Tyrese Gibson recently had a run-in with the law for unpaid child support. The singer had been very open about his determination to fight his ex-wife, Samantha Lee, tooth and nail regarding her child support requests.
The arrest occurred in Fulton County court on Monday morning when Judge Kevin Farmer held Tyrese in contempt of court. The Fast and Furious actor hasn’t honored the $10,000 monthly payment he was ordered to start paying Lee for their daughter Soraya in April 2023. That said, while Tyrese hasn’t been paying $10,000 monthly, as of last year, he was paying Lee around $2,200 monthly.
According to Judge Farmer, the singer can escape jail time by paying $73,500, including $7,500 for Lee’s attorney fees.
Gibson probably wasn’t surprised by his arrest considering he foreshadowed it over the weekend via a video on social media. “At 9am in the morning in Atlanta I might be arrested in court,” Gibson wrote in a now deleted Instagram post.
“We are APPEALLING (sic) ALL OF HIS RULINGS AND ALREADY HAVE TRIED TO GET THIS JUDGE THROWN OFF THE BENCH TWICE,” he wrote on Sunday. “The second time we tried to get him recused from the bench. He actually denied his own request to be thrown off the bench …imagine that???”
He continued, “It’s pretty clear that they hate my guts, but I must remind them and everything about my life and my success. I’ve worked my ass off since I was 14 years old to get here,” he added. “#FamilyLawCourts are the WORST TOWARDS FATHERS.”
The actor believes the judge would try to retaliate because he filed appeals to have Farmer removed from the case. He wants the judge removed because the singer claims he’s good friends with Lee’s lawyers.
On. Tuesday, Sept. 10, he shared a video on his Instagram Stories, writing, “Getting arrested wasn’t easy…As a matter of fact it was very traumatic…One would ask why does this judge…and my ex Samantha…HATE ME SO MUCH?”
The former lovers have been in an ongoing court battle for some time now despite getting divorced in 2020 after three years of marriage. In addition to Soraya, Gibson also has a teenage daughter named Shayla with his ex-wife Norma Mitchell.