I Will Always Respect Her – Ne-Yo Confirms Split From Wife

On the latest episode Private Talk with Alexis Texas, Ne-Yo has confirmed that he and his wife of almost four years Crystal Smith have ended their marriage.

The 40-year old “Let Me Love You” hitmaker during the chat with Texas also revealed that their divorce has inspired a new song that’s helping him cope with this massive change.

This is the first time Ne-Yo is confirming the split although the two have been subject of breakup rumours prior to now.

Opening up about their split, he said he will always respect Smith who is the mother of his sons Shaffer Chimere Smith, Jr. and Roman Alexander-Raj Smith. He also said she will always be his family.

Ne-Yo and Crystal Smith| The Blast

He said:

“Slowly but surely it’s becoming public knowledge that myself and my wife have decided to go ahead and get a divorce,” he told the podcast host. “It’s not a sad thing… long story short, I’m never gonna talk bad about her; I’m not that person. There’s nothing bad to say about her; she’s a fantastic woman. She’s the mother of my children. She’s always gonna be that, and I will always respect her.”

“Long story short, she’s got demons just like everybody else, just like me,” he added. “We realize that our demons don’t mesh and until both of us get a hold of our personal demons, it’s gonna be just difficult for us to stay married. With that being said, that’s that, that’s the end of that chapter, not the end of the book. Like I said, that’s the mother of my kids and I love her to death. We’re going to be family forever.”Ne-

He went on to add that the experience has informed his soon-to-drop track “Pinkie Ring,” and explained that “art imitates life” in this case.

“The song is basically about the way that I chose to feel about the situation,” he said. “I could’ve went one of two ways: I could’ve let this really break me down, and put me in a place that was gonna be difficult for me to be creative, difficult for me to do what I gotta do, or I could take it in stride and keep moving like we all have to do anyway. That’s the long and short of what the song is about. I’m going to be very honest with y’all: it’s kind of a vent, because I was a little angry when I wrote it.”

He makes it clear that the song is not a diss towards Smith as he said:

“The song is not a diss to her; the song is not about her. The song is about the way I chose to handle the situation, the way I chose to lift myself up and keep moving as we all must do.”

Smith is yet to address their breakup.

Ne-Yo married Smith in late February 2016 and welcomed their first child. Their second son was born in 2018.