Tyrese Speaks Out After Arrest For Failure To Pay Child Support

Whew! Tyrese Gibson kicked off his week by spending a couple of hours detained. On Monday (Sept. 9), the singer attended a Fulton County court hearing for his ongoing child support tussle with his ex-wife, Samantha Lee. Ultimately, the presiding judge had him arrested for failure to pay the court-ordered $10,000 a month for his and Lee’s five-year-old daughter Soraya.

What’s The Update On Tyrese Gibson?

According to TMZ, Tyrese is no longer in custody as of Monday evening. His attorney, Tanya Mitchell, reportedly appealed against the judge’s child support ruling. In April 2023, Judge Kevin Farmer ordered Gibson to pay Samantha $10,000 monthly. He reportedly refused, racking up a $73,000 bill that includes $7,500 for Lee’s attorney’s fees.

That’s why Judge Farmer opted to hold him in contempt of court. He was expected to pay the overdue payments before release. However, his attorney, Mitchell, appealed the child support order, which delayed payment. The appeal doesn’t mean Tyrese won’t have to pay the funds in the future, and it’s unclear if he paid any portion of it on Monday before his release. TMZ reports that Gibson and his lawyer have used this appeal method before to swerve the court-mandated payments.

Early Tuesday (Sept. 10), Tyrese took to his Instagram Stories with a message about his detainment.

“Getting arrested wasn’t fun, as a matter of fact, it was very traumatic. One would ask why does this judge Kevin M Farmer HATE me so much? Well attached is his nightmare details of the APPEAL,” he wrote on a video of a recent appearance on ‘The Breakfast Club.’

Gibson shared the same message a second time but named his ex-wife’s lawyer, Adam Glickman, as someone else who hates him “so much.” In both posts, he linked the redacted appeal paperwork. At this time, it’s unclear when Tyrese will appear in court again or how long his court-ordered payments will be on pause.

Here’s What Samantha Lee Recently Shared

Meanwhile, Samantha Gibson’s last post was on Saturday, two days before Tyrese’s arrest, and showed a boomerang of her smiling with J. Cole’s song ‘Crooked Smile’ attached. Her caption read, “Keep smiling,” and while her comment section is “limited,” a few comments regarding Tyrese slipped through.

User, @sabrina_musiclover, wrote, “I hope you consider your daughter’s father’s mental health and financial well being, don’t make the court process ugly. If he’s taking care of his child, let him be there and be in her life, he has so much going on , too much to lose , a tour, movies, new album, I would think you understand the better he is doing, the better for your baby to be taken care of. I am praying for you both to be civil and do what’s best for your child.”

However, Lee has not publicly responded to @sabrina_musiclover’s comment, similar comments, or her ex-husband’s temporary arrest.

Tyrese Gibson’s arrest comes less than two weeks after the theater  premiere of his new film ‘1992.’ Most recently, he also spoke with Thembi on ‘Stepping Into The Shade Room,’ where he expressed that losing his wife, Lee, and not living under the same roof as his daughter is not a win for him. He also spoke on Lee’s request for $20,000 a month, and why he doesn’t think a child needs that amount for care while living in Atlanta.

“No, no, no I’m not out on top cause I’m not married no more and I don’t live under the same roof as my child and I wanted to get married and do it for the rest of my life. I am a failure,” he said. 

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