plagues a lot of artists […] honestly, this industry doesn’t prepare you,” she added. “My dad always told me never do anything that will compromise my integrity.”
While Mo’ didn’t disclose everything exactly that she had been going through, she has now opened up to share that part of her depression, which led to opioid addiction, stemmed from toxic relationship with now ex-husband Dargan. She detailed her experience in an interview with The Breakfast Club, where she admitted to the hosts that the ex-couple had gotten into an incident at the mall right before going to DJ Envy’s house for a family get together, but that was minor compared to the bombshell she then dropped: that Dargan had spit on her, all while in front of the children.
“That n—a spit on me,” she recalled of the dreadful experience. “My kids had just went to school so it was like 10 o’clock in the morning. And he just started wylin. I was like, ‘I think you high. And I know you with a b—h.’ You don’t even have to tell me. I don’t have to smell no perfume or see hair on you. I can feel your spirit.’”
She then stated that at that moment, she had had enough, adding. “I can’t fight him. He’s a professional boxer […] He was acting like he was going to spit on me again. And I was like, ‘Yo, we not doing that again. I will mess you up in this house.’ I knew I was on the first level somebody underneath us could hear us. And sure enough, someone called and said there was a disturbance. And my father-in-law at the time said, ‘Cynthia, just calm down.’ I was like, ‘Why do I always have to be the one to calm down?’ He come in any time he want, do whatever he want. No, I’m not calming down. Enough is enough. And he was like, ‘I’ll blow your head off. I’ll throw you over this balcony […]”
this hurts soooo bad. BUT this the last L i’m taking for the TEAM (my 5 that keeps me alive). love y’all ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
— LIL’ MO (@THELILMOSHOW) March 12, 2019
In a separate interview with DJ Quicksilva, she revealed that she had been abused in “all” ways and that the couple was also not together while filming the promos for their season of Marriage Boot Camp.
“This n—a started punching holes in walls and he broke every iPhone – throwing phones at me and sh-t. Throwing hot tea and hot coffee on me,” she said before sharing Dargan one time dislocated her jaw. She concluded by adding that if she could offer advice to a young woman going through a similar situation, she would advise them to leave and never look back because she left and didn’t look back.
Mo has since kicked her addiction since their divorce, sharing a joyous post to her social media following in celebration. “I never thought I could get off opioids,” she revealed at the top of 2020 on social media, adding that she did kick the habit with a plethora of exclamation marks. “But to those that came to hell to get me out, I appreciate you soooooo much. We LIT!! Nobody knows what went on in the dark. But now I’m glowing. Clean b—h, inside out.”
