Tyrese Gibson is not going to accept a judge’s custody settlement ruling without putting up a fight. After being ordered to pay $636,000 in child support and legal fees, the “Fast and Furious” star said that he wouldn’t go down easily even though he insisted that he can afford it.
“It’s not about me. What just happened today happens everyday in the family law court system,” the actor told TMZ on Wednesday, April 26 at LAX. Insinuating that he’ll fight for fellow dads, he added, “Fathers have no rights, period. So, the bigger the a** whooping that I get in court, the more it’s gonna shed light on what has been happening since the beginning of time.”
The “Morbius” star went on to note, “This is not about me. I will never not take care of my daughters, whether I’m with their mother or not. I will never not, but it’s not OK to call us dead beat dads. We’re hustling, grinding, traveling, doing whatever it takes to put food on the table and take care of our families, which will cause us naturally be physically away from our kids.”
“And then that gets used against us in court because the mother may be more available to you. And then, when you don’t have a job, when you’re struggling and you’re trying to pull it together, independent of a pandemic, we get emasculated when we’re at home and we’re out of a job,” he continued ranting.
Tyrese also slammed judge Kevin Farmer for the ruling. “So at the end of the day, he just pulled out the biggest light imaginable on him, his conduct, him literally making up things on the fly. What he did as a sitting judge was literally abuse of power, egregious and all the above. And that’s it, man. There’s no such thing as a little boy or a little girl without, at some point, mommy and daddy getting together to make a decision,” he said.
“So, I’m inspired because I believe that there’s going to be a law, multiple laws in place in the city of Atlanta that will refer to Gibson. … And they’ll be able to make reference to case law pertaining to what’s going to happen and I’ll do whatever it takes and I’ll spend whatever it takes to turn this all around, not just on behalf of my daughters, but on behalf on every father who cannot afford proper representation or have any type of voice,” he noted, adding that he believed he’s “part of effecting change.”
During a hearing at Fulton County court on Tuesday, April 25, it was revealed that the actor was ordered to fork $237,944 in back child support for their daughter Soraya and $399K for Samantha’s attorney fees. Tyrese, however, doesn’t have to pay it all at once as judge Kevin Farmer set May 15 as the due date for him to pay about $258,000 of it.
In response to that, Tyrese’s attorney Tanya Mitchell Graham revealed that her client is planning to file an appeal as soon as the judge’s order is entered. She also filed a motion for a new trial which will be heard next month.
