Kym Whitley talks OWN series 'Raising Whitley,' defends Iyanla Vanzant

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Actress/comedienne Kym Whitley made a splash in Hollywood appearing in films like Next Friday, Deliver Us from Eva, and Along Came Polly.

She is now exposing a very personal side of her life on OWN’s docu-series Raising Whitley. The show follows Kym and several of her close friends – whom she calls “the village” – as they attempt to do something none of them have ever done before: raise a baby…together.

Years ago, Kym volunteered to mentor a troubled young girl, but she never imagined she’d get a call from the hospital saying, “Your baby is ready.”

Kym’s mentee gave birth to a healthy baby boy and exited the maternity ward, leaving the hospital with only Kym’s contact information. With less than an hour to make a life-changing decision – Kym chose to become a mother.

During an interview with theGrio’s Chris Witherspoon, Kym opened up on her decision to raise Joshua, who is now 2 years old, and the ups and downs she has faced while being a new mom.

Kym also defended fellow OWN star Iyanla Vanzant, who received criticism from an explosive episode of Iyanla: Fix My Life, where she attempted to coach rapper DMX through some of his issues.

The episode, which aired Saturday, prompted DMX’s publicist to release a statement this week that said Iyanla didn’t fix DMX’s life, but made it worse.

Kym says Iyanla tried to work with DMX, but the rapper simply doesn’t want to be fixed.

“She [Iyanla] sat there and she tried to work with him. But you can’t fix a person who’s not willing to be fixed,” Kym said. “If you watch that interview you know that he is lost, and he’s not ready, he’s not ready. What she did do, is she fixed his son’s life.”

Tune in for the series premiere of Raising Whitley on Saturday, April 20th at 10/9c, on OWN.