Tyrese walks free, demands judge remove him after explosive fight with ex-wife over $74K alimony that landed him behind bars

Tyrese Gibson apparently found himself owing money to his ex-wife Samantha Lee after he was arrested in an Atlanta courthouse on Monday morning. The R&B singer was reportedly held in contempt of court for failing to pay full child support for his or her 5-year-old daughter, Soraya Lee.

The news got here Monday afternoon after Gibson appeared in Fulton County Court in the most recent round of his ongoing child support dispute with Lee.

The singer apparently entered the courtroom knowing he faced jail time if he didn’t make the payment, which turned out to be $73,000. That also included $7,500 in attorney fees for his ex-wife.

Hip Hop Enquirer reporter Dennis Byron, who witnessed the events within the downtown Atlanta courtroom, broke the news to X on Monday. He wrote: “Update! Tyrese miraculously found the money he owes his ex-wife Samantha Gibson and is arranging for it to be paid now. He’ll probably be home in time for dinner.”

Byron reports that earlier that morning Gibson was handcuffed and brought to care for a few years of arrears in child support payments.

Byron he wrote“I was in the courtroom when presiding judge Kevin Farmer issued a warrant for the singer’s arrest for willful contempt of court,” X said in a single post, followed shortly thereafter by one other, saying“​​Breaking news! Actor Tyrese Gibson was just arrested for failure to pay child support.”

The “How You Gonna Act Like That” singer was reportedly released at 5 p.m. PST on Monday, According to to TMZ after his team filed an appeal against the decision.

The outlet claims that “the revocation means Tyrese did not have to pay the $73,000 before his release. It does not mean he no longer owes the back child support, it is simply delayed for now.”

Tyrese has been very open concerning the perceived injustice he feels from each Lee and the judge of their divorce case. He claims he has trouble paying his $10,690 monthly alimony, largely on account of the financial blow he suffered when the SAG-AFTRA strike occurred in July 2023.

The strike put a halt to many job opportunities for actors and creators, leaving many struggling financially. Although the strike led to November 2023, court documents indicate Gibson didn’t pay the complete amount of kid support in December and January 2024. Tyrese later began paying $3,500 per 30 days.

Superior Court Judge Kevin M. Farmer didn’t buy any of the “Transformer” actor’s excuses, especially when he shared photos of himself on social media on multiple vacations. Gibson and his lawyers tried to further defend his actions by claiming the vacations weren’t expensive.

Gibson and Lee have been at odds over the alimony for years, and it’s not the primary time he’s been inconsistent in paying it. He was initially ordered to pay a lump sum of $209,000 after it was discovered he had payments backdated to 2020. In 2022, Gibson won a narrow victory within the case when Judge Farmer reduced the lump sum to $169,000 after the actor made two years of automobile payments to Lee.

But the 45-year-old has continued to attack his ex-wife for demanding what he believes is just too much alimony. He has posted about it on social media, spoken about it in interviews and even had a number of verbal arguments with Judge Farmer within the courtroom — a lot so that he asked for a brand new judge.

After an prolonged period of Gibson not paying his dues on time, Farmer apparently reached the tip of his rope with the “Sweet Lady” singer and decided to arrest him for willful contempt of court, meaning he willfully didn’t comply with a court order.

Gibson appears to have realized that this end result was highly likely, because the night before he posted a since-deleted photo of himself in handcuffs and with a gavel that read, “I could be arrested in the morning… in Atlanta,” adding a lengthy caption to clarify it, and ensuring to take several photos of Farmer.

After saying his ex’s lawyers are good friends with the judge, Tyrese said, “WE ARE APPEALING ALL OF HIS RULES AND HAVE ALREADY TRIED TO GET THIS JUDGE OFF THE COURT TWICE. The second time we tried to get him off the bench. He denied his own request to get him off the bench… can you imagine that???”

He also claimed Farmer manipulated the prenuptial agreement he had with Lee, accusing a judge of accelerating his alimony payments from $3,600 a month to $10,690.

But that was just certainly one of several posts. Hours before his arrest, Tyrese shared one other set of photos, of Soraya and his 16-year-old daughter Shayla Gibson, from his first wife, Norma Mitchell.

In this position he he wrote“The love a father can have for his children is inexplicable… No matter what the end result today is… I’m and can perpetually be their FATHER…

After his release, his “Social Media Management” team common post promoting his recent album “Beautiful Pain”, which is now available.