EXCLUSIVE – Tyrese Gibson lays bare his ‘pain’ over bitter divorce from wife Samantha Lee – revealing heartbreak at watching marriage ‘go up in SMOKE’ after believing they’d be together forever: ‘I wanted to be married until I had no teeth left’
Singer Tyrese Gibson has opened up about his painful split from wife Samantha Lee, exposing his ongoing struggle to cope with the ‘pain’ of watching his marriage ‘go up in smoke’.
Samantha filed for divorce from the six-time Grammy nominee, 44, in September 2020, three years after their secret Valentine’s Day wedding. Now Tyrese has shared his shock at the end of the relationship, admitting he thought their marriage was for would last forever.
Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, Tyrese said he wanted to marry the social worker until he had ‘no teeth left in my mouth’, describing himself as a ‘sucker’ for the ‘sanctuary of marriage’.
“I was actually in a relationship for five years – the love of my life,” he said. ‘I wanted to get married until I had no teeth left in my mouth and was eating mashed potatoes and coleslaw. That’s the vision I had. I consistently kept my wedding ring on…
Tyrese Gibson has channeled the “pain” of his divorce from Samantha Lee Gibson into his new album, Beautiful Pain
Tyrese has postponed the release of his album because he is mentally struggling to record songs about his divorce
“I was up there with the Care Bears. I so love love, the sanctuary of marriage and everyone who is in love, no matter what race, nationality or sexual preference. There was nothing better than the beauty of love.
“And to see my marriage go up in smoke before my eyes was a big challenge for me.”
In an effort to come to terms with their bitter split, which was plagued by court battles over child support for their four-year-old daughter Soraya Lee, Tyrese began channeling his emotions into music for his upcoming double album Beautiful Pain, which he hopes will serve. as a ‘divorce deterrent’ for fans.
However, Tyrese revealed that he had to postpone the album’s release because he “mentally couldn’t continue” singing songs about his divorce.
“I’m sitting in the singing booth singing songs, and I’m thinking, I can’t believe this is my life, I can’t believe these are my lyrics, my songs, I can’t believe all this happened,” he said .
In April, Tyrese was ordered by a judge to pay back Samantha’s nearly $250,000 in child support, as well as $400,000 for her attorney fees.
It came eight months after he was told he had to pay $10,690 a month in child support, something he refused at the time.
The child support amounted to when Samantha filed for divorce in September 2020.
The couple has appeared in court several times over child support payments for their four-year-old daughter Soraya Lee
The singer and actor said he believes his new album will be a “divorce deterrent” for fans
Is this love or just a transaction? – the second single from Tyrese’s upcoming album – documents the couple’s “nasty” lawsuits.
“You know what happens in court,” he said. “You know what happens when the lawyers get involved? It’s about money. It’s about all this other stuff, and it just gets nasty. And the children and the divorce.
“So yeah, the album is called Beautiful Pain, and I’d like you all to just hear it and embrace it, and anyone who’s ever been through a breakup, I don’t care if it’s been in high school, I think the feelings and the rawness and my vulnerabilities that I put into these songs.
“I know people were like, ‘Oh my God, you made me go home and apologize to my wife.’ And I didn’t even do anything, you know?’
He continued, “I’m excited for this album, even though it was born out of pain, I feel like this album will really be a divorce deterrent.
“It will make people say, I need to love you better. I want to get closer. Let us forgive and forget. Let’s unpack and have these conversations because no one wants to be. No one wants to not be married.”
Tyrese was previously married to Norma Gibson, with whom he has 16-year-old daughter Shayla Somer Gibson. The couple divorced in 2009.
Beautiful Pain is the follow-up to Tyrese’s 2015 album Black Rose, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart.
Gibson made the comments while promoting Fuel Fest with founder Cody Walker.
Tyrese opened up during an interview with Cody Walker, who revealed how the Walker family would mark the late actor’s 50th birthday.
The brother of late Fast and Furious actor Paul Walker broke down while discussing how his sibling would have turned 50 this month.
Speaking about plans to honor Paul on the 10th anniversary of his death on November 30, Cody began: “Ten years from now, members of the family will usually take pictures of the sunrise or sunset on his birthday.”
But he trailed off, wiping his eyes and choking back tears.
Tyrese, who starred alongside Paul in the Fast and Furious franchise, quickly jumped up to hug his friend and offer him comfort when Cody broke down.
The duo traveled to New Jersey earlier this month for the inaugural FuelFest event, which was founded by Cody and his business partner Chris Lee, and co-hosted by Tyrese, who appeared in five Fast and the Furious films alongside Cody’s brother Paul.
A portion of the proceeds from the opening event were donated to Reach Out, the nonprofit organization Paul founded to send first responders to disaster-affected areas to assist with relief efforts.
“Every time there would be a natural disaster, Paul, out of his own pocket, would put 10 to 15 people on a plane and they would be there pulling rocks and helping the unburied people or helping with whatever natural disaster was happening,” Cody said.
“So every FuelFest event we do, we donate a portion of the proceeds from all ticket sales to reach globally because we now have people in Hawaii helping with boots on the ground.”
Tickets for FuelFest Las Vegas and Scottsdale are on sale now at FuelFest.com