NBC 'The Voice' set
Frequent “Voice” performer and season two mentor Ne-Yo is currently embroiled in some controversy after his wife, Crystal Renay Smith, called him out in an now-deleted Instagram post claiming that he cheated on her with sex workers. She later filed for divorce and said in her filing that he fathered a child with another woman, according to Page Six.
After the allegations came to light, Ne-Yo appeared on an episode of the podcast “Drink Champs” where he spoke at length about his marriage — however, it would seem that the podcast was recorded prior to Smith’s Instagram post and divorce filing, even though it was released after the fact. With that in mind, the comments are still relevant and interesting in light of what has happened since it was recorded.
Ne-Yo Admitted There’s a Part of Him Who Thinks That as the Breadwinner, He’s Entitled to Do Whatever He Wants
On “Drink Champs,” Ne-Yo spoke about trying to be a good husband and how “temptation” is hard for him, especially because part of him thinks he should be able to do whatever he wants to do because he provides for his family.
“I’m the breadwinner. I take care of my family, period. No one has to worry about anything because of me so there’s a level of me within myself that says I’m within my right to do whatever I wanna do because I take care of everybody in my family,” said the R&B artist.
But he added, “But at the same time, you decide to be married, you decide to take that choice, you decide to take that step, that is you saying that though you understand you have the right to do whatever the f*** you want do whenever the f*** you wanna do it because you provide for your whole family, you are deciding to consider the emotions and the feelings and the concern of another person. You’re deciding to do that, it’s a choice that you’re making, to then turn around and be f***ed up towards that, it’s like you f***ing yourself up. It’s self-destructive.”
He went on to say that he doesn’t want anyone to think that he’s saying it’s “easy” to just decide to be faithful because it’s not.
“Temptation wouldn’t be temptation if it wasn’t difficult,” said Ne-Yo. “There’s a reason that it’s called what it’s called, it’s temptation. But there’s a point in life where you gotta be like, ‘Alright, do I genuinely care about this person? And if I genuinely care about this person, am I gonna continue doing the s*** that I know is genuinely hurting this person?'”
Ne-Yo Said He and Crystal Ended Their Relationship the First Time Because He Knew He Was Hurting Her
Ne-Yo and Crystal came close to divorcing in early 2020, according to Billboard but later reconciled, holding a new marriage ceremony in April 2022, according to TMZ.
On “Drink Champs,” Ne-Yo said that in early 2020, he knew he had to “end the relationship” because he “knew that [he] was hurting her.”
“I knew that the person that I was in the moment was hurting her and I was so enthralled in being that person, that I looked at her like alright, me being this person is hurting her to the point where I’ll let her go before I allow myself to continue hurting her,” said Ne-Yo.
But he said that Crystal stayed on him about not coping out and holding him accountable.
“She was not letting me cop out. Like, there’s something to that, man. You gotta pay attention to that. This woman’s love for you is so strong that she’s not allowing you to be a f***ing coward right now. She’s not allowing you to do that. She’s holding you accountable and making you stand up for what it is that you truly want,” said Ne-Yo.
He said she made him realize that he was making the choice to not be the person he knew she needed him to be and if that was going to be his decision, then she agreed with him that they should get divorced.
“So here’s what her response to that was — OK, so, you telling me that you can’t be this person. Is it that you can’t be this person, or is it that you won’t be this person? Because it’s not like there’s somebody physically holding you back from being this person, it’s all decision. It’s what you decide to be, it’s who you decide to be, it’s what you decide to do versus what you decide to not do, so it’s all on you,” Ne-Yo said of what his wife told him in early 2020.
He continued, “It’s all decision based. You’re deciding to not be who you know I need, that’s a decision that you’re making and if that’s the decision you’re making then yeah, we should get a divorce.”
On an episode of FOX Soul’s “Cocktails with Queens” where the commentators discussed Ne-Yo and Crystal’s divorce, actress Vivica A. Fox put Ne-Yo on blast for not respecting his marriage vows and advised Crystal not to back slide because this becomes a “vicious cycle” sometimes.
“Crystal, [if] you go back, you gonna really play yourself this time because this ain’t the first time this done happen,” said Fox.
She later added, “Crystal, if you go back and you do this again, sometimes women, it becomes a vicious cycle that you get in that you now think this is love. You deserve better, sweetheart. You’ve tried. I know sometimes a lot of women [say], ‘Well, I don’t want to break up my family,’ this, that and the third. It’s not working. Move on.”
“The Voice” will returns for its 22nd season on Monday, September 9 at 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific times on NBC.
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