Usher may be headed to court for a real-life Raymond v Raymond now that his ex-wife, Tameka, is seeking full custody of the sons she had with the super star during their brief marriage.
Arguing that her ex-husband has repeatedly violated legal co-parenting obligations hammered out in their joint custody agreement, Tameka filed a petition asking a Georgia court to strip Usher of joint physical custody of their sons, three-year-old Usher Raymond, V, and Naviyd, age 2. According to TMZ, Tameka claims in the court documents that Usher failed to:
- Obtain her permission to travel out-of-state with the boys
- Get her approval before hiring nannies
- Make $34,000 in payments for her own $5,000-per-month nanny
- Give her first shot at caring for their kids when he’s away for more than eight hours
- Allow her to take custody of the kids for two weeks in Summer 2011 and during Christmas break in 2010, as promised
Tameka also says in the court documents that she should get more child support because Usher’s success as an artist and manager of protégé Justin Bieber’s career resulted in a “substantial change” in his income since their 2009 divorce. She also complains that Usher shut down her Saks Fifth Avenue credit card, which she claims he promised he would finance, TMZ reports.
A hearing is scheduled for tomorrow.
I promise you, there is absolutely nothing more beautiful to me than photos of Usher with his beautiful boys; for me, those pictures and the way he speaks of the joy of fatherhood represent a rare image of a supportive African American man dedicated to the rearing of his children. Still, I wish that that image included, too, a roadmap for how couples can split and co-parent, sans the ugliness—without the bitter. We already know how this will go down: Folk will call this mother out of her name, claim she’s a gold digger, and question why she gave life to her babies. And they’ll likely proclaim Usher a cheap, stingy, child hoarder “saving” his sons from a M.I.L.F. who quickly pushed out babies to assure she could lay claim to his fortunes. There will be tabloid and blog blood.
My prayer is that as Usher and Tameka duke it out in both Georgia’s courtrooms and the court of public opinion, everyone remembers there are children involved, and that the last thing those babies need to witness is a public fight over their well-being by the two people who love them most.
Denene Millner
Mom. NY Times bestselling author. Pop culture ninja. Unapologetic lover of shoes, bacon and babies. Nice with the verbs. Founder of the top black parenting website, MyBrownBaby.
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Agreed. I hope they can come to some sort of mutual agreement and that both parties will stick strictly to the custody agreement. I hope that even if the media isn’t considering the kids that at least the parents do because at the end of the day that’s all that is really important. Those boys need to see their father treating their mother with utmost respect. Likewise, they need to see the same treatment from their mom towards their father.
Kids pick up on how to solve conflicts and other issues based on they watch us as parents solve our issues. So, I’m praying for all parties involved.
It would be nice if that happened, but this seems like an ongoing control issue to me. She wants it, and he doesn’t intend for her to have it. If mediation is on the table, that would be helpful. Once the lawyers get involved, it gets more vicious. I’m surprised Gloria Allred hasn’t swooped in yet.