Last year, the beauty industry suffered a devastating loss. Miss Jessie’s founder Titi Branch chose to end her life after falling into a deep depression. In addition to being terribly saddened by the news of Titi’s passing, many wondered what pushed the business-savvy beauty to end it all. Sadly, according to her sister and business partner Miko Branch; Titi’s boyfriend Anthony Spadafora is to blame.
In a court battle which appears to already be getting extremely ugly, both Miko and Anthony and pointing the finger at one another for playing a role in the circumstances that led to the 45-year-old’s untimely death, The New York Post reports.
Things got serious rather quickly in Titi and Anthony’s relationship after they met on Match.com in 2012. In just two years, Miko claims that Anthony managed to manipulate her sister and isolate her from her family. She also alleged that he treated Titi “like a human ATM.”
Over the course of their relationship, Miko alleges that Anthony was able to “extract” hundreds of thousands of dollars from Titi to jumpstart his beard-care line, Maestro’s Classics; $420,000 to renovate a Pennsylvania home and a $135,000 interest-free loan. She also changed the beneficiary of her $2 million life insurance policy from Miko to Anthony.
“In exchange, [she] received nothing,” Miko said.
Spadafora “wielded exceptional control over [her] while fully aware that her mental health was severely compromised,” Miko claims in court documents filed with the Manhattan Supreme Court, referring to Titi’s “disabling” bouts with depression.
According to court documents, just before her death, Titi attempted to end her relationship with her bearded beau after she learned that he sexually propositioned her personal trainer, but he allegedly held her hostage in the relationship.
Spadafora “took extreme measures to stop her . . . sending compromising photographs that he had taken of her,” Miko claims.
What’s even more disturbing is that according to Miko, just days after Titi’s December 2014 suicide, Anthony went after their grieving parents with emails insisting that he had a revised version of Titi’s will in which she left him 50 percent of everything.
It’s is also alleged that he took his deceased girlfriend’s computer and refused to turn it over to her family unless they gave him her expensive Cartier bracelet. When they finally gave in, Miko says that they received the computer, but the hard drive have been cleaned off.
“My sister’s death has been a devastating blow,” Miko told The New York Post. “It was only after Titi’s death that we learned more about what she’d been going through and how her affairs were being managed.”
Anthony, however, claims that the allegations are “ridiculous.” According to the 43-year-old, Miko, whom he refers to as “the bully of Brooklyn,” was actually the problem. He insists that Titi changed the beneficiary of her life insurance policy because of a September 2013 falling out she had with her sister.
He insists that the sisters loved one another, but their varying management styles caused a strain on their personal relationship.
“They’re trying to paint me as a villain,” he said. “It was a real love . . . I was dedicated to her; she was dedicated to me.”
According to Anthony, he and Titi were actually trying to have a baby together, but after multiple failed attempts at in-vitro fertilization, she was left “drained and despondent.”
He revealed that he was tipped off that something had gone terribly wrong on a December day at his Pennsylvania home after he received a call for Titi from a concerned friend regarding her whereabouts. He claims that he rushed to her Manhattan apartment where she was found hanging. Police were already there.
“My love failed. I thought it was good enough if there wasn’t a baby,” he said crying.
Anthony insists that he would like to make peace with Titi’s family.
“I don’t want to see this turn into a war,” he said.
Follow Jazmine on Twitter @JazmineDenise
