*On Thursday’s edition of “Tamron Hall,” Grammy Award-winning artist Ne-Yo and his wife Crystal Smith made a virtual appearance to discuss the singer’s decision to publicly announce his divorce on a podcast. As it turns out, the couple are quarantining together during the coronavirus pandemic, which helped them reconcile their differences.
Hear/watch Ne-Yo tell it via the YouTube clip above, and check out additional clips and excerpts below from the couple’s conversation with Hall.
READ MORE: Ne-Yo on Reconciling with His Wife Crystal Renay During COVID-19 Quarantine
Ne-Yo on his decision to publicly announce his divorce during his February appearance on the “Private Talk with Alexis Texas” podcast:
“The reason that I went ahead and made it known on the podcast at the time was because I had gotten word that it had gotten out and I was trying to get in front of the blogs and everybody. I’ve always hated the whole third-person thing, if I don’t hear it from the horse’s mouth, I don’t believe it. So I decided to get in front of it before it became a rumor or an accusation and all kinds of extras were put on it. The bottom line is what I meant by ‘our demons don’t mesh,’ is that, there’s not a perfect person walking around the face of this planet. I have my issues, she definitely had her issues, and at the time we just weren’t in a place where we could help each other through our issues. My issues became a reason for us to not be together, as did hers…Everybody has demons, everybody is fighting a demon of some sort, and ours just weren’t allowing us to be together at the time. I thought that I was getting in front of it by going ahead and declaring it.”
Crystal on her reaction to Ne-Yo’s surprising divorce announcement, which she found out about through entertainment sites and gossip blogs:
“We weren’t really talking at that time. I chose to leave the relationship because of issues, and at the time I felt like it was to get back at me or to hurt me, or whatever the case may be. He said that it wasn’t so I took his word for that. But it definitely didn’t feel good, it was embarrassing to say the least.” Crystal continued: “It made me feel like ‘what was the point of opening myself up or letting my walls down?’ I chose to go to therapy and to start working on my pain and my issues and everything I was dealing with internally. I feel like that was the right step for me to get past it. So whether we were going to be together or not, I had to heal for myself so I could get up and perform for my kids.”
Ne-Yo on why he chose to quarantine at home with Crystal after he had publicly announced their split:
“I can honestly say that though I had to a degree put on a face for the public, I did not want to get divorced. I was really, really broken up about it, but I felt like I couldn’t show that to the world. My pride wouldn’t allow me to show that to her initially. But I think she kind of knew where I was at.” Ne-Yo continued: “It just didn’t feel right, it didn’t make any sense to me. This is what we’ve been forever. We don’t know what this thing is, we could be gone tomorrow. So I’m not about to waste what could potentially be maybe our last moments together not together. I’m not doing it. I’m going where my home is, I’m going where my heart is. And that was it.”
Crystal on how Ne-Yo helps break down the walls she put up as a result of her past abusive relationship:
“I still know in some ways I have my guard up with just everybody, but he has a way of breaking that down and getting to the core and the root and trying to help you fix those things and heal from them. And that was the first person that ever cared to want to know about that kind of stuff.”
Ne-Yo on his childhood experience with domestic violence and his reaction to learning about Crystal’s past abusive relationship:
“My mom and dad’s relationship was toxic to say the least. I witnessed a lot of domestic abuse in the household. My mom has been my hero pretty much my entire life, she’s the strongest woman in the world. Just seeing the things that she went through and then hearing this from Crystal, it struck a nerve. It was something familiar. I went into, I wouldn’t necessarily say rescue mode because she didn’t really need rescuing. She’s not a weak person at all and that was one of the things that attracted me to her was despite the fact that she had been through some negative things in her past, she wasn’t allowing it to break her or hold her back from what it is she wanted, her dreams and aspirations, and just living life, period.”
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