Tyrese on Nearly Filing for Bankruptcy Amid Owing $750,00…

Tyrese Gibson is explaining why he cried tears of joy in a 26-minute video posted on social media last month. According to the R&B singer and actor, he was “vulnerable” because he wasn’t forced to file for bankruptcy amid his mounting legal fees from his second divorce.

The TGT member was a guest on radio station V-103 Atlanta and broke down his feelings behind in video to hosts Big Tigger and Jazzy McBee.

“I was overwhelmed, man. And I woke up feeling vulnerable, and I said, ‘You know what? What I’m feeling vulnerable [about] is the gratitude,'” Gibson began around the 15-minute mark of the video below.

“Two weeks ago, I did a call with some bankruptcy attorneys because [I had] almost $750,000 in legal fees,” he said.

Gibson said that the Supreme Court of Georgia didn’t hear his case, nor did the “lower courts.”

“So, they’re trying to get all these legal fees and I’m like, ‘I had a prenup
and you cracked my prenup.’ So, you don’t get no legal fees based on
the terms of the prenup. If anybody’s paying legal fees, it’s my ex,” Gibson said, referring to his ex-wife, Samantha Lee.

The ex spouses, who share a 6-year-old daughter, announced their divorce in 2020 after nearly three years of marriage. Gibson also has an 18-year-old daughter, Shayla, with his first wife, Norma Gibson, whom he divorced in 2009 after two years of marriage.

Tyrese added that he “lost the appeals” after his prenup was “breached,” which built up “four-and-a-half years of legal fees” that lawyers wanted within a month.

“And so I don’t know about you, but I don’t care how much money you have, people just don’t have $750,000 sitting around,” he continued. “So after this phone call, that phone call, doing whatever it is that I can do, like I got into a zone where I was literally back in a corner like, ‘Bankruptcy is not an option. I’m not doing this. I’m going to figure this out.’ And God helped me to figure it out.”

Gibson said that some people believe that bankruptcy is a resolution to their financial problems, citing examples like TLC, Toni Braxton, and MC Hammer.

“Whoever filed for bankruptcy, that became like a really negative stain amongst us as Black culture, laughing and making a mockery of like, ‘Oh, he broke or she broke.’ That’s crazy,” he said. “And so, the fact that no one even knew that I was on the brink of and I’m still sharing it, that’s exactly why I put that post up. My gratitude for knowing that what happened, only God could have done that.”

Gibson added that if he didn’t pay the $750,000 in 30 days, he would’ve been in contempt of court and possibly arrested.

“I’m good financially, but I didn’t have [$750,000] laying around,” Gibson said.

In July, Complex reported that Lee wanted Gibson held in contempt for his refusal to pay $492,651 to her attorneys.

Also struggling with debt is Dame Dash, music executive and founder of former label Roc-A-Fella Records, who filed for bankruptcy earlier this month.