Tyrese's Ex-Wife Samantha Lee Expresses Divorce Regrets

Source: Paras Griffin / Getty

Tyrese Gibson’s ex-wife Samantha Lee is opening up about her decision to divorce the singer. In a recent interview Lee said that if she had counsel from a supportive “pro-marriage community”, she would not have filed docs to end her marriage. Not only, that but she admitted that would reconcile with Tyrese if they were both “willing to work.”

The licensed social worker was a recent guest on the Hardly Initiated podcast and she told Ryan Catchngs and Tysean Jackson, about her split from her husband. As previously reported the couple tied the knot in February 2017 and announced their split in December of 2020.

According to Lee, she let people influence her decision to leave her marriage and she was “emotionally intoxicated” when she pulled the plug.

“It’s very important to seek wise counsel, you have to really decide and make a very calculated decision based on your belief systems,” said Lee on Hardly Initiated. “I think we do take divorce very casually. I would never tell a woman to walk through that in the same frame as I was when I did it.”

“I was very, very, hurt, I was very angry,” she added. “I remember when I made the decision I was hysterically crying on the phone with my attorney. I was not in any position to make that decision, I was extremely emotionally intoxicated.”

Source: Paras Griffin / Getty

She added that she was speaking with her attorney when she made her final decision and she believes that was the wrong move.

“I would never tell somebody to make that decision when they’re that emotional but of course, I wasn’t talking to someone that genuinely would be for marriage or for reconciliation,” said Lee.

“That’s no slight to my attorney, at the time when I was on the phone and I made that decision, I was livid. I was emotional. If I’m that emotional and I’m that hurt and I’m on that level, if it’s misguided and misdirected it could go in a bad direction.”

Samantha Lee Says She Wishes She Had “Pro-Marriage” People In Her Corner

According to Lee, she was ruminating on all the bad things and not the positive things in her marriage. She added that she wishes she had people in her life who were “pro-marriage” and would “check her” about her feelings.

“The people I had in my ear at the time were not for that,” said Lee on Hardly Initiated. “The truth about the matter is that if I had different people in my ear at that time I would not have made that decision. 

“I’m an extremely emotional person, there will be moments where [it’s] like, ’I’m ready to be done, ’I can’t stand this!’ ‘He don’t do this!’ we’re just focusing on these things, and because you don’t have a certain person in your life to check you and say ‘Sis, what about this—what about these strengths?'”

“You may not be thinking about when you’re upset, ” she added. “You’re only thinking about what you’re mad about, you’re not thinking about all the other positive aspects of this person, so in those moments you need somebody to be that person for that person in those moments. “

Samantha Lee Alleges That Lawyers Made Her Divorce Contentious

On Hardly Initiated, Lee also said that lawyers and court systems “win” when it comes to divorces.

“You don’t win when a family is broken apart,” said Lee who later added that lawyers helped instigate her divorce from Tyrese. “There was a marital therapist that was speaking to both me and him, and he said when you get lawyers involved it gets ugly. I didn’t even realize how ugly it would get.

“Like if I could walk back in time, sometimes I battle with myself about that, but at the time I thought I was doing the right thing or the best thing. I didn’t know how ugly it could get.”

She also added that even if you do calm down after filing for divorce, you’ve “made an irreparable hole” just because “you didn’t have the ability to step back” from your emotions.

See what else Samantha Lee had to say about her Tyrese split and if there’s any hope for a reconciliation between them.