Ne-Yo has confirmed rumors that he and his wife, Crystal Smith, are ending their marriage after nearly five years.
The “Miss Independent” singer sat down with former adult film star Alexis Texas for her podcast, Private Talk, to discuss details of his life and career, including the revelation that his relationship is coming to an end. Interestingly, while the R&B singer was shedding some light on his pending divorce, his estranged wife, Crystal Smith, was spotted out with Black Ink Crew: Chicago’s star Ryan Henry.
Ne-Yo revealed, “It’s slowly but surely becoming public knowledge that myself and my wife have decided to go ahead and get a divorce…Long story short I’m never going to talk bad about her, I’m not that person. You know, there’s nothing bad to say about her, she’s a fantastic woman. She’s the mother of my children, and she’s always gonna be that, and I will always respect her.”
Ne-Yo and Crystal Smith have two children together, Shaffer Smith Jr. and Roman Alexander-Raj Smith, in addition to Ne-Yo’s two other children from a previous relationship. It was only back in 2018 when Crystal gave birth to their youngest child, and Ne-Yo was answering questions from the media about trying for another girl, but now it seems the relationship has unraveled under mysterious circumstances.
Ne-Yo vaguely commented on the circumstances of the breakup, saying, “Long story short, she’s got demons just like everybody else, just like me. We realized that our demons don’t mesh, and until both of us get ahold of our personal demons, we realized it’s gonna be difficult for us to stay married.”
Meanwhile, Crystal has been spotted seemingly enjoying the single life, last seen partying it up with her friends in Chicago over this last weekend. Videos posted to Crystal’s Instagram story featured her grabbing drinks with “Black Ink Crew: Chicago” star Ryan Henry. Around the same time, Ne-Yo was seen enjoying lunch with some guy friends in Los Angeles, and later inviting some unknown women to join their table. It seems both Ne-yo and Crystal are trying to move on with their lives.
