Tyrese Gibson has been taken into custody in Atlanta following a heated child support hearing. The judge ordered him to pay over $73,000 to his former partner in order to avoid jail time, as stated in court records.
In the latest hearing of his ongoing custody dispute with his ex-wife Samantha Lee, the actor made an appearance at Fulton County Superior Court. The couple shares a daughter named Soraya. Back in April 2023, Gibson was ordered to pay $10,690 a month in child support. However, Judge Kevin Farmer held him in contempt for failing to make the payments. The actor was handcuffed in court and subsequently escorted out by a bailiff. The news was initially reported by TMZ.
In an email statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Lee’s attorney, Adam Gleklen, expressed that Mr. Gibson has consistently chosen to disregard the court’s child support order. Yesterday, he was held in willful contempt for the third time since the divorce trial concluded. Gleklen further mentioned that in the 25 months following the trial, Mr. Gibson has only paid the correct child support amount on three occasions.
According to Gleklen, even though the judge made a decision, Lee instructed him to ask the court not to imprison Gibson. She emphasized that she has always wanted to co-parent effectively with Tyrese for the sake of their daughter. Lee wants to put an end to the ongoing litigation that has lasted for four years, so that both parents can move forward in their lives, focusing on what is best for their daughter.
The Farmer has given the actor from “Fast & Furious” a chance to avoid going to jail. According to the order for incarceration obtained by “The Hollywood Reporter,” the actor must pay $73,525.73 within 48 hours. This amount includes $7,500 in legal fees paid by Lee. As reported by TMZ, Gibson had been making monthly child support payments of only $2,200, which is less than 25 percent of the court-ordered amount from 2022, during a previous heated hearing.
According to TMZ, Gibson is currently in the process of arranging payment for the sum of $73,525.73 in order to secure his release from jail in Atlanta.
In a recent Instagram post, Gibson informed his followers that he might be facing an imminent arrest. Alongside this revelation, he also expressed his dissatisfaction with Farmer and criticized the biased treatment of fathers within the family court system.
In a now-deleted post, Gibson claimed that Samantha’s lawyer, Adam Gleklen, and William Alexander, who is close friends with the judge Kevin M Farmer, were involved in collusion.
“We are appealing all of his rulings and have already made two attempts to have this judge removed from the bench,” he stated on Sunday, referring to Farmer. “The second time, we sought his recusal, but he actually denied his own request to step down. Can you believe it?”
He expressed, “It is evident that they hold a strong resentment towards me, but I want to emphasize that my journey and achievements have required immense dedication. I have relentlessly pursued my goals since the age of 14 to reach where I am today. The treatment of fathers in family law courts is undoubtedly appalling.”
Gibson and Lee tied the knot in 2017. However, in 2020, she decided to file for divorce, leading to a joint statement from the couple acknowledging the separation as a “painful and significant development” in their lives.
During the 2022 hearing, Farmer commanded Gibson to pay a monthly child support amount of $10,690. This decision was reached because the divorce proceedings could not be resolved without a trial. However, tensions escalated during the hearing when the actor, Gibson, snapped at one of Lee’s lawyers. The lawyer had stated that Gibson had earned over $2 million the previous year. In response, Gibson started asking a question to Lee’s attorney, but Farmer quickly intervened. Farmer threatened to hold Gibson in contempt of court and firmly stated, “You don’t ask questions! That’s not how this works!!”
During the hearing, Farmer also notified Gibson that he should have been paying the monthly child support amount of $10,690 since Lee initiated the divorce proceedings in 2020. Ultimately, the court determined that Gibson had accumulated a backlog of $169,000 in unpaid child support.
Gibson has a teenage daughter named Shayla with his ex-wife Norma Mitchell, in addition to his daughter with Lee.
