Ray J, the kid brother to R&B superstar Brandy, has officially filed for divorce from Love
& Hip Hop: Hollywood star Princess Love. Reports also indicate that the rapper has requested
joint custody of their 2-year-old daughter Melody and 9-month-old son Epik.
Ray J's filing comes on the heels of Love's request to dismiss her own divorce petition
from May 2020. Love filed her dismissal request in July 2020, giving fans hope that the two
were ultimately headed toward reconciliation and that the family of four could become whole
again. In August, Ray J even went as far as to publicly wish his wife a happy birthday
on social media.
Alas, those hopes were immediately quashed with Ray J's move to dissolve their marriage.
But what could've caused the abrupt change of heart?
Divorce rumors first surfaced in November 2019 after Love took to Instagram to accuse
her husband of leaving her and their daughter Melody "stranded" in Las Vegas. Love was pregnant
with Epik at the time. As reported by Entertainment Tonight, Ray J posted a photo of Love, Melody,
and himself on Instagram, and thanked BET, after the family attended the network's Soul
Train Awards in Las Vegas.
However, Love was quick to call Ray J out for his allegedly misleading post. Before
the Instagram pic was deleted, she left this comment for the rapper:
"Left me and Melody stranded in Vegas and blocked me from calling.. now you wanna post
family photos."
While the details of her alleged abandonment are a bit murky, People magazine noted back
in November that Love claimed to her fans on Instagram that Ray J had an "extra phone"
he used for, quote, "entertaining" other women, and that he had admitted as much to her.
"I confronted him about it. He was honest. Well, he tried to lie at first."
Love also told her followers that her husband checked into a separate hotel that night in
Vegas, and blocked her on social media following an argument about separation and potential
divorce. In March 2020, Love confronted Ray J about the night on a Zeus Network special.
"You did have a bunch of escorts and girls in your room, and what did you tell me?"
"No I didn't."
"I said, 'What were they in there for?' And you said, 'Oh, I was bored.'"
The fashion designer also told her followers in November 2019 that she felt stranded in
Vegas that night, as she wasn't comfortable flying or driving home alone with a toddler
while eight months pregnant. After Love went public with her accusations, Ray J refused
to take the allegations lying down, and took to Instagram to vent. In his since-deleted
video, Ray J said,
"This is for all the media outlets out there that’s putting out these stories about me.
Let me explain something to y’all because I don’t think y’all understand who I really
am. I am my family. I love my family. I've dedicated my life to my family. To insinuate
that I would do anything to harm my daughter is just sad, man."
The "Wait a Minute" singer then condemned his wife's decision to use social media to
air their dirty laundry, saying,
"People are going to get into arguments here and there that are small stuff that you can
work out. To take this to social media and create this crazy story about me leaving my
baby in harm's way is not cool. Our circle needs to be tight like that. Nobody should
be able to get in it."
While the pair seemingly reconciled over the summer, Ray J's new divorce filing indicates
one thing, for sure: we can probably expect more details soon — possibly by way of another
Instagram live sesh.
Along with requesting joint custody of the couple's children, TMZ also reported that
Ray J has asked the judge to uphold the couple's prenuptial agreement, which has been a source
of contention in the past. As it turns out, it was Ray J's mother who strongly advised
her son to consider a prenuptial agreement before making the long walk down the aisle.
Eventually, Love came around to the idea, as well, in an episode of Love & Hip Hop Hollywood
from 2016.
"I have no guarantees that Ray is not going to step out on me. But if he does, you better
believe I'm taking half of everything."
Ultimately, it appears Ray J took to his mother's advice and now he's presumably working overtime
to make sure the agreement still stands. But will the judge choose to honor said agreement?
Only time will tell.
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