Taraji P. Henson says she’s doing ‘much better’ since ending engagement

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Taraji P. Henson says she feels better after her breakup with retired NFL star Kelvin Hayden.

Read More: Taraji P. Henson announced as host of the 2020 American Music Awards

The couple was engaged but Henson says they were unable to work it out and called it quits in October. Despite the disappointment, she says she is doing well. On Sunday, ahead of hosting the American Music Awards, she gave an update to Entertainment Tonight.

“I am much better, let’s put it that way,” she said.

During an episode of iHeartRadio’s Breakfast Club back in October, Henson opened up about the breakup. She didn’t give up all the details but says she had to put her happiness first. Henson is a big mental health advocate.

“My happiness is not his responsibility and his is not mine,” Henson said. “We have to first learn how to make ourselves happy, to make each other happy. So when one person is taking on the weight of the entire relationship, it’s never going to work.

“You have to show up, yes you want to be understanding but you can’t lose yourself in that understanding. You have to still stand up for yourself and be there for yourself but it’s hard to do if the other person isn’t doing that either.”

Henson recently turned 50 said she initially felt like she was losing herself.

“I felt myself slipping and so I was like, ‘You know what I am not going to do is let 50 happen to me,” she added. “I am going to get control of this mentally and not be like, ‘You are getting old, don’t nobody care, you ain’t working,’ Well, duh, no one is working, it is COVID. So I felt that coming.”

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Despite the breakup, Henson’s career is booked and busy. She recently lent her voice to Minions: The Rise of Gru, an animated comedy slated to drop in 2021, just hosted the American Music Awards and stunned in Megan Thee Stallion’s Body video.

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