When TV personality, journalist, business owner and San Antonio native Elizabeth Chambers set out to create Toxic, her new docuseries for Investigation Discovery, it wasn’t just a creative project: it was a personal mission.
After navigating a highly public divorce from actor Armie Hammer and the emotional reckoning that followed, Chambers found herself confronting deep-rooted trauma, not just for her own healing but to protect the future of her children.
The series, borne out of those reflections and countless hours of research and therapy, is a bold, unflinching look at the quiet dangers of toxic relationships and the hidden patterns that perpetuate them.
With Toxic, Chambers steps fully into her journalistic instincts, balancing empathy with accountability to create a series that’s as emotionally raw as it is socially relevant.
During a recent interview with the Current, Chambers, who also owns Bird Bakery in Alamo Heights, talked about the inspiration behind Toxic and why identifying red flags is critical in all relationships.
All six episodes of Toxic are available on Investigation Discovery and HBO Max.
What initially drew you to create Toxic?
This was such a pivotal moment and a privilege for me, because I’ve never been able to create a show from scratch before. Jason Sarlanis, who was a producer of mine when I was at E! 20 years ago, said he wanted me to do a show that’s meaningful based on my recent experiences — when I was going through my divorce. Divorce, in and of itself, is trauma. So I asked myself, “How do I make this decision I know is best for me and for my children, so they don’t accept [toxic relationships] later in life. How do you mitigate trauma during a divorce?”
How were you able to answer that question for yourself and your family?
Well, I spoke to every family separation therapist that would take my call. What I learned about was generational patterns. There had been infidelity in many generations before that I was a little bit aware of but not completely. Looking at my kids, I didn’t want my son to continue this. I didn’t want my daughter to be in a relationship like this. It was a year of therapy and building knowledge that my kids could put in their toolbox for later. I wanted them to have the skills to make good decisions and to bring generational patterns and trauma to an end. That’s why I became obsessed with the show.
What was your goal for the series?
My goal is for the show to help everyone. Our show is an extreme example of how things can go wrong. I want everyone to end every episode and ask themselves, “Am I in this kind of relationship? Is my sister? Could my kids be later?” I also want [viewers] to look for micro red flags that are maybe not so obvious. Maybe there are little things in your marriage or relationships at work or relationships with friends that are not healthy. [Toxic] comes down to humanity, relationships and patterns. Not everyone’s going to be happy all the time, but we need to be living our lives to the fullest.
It must feel good to return to your journalistic roots, but how did you balance having empathy for these women and being professional when speaking to survivors about these emotional experiences?
You know, obviously you’re sobbing, and you want to hug them, but you also, at the end of the day as a journalist, must tell a balanced story. So, we needed to reach out to every single perpetrator for comment. I made sure there was a chance to tell that side of the story. As for the women, I needed them to tell their story in a safe space where they felt heard. And I couldn’t cry even though I wanted to a lot of the time. I would hold my tears back trying to be a professional journalist. But I cared so deeply about them.
How did you prepare yourself emotionally?
I had to approach it as if I was helping to save somebody from that same situation. It was difficult to sit there and ask a woman who has had her life burned to the ground, “Why are you still living in this house where you were almost killed?” That can feel judgmental, but it’s also a question everyone is asking. It’s about understanding the psychology behind how someone can get so deep. It can happen to anyone.
What do you say to someone who watches Toxic and thinks, “That could never happen to me?”
If you examine your life closely, you probably see little micro examples of this all around. No one is immune to it. We’re taught to just be grateful when someone loves us. We’re not taught to have boundaries. That’s just not a conversation that people have. That goes beyond romantic relationships. Our demographic is every living, breathing human. It’s for people who have dated, people who are dating, people who will date and people who are in any relationship. Unless you’re a recluse, this show is for you.
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