Tyrese is admittedly in a personal state of recovery.
During a recent candid appearance on Sway’s Universe, the crooner, 44, opened up about his mental health, psych medication, and some of the questionable moments from the past few years where he feels he was “out of [his] mind.”
In 2017, the “Sweet Lady” singer claimed Will Smith offered him $5 million to cover legal fees in the custody battle with his ex-wife, Norma, over his eldest daughter, Shayla.
“My wife kept the news away from me ’cause I’ve been on with lawyers all day, but our family and our sister Jada Pinkett Smith and my brother Will Smith just sent us 5 million dollars to help keep us afloat. […]The Smiths and their whole family has always shown up for The Gibson’s,” he wrote on Instagram at the time.
Sources close to the Smiths promptly denied the allegations, and also stated they were concerned about his mental well-being. Tyrese has now explained, “Will Smith is gonna give me $5 million? I never even talked to Will Smith. I was out of my mind.” He also blamed the outburst on medically-prescribed Rexulti, which he used to treat his depression.
The Fast X actor reportedly began taking the pill when he lost custody of Shayla. “I travel and I move all the time. I’m used to being away from my baby,” he revealed to Sway. “But to take my baby away for 100 days? Oh, I was f**king miserable. So then the psychiatrist says, ‘Here’s some psych meds that’ll help stabilize your mood, because you barely sleep, you’re stressed the f**k out, and your first-born was taken away from you. […] They gave me these psych meds called Rexulti. F**ked me up.”
He continued, “You put some sh*t like Rexulti in my system, it’s going to have the worst adverse effects ever. So I’m online talking about Will Smith giving me $5 million. I never talked to Will Smith and I still haven’t recovered from the damage that I did to him and his family. They didn’t deserve them phone calls.”
During that period, he also falsely claimed his now-estranged wife, Samantha Lee, was pregnant with their second child. The two announced their divorce in December 2020. He is set to address the split on his forthcoming double album, Beautiful Pain.
Listen to the first single, “Don’t Think You Ever Loved Me,” below.