According to some online reports, fast and Furious actor Tyrese Gibson has been arrested for failing to pay child support. Commentators said Judge Kevin Farmer ordered the actor and singer to pay ex-wife Samantha Lee $10,000 per month last April, but in a recent hearing, the judge determined that while Gibson transferred some occasional funds, he did not adhere to the court’s previous ruling. Farmer ordered a bailiff to detain Mr. Gibson for contempt of court. Records indicate that the star paid his ex-wife around $2,200 per month.
Mixed reports suggested that Judge Farmer told Gibson he could avoid jail if he agreed to hand over $73,000 in back payments, but the actor denied he had been arrested at all. Describing his attorney as “quick on her feet,” Gibson stated that he left the courtroom after just two hours. The actor explained that the Judge made a ruling, after which he had a five or six hour window to lodge an appeal or face a jail cell. His attorney, Tanya Mitchell Graham, filed an appeal within ten minutes and he was soon on his way home.
Mr. Gibson accused Judge Farmer of bias in subsequent social media posts. “One would ask why does this judge Kevin M Farmer HATE me so much?” he wrote.
Samantha Lee filed for divorce from Tyrese Gibson in 2020, and the courts determined he should pay $10,960 per month in support of the couple’s shared five-year-old daughter, Soraya. Her attorney, Adam Gleklen, said Lee did not want her ex-husband arrested but admitted that Mr. Gibson had only paid the ordered amount on three occasions since the divorce was finalized.
Mr. Gleklen said his client wants a civilized agreement for the couple to co-parent their child and to act in her best interests. However, Gibson filed an appeal against the original ruling, calling the amount “punitive.” In the more recent filing, the actor’s lawyers also warned against imposing back payments, saying this would send a “chilling” message to parents who have “voluntarily financially support their minor child(ren).”
Gibson announced on Instagram that he has written a book about his experiences in the family court system, entitled “BlackMail of the BlackMale.” He declared that it is “coming soon.”
