Monica can officially reclaim her maiden name now that her divorce from Shannon Brown has been finalized.
The singer appeared in a Fayetteville, Georgia courthouse this week for a hearing in which the judge swiftly signed off on the divorce. According to TMZ, the former Mrs. Brown was in and out of the building in less than 10 minutes, and Shannon was not physically present for the proceedings.
Back in August, the “So Gone” singer stopped by ESSENCE’s Webby-nominated “Yes, Girl!” podcast and spoke about maintaining a peaceful co-parenting with her estranged husband. Though she has never gone on record to describe exactly why she filed for divorce back in March, it appears the two have the utmost respect for one another.
“Because I still have such a love and respect, even for Shannon, there are certain things that are just not up for discussion,” she said. “We don’t have to be together to respect one another. We don’t have to be together to uplift one another and make sure that my kids always see that mom is looking forward to you having a relationship [with dad] forever and ever. Anything I can do to really assist in making sure it continues to be everything that it’s always been, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Monica and Shannon Brown originally tied the knot in 2010 and had two weddings – one private ceremony in November 2010 and a more lavish Atlanta ceremony in July 2011. Together they share a daughter, Laiyah Shannon Brown, 6. Brown also has a great bond with Monica’s sons Rocko and Romelo.
We wish both parties the best in this new chapter.