Tyrese refuses to back down in child support case: ‘I’m fighting for dear life’



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For Tyrese Gibson, “enough is enough.”

In the days since being temporarily detained for contempt of court last week owing to an outstanding child support claim, the “Fast & Furious” star, 45, exclusively tells The Post that he isn’t an unfit father. 

“I’m fighting for dear life to hold on to everything I still have,” said Gibson, who’s dad to 17-year-old daughter Shayla of Los Angeles, CA, and five-year-old daughter Soraya of Atlanta, GA. 

“I want my two daughters to [know that their father] was not okay with being on the receiving end of lies, accusations and bulls–t.”

Tyrese Gibson is seen on June 02, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. GC Images

The actor and Grammy-nominated singer was arrested in a Georgia court on Monday, September 9, after failing to pay ex-wife Samantha Lee, 34, $10,690 in monthly support for Soraya. 

She is the only child that Gibson and Lee welcomed during their two-year marriage, which ended in late 2020. Gibson previously welcomed Shayla with ex Norma Mitchell in 2007. 

His more than $10k monthly dues to Lee were established by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Kevin M. Farmer in April 2023. 

Gibson tells The Post that unlike his own father, he’s an active and loving participant in his children’s lives. Tyrese Gibson/Instagram

Gibson, however, tells The Post he’s given Lee $3,600 per month toward Soraya’s well-being since their split. And now, he feels the family court system is unjustly sticking him with a new support amount that’s nearly three times what he already pays for their daughter. 

“The $10,690 [is the amount in] child support that was established eight years ago, in Los Angeles, for my daughter who is now 17-years-old,” explained the “Beautiful Pain” crooner. “[Farmer] decided to turn my $3,600 into $10,690 because that’s what I’m giving my 17-year-old in California.”

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Gibson has filed several appeals in response to his augmented child support order in Georgia. 

“I wasn’t spending $11,000 on Soraya when I was married to Samantha,” Gibson griped. “I wasn’t spending $11,000 a month on Samantha when I was married to Samantha.”

Samantha Lee Gibson and Tyrese Gibson attend 36th Annual Atlanta UNCF Mayor’s Masked Ball at Atlanta Marriott Marquis on December 21, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. Getty Images

The “Baby Boy” lead went on to claim that before tying the knot with Lee in 2017, they hammered out a “very, very aggressive and extensive” prenuptial agreement, granting her a portion of his estate upon the dissolution of their marriage. 

But, owing to the sudden increase in his child support payments, Gibson feels there could be “a level of gluttony” and “money-hunger” that’s motivating his ex’s hefty demands. 

“Why all of the sudden did you go from frugal to fancy,” he questioned of Lee while speaking with The Post. “At what point does a child suddenly need all these things because it’s in their best interest?”

“That is a f–king lie,” he spat. 

Lee did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.  

Gibson openly questioned his ex’s “frugal to fancy” transformation since their divorce. Getty Images

But Gibson, who chose not to disclose his “Fast & Furious” franchise salary nor current monthly income with The Post, insists he’s not withholding a fortune from his youngest kid. 

The big bucks just haven’t been rolling in since the pandemic, he shared.

“When I book five movies in a row, hold me — court system — to that [$10,690] number,” he said. 

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“But when I go two or three years without booking a movie, there are no concerts, no shows and I’m waking up to salacious headlines like ‘Tyrese accused of child abuse,’ do you think Disney wants to hire me?”

In 2017, Gibson was accused, by Mitchell, of physically disciplining Shayla, then age 10, after spanking her bottom. 

Tyrese Gibson and daughter Shayla Somer Gibson arrive at the 2015 American Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on November 22, 2015. Allen Berezovsky

“What’s supposed to happen to my financial life when no one wants to hire me when they read, ‘Tyrese arrested’ in a headline,” he posed to The Post regarding his most recent ordeal. 

“It is not okay for the family court system to hold you to [a] child support number, when you’re no longer employed by the job that helped you establish that child support number.”

And the outspoken “Sweet Lady” vocalist isn’t just concerned for himself when it comes to the alleged injustices. 

Gibson says he’s bucking the system on behalf of all high-earning parents who’ve been wrongfully hit with exorbitant support demands. 

The “Fast & Furious” star suggested to The Post that his earning power is weakened each time his named in a salacious headline in regards to his children. ©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection

“It’s not okay — the amount of men and women who are in jail right now, serving time, because they’re in contempt of court,” he groaned. “Not because they’re irresponsible and don’t want to pay their child support, but because they don’t have the job or money that they used to have when that number was established.”

Still, with no clear end in sight for his legal battle with Lee, Gibson, surprisingly, remains optimistic about the future. 

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The musician tells The Post, win or lose, he ultimately plans to take his plight to Congress and push for more reasonable child support order calculations across the country. 

He also teased an upcoming book tentatively titled “The Blackmail of the Black Male,” which will explore the systematic mistreatment of men of color. 

Most important to Gibson, however, is that his children feel inspired by his commitment to standing up for himself and their family against the legal powers that be. 

“Your father is doing the best that I can with every 24 hours I get,” he said. “Your father has always been the truth, will speak the truth and live in integrity — even if I’m completely embarrassing myself.”

“I will not be on the receiving end of whatever people want to do with my life because that’s not who the f–k I am,” added Gibson. “And that’s not who I’m raising my daughters to be.”





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