Ne-Yo Reveals His Estranged Wife Returned Her Wedding Ring
Ne-Yo and Crystal Renay tied the knot in a beautiful beachfront ceremony in 2016 and merged their families by welcoming two boys and co-parenting Ne-Yo’s other children from a previous relationship with his ex, Monyetta Shaw. They became the celebrity example for blending families and healing after a breakup. Now, Ne-Yo is experiencing another public breakup after confirming he and Renay are divorcing.
He recently spoke on the current status of their relationship and revealed that things are truly over – so much so that Renay returned her wedding ring.
Ne-Yo says Crystal Renay returned her wedding ring back to him following their split
Renay and Ne-Yo confirmed their split after The Jasmine Brand exclusively reported they’d gone their separate ways after a little under four years of marriage. A source revealed to the site that Renay called it quits after becoming fed up with the ongoing issues in their marriage.
After their divorce became public, Smith teased lyrics to a new song, “Pinky Ring,” that talks about the demise of their marriage. In the song, he sings, “She gave back the wedding ring / I turned it to a pinky ring” and “I do not feel bad / I gave her everything / Now it’s on to better things.”
Ne-Yo opened up to Joe Budden on Budden’s web series about what inspired the lyrics and confirmed they are true to life by admitting Renay gave back her wedding ring once they parted ways.
“The song is talking about me and how I’m handling what could be a sad situation if I allow it to be that,” he said. “I’m looking at it from the positive angle of she gave back the wedding ring, that means I’m not married no more. As opposed to sitting and being sad about it, I’m going to flip it. I’m going to keep it pimping. I’m going to move.”
When Budden shared that he was forced to get the courts involved to get his ex-fiance, Cyn Santana, to return the ring he gifted her, Ne-Yo praised Renay’s move, saying, “She’s never been petty like that. She’s never been money petty like that. That’s not her.”
How is the relationship between Crystal Renay and Ne-Yo currently?
Renay and Ne-Yo share two sons and Ne-Yo says it’s his main priority to raise their sons in a happy environment.
“The boat that I am the captain of, there’s a lot of people on this boat. There’s a lot of people that rely on this boat staying afloat. In order for that to happen, I must maintain my sanity, I must maintain the tempo at which my heart beats,” he said.
He explained that he knew it was time for him to walk away from the marriage when he realized that their behaviors would affect their children. Despite hinting at potential animosity that may be present due to his issues with Renay, Ne-Yo insists that he’s moving forward in love and forgiveness and harbors no ill feelings.
“I am not miserable at all. I am in a great space,” he said. “There’s nothing miserable about realizing what works for you and what doesn’t. Ain’t nothing bad about that. It doesn’t have to be a terrible thing. It doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It doesn’t have to be a sad thing. I prefer to stay on the positive side of the energy. We know they both exist and you have to acknowledge the negative, but you don’t have to dwell.”
Renay broke her silence on the split by acknowledging that regardless of not being with Ne-Yo anymore, she loves and respects him as a father to her children. She was spotted out with Black Ink Crew’s Ryan Henry during NBA All-Star Weekend in Feb. 2020, though she has not confirmed whether or not she’s dating Henry or anyone else.
