👩🏼Tyrese Gibson is a deadbeat for not paying child support! What kind of man doesn't pay child support?! Loser!
OK, here's what really happened.
1) Tyrese and ex-wife were both employed. When they separated, they settled on a child support payment schedule. Tyrese paid. 👍🏿
2) Years later, Tyrese overcome depression, and had a Hollywood comeback. He was cast in a few movies.
3) His wife took him to court to have his child support payments increased. He objected. They went to court.
1/N
4) Tyrese argued with the judge publicly. Mistake. He took issue with the judge referring to him and his ex-wife using racial stereotypes and profanity.
“Now listen, we ain’t together no more. We have our share of issues. But I have never referred to the mother of my child as a b**ch. To hear this man, this white man, on the bench, wearing a black robe, who is supposed to represent the law, to refer to my ex-wife and the mother of my child as a b**ch… why is he still on the stand?”‘
2/N
5) Judges don't like being embarrassed or questioned. In addition to the judge ruling in his ex-wife's favor over the increase, Tyrese is responsible for her $399K in legal fees, and an additional $17K.
6) Tyrese is objecting to the ruling, and the judge's conduct. He is fighting this in court. But here's where he messed up: he has not been paying *the increase* in the interim. The increase comes to ~$10K a month. He's now ~$70K behind on payments. So the judge had him arrested.
3/N
Divorce is messy. Child support is messy. None of it is simple.
"But [Black celebrity] isn't paying his child support! Send him to jail!" Is just a racist meme that is too easy for us to fall into.
Yes, people should pay their child support. Yes, there are deadbeat dads out there. But I've spoken on here before about how a racist system designed to harm Black folk can use child support as a powerful tool to punish Black men.
4/N
And while we're talking about asset forfeiture, "Cops stole my money," is not an accepted excuse for being behind on payments. Even if you can prove that you had the money legally, and that the cops took it.
🙂🙃
"I was arrested for a crime I didn't commit, and was held without bail in a dangerous jail for 9 months, during which time I lost my job." Is also not an accepted excuse.
🙂🙃
Not everyone has Tyrese money.
5/N
@mekkaokereke While I do not disagree with your fundamental point, you really ought to be careful with “the police stole my money”. If you have more than a few hundred dollars in cash on you, they consider it possible evidence of possible criminal activity and seize it until you can exonerate your cash (if you even can afford the extensive court battles required to get it back). Money is guilty until proven innocent. Never let the police find money one you.
