Actress Tisha Campbell shared on Instagram that she believed she was almost taken by human traffickers.
Campbell, 53, who rose to fame in the hit ’90s sitcom Martin, took to Instagram on Friday to share her experience in a video she originally sent to her brother, and then decided to share with the public.
“Don’t freak out, but I think I almost got snatched up,” Campbell shared. Dressed in a black Adidas zip-up and a black hat that read “You Go Girl,” the star explained in the minute-long video how she found herself in the terrifying situation while on location to film a movie. “They don’t have Ubers where I’m filming, so I had to call a taxi. The van that pulls up is real sketchy-looking. There’s a guy in the backseat. When he jumps out, the guy is just standing there. He goes, ‘get in.'”
Campbell said she peered into the disheveled van, and noticed the backseat looked like it had been removed, and it was dirty, with various pieces in disarray. “The driver goes, ‘get in the car.’ I go, ‘I’m not getting in the car.’ The guy in the back is motioning his body towards me to get in the car.” When the man told her to get in the front seat, Campbell responded, “I’m not getting in the f****** car. F*** y’all.”
While Campbell did not share where the incident took place, TMZ reported it happened in Brownsville, Texas, about 10 minutes from the Mexican border.
“Yo, this trafficking s*** is real, but they got me f***** up,” Campbell shared, seemingly in disbelief. She concluded the video by saying “I ain’t Gina, bitch,” referencing her famous character from Martin.
Campbell later explained how important it is to be aware of your surroundings to prevent situations like this from occurring.
“I felt it important for [people] to be aware. I need for EVERYONE to be overly conscious of themselves and their loved ones,” she captioned the post, adding that she was only aware of what to look out for because she had been advised by friends and colleagues. She said if she wasn’t so knowledgable about the hazards of human trafficking, “s*** would’ve been real different. PLUS I don’t sound like I look.”
Campbell also alleged that the incident was a “set up” and shared her suspicions about the hotel clerk who told her to call that number for a taxi.
“I am thankful to the production for their concern and their understanding. What’s crazy is I went back to the front desk, the guy that gave me the taxi number wasn’t there. I asked the woman where he was. She looks at the number and says, ‘why would he give you this number? This isn’t the normal number.’ It was a set up fo’ real,” said Campbell.
Actress Holly Robinson Peete was among those expressing concern about the star’s safety following her post.
