'Distasteful and opportunistic' — Forbes family react to upcoming book about AKA

Tony and Lynn Forbes have distanced themselves from an upcoming book about their late son. 

NB Publishers revealed last Thursday that journalist Melinda Ferguson was to release a book about Anele Tembe and Kiernan “AKA” Forbes' relationship, titled When Love Kills, which is expected to be published this month. 

On Monday the Forbes family distanced themselves from the book. 

“We are not in any way associated with Melinda Ferguson’s book and we do not endorse it. We distance ourselves from the contents of the book. When Melinda reached out to us we respectfully and rightfully declined to contribute to her book. 

“We cannot give any further comment on the book as we are unaware of its contents. We do, however, find the intended publication of the book and the timing distasteful and opportunistic.”

According to NB Publishers, the book details “a whirlwind of toxic obsession, alleged substance abuse and violence”.

In a Facebook post, Melinda said a leak had forced her to go public about the release of the book despite her intention to keep it under wraps until the last minute and she had received a lot of criticism. 

“I wrote this book in an attempt to try to understand a story about two people who fell down a rabbit hole of toxic love. Something kept driving me to keep on in search of some kind of truth about what happened and why they were now both dead,” she wrote. 

“I have been through my own kind of hell in my life as an addict and as someone who has embarked on dangerous and obsessive relationships. Their story spoke to me. It broke my heart,” Ferguson said.