Safaree is seeking to lower his child support payments.
According to InTouch Weekly, the former Love & Hip-Hop Atlanta star filed a court petition in June 2023 to reduce the $4,305 he currently pays in child support to ex-wife Erica Mena.
In the filing, Safaree claimed that his income has significantly dropped since finalizing their divorce in 2022 and that he can no longer sustain the payments.
The exes’ divorce settlement covered all major issues, including child support, custody, and division of property. Under the agreement, the ex-couple shares custody of their two children, with Safaree agreeing to the $4,305 monthly payment at the time.
In his new petition, Safaree claims, “The Child Support amount was based upon [his] monthly income of $61,157 per month and [Erica’s] monthly income of $41,289.00 per month.”
He alleges that since the agreement was made, “…there has been a significant change in circumstances regarding the custodial arrangement and earnings of the parties.”
According to the filing, Safaree no longer earns $61,000 per month and now has “greater parenting time exceeding the prescribed 12 days.” The rapper has his minor children in his physical custody on average 3-4 weeks consistently during his time.
His lawyer also noted that since the divorce, Safaree exited his role as a main talent for Love & HipHop: Atlanta, which ultimately led to a significant decrease in his earnings.
“At the time of the Divorce, the Petitioner was a main realty talent for Love and Hip-Hop Atlanta; yet he is no longer a full- time talent on Love and Hip-Hop Atlanta. Further, at the time of the Divorce, the Petitioner was also booking appearances and generating an income from such appearances. The Petitioner is no longer able to accept the same level of booking engagements to date.”
Safaree also blames he’s experienced “significant loss of income” due to the direct acts of Erica Mena.
According to him, the TV personality has continuously made “engaged in an “extensive public disparagement campaign against” him on social media, which he claims had harmed his ability to book appearances since his fan base is predominantly women.
“Erica] for nearly six (6) consecutive months has made public posts on her social media platform to her over six (6) million followers referring to [Safaree] as a “deadbeat” and attacking his parenting skills without reason,” his lawyer wrote.
“Additionally, [Erica] has created confusion regarding [Safaree’s] efforts to secure new employment by harassing the [Safaree’s] potential costars and or coworkers via multiple phone calls to the potential coworkers and production disparaging [Safaree] with false claims.”
Further the reality TV star said Mena’s income has increased significantly since their divorce and is now demanding his ex-wife cover his legal fees.
A ruling is yet to be made on the petition.
Safaree and Mena wed in 2010 and welcomed their kids together before splitting early two years later in 2022.
