Tyrese Gives Yet Another Iconic Interview, But Should We All Be Concerned?

It’s not unusual for Tyrese Gibson to make headlines, given the litany of pop culture quotes and moments he’s supplied to the culture over the years (“throw in the tile,” anyone?)

But in his latest interview on “The Breakfast Club” on Tuesday, the veteran R&B singer sparked mixed reactions online after having an emotional break down. His reaction was sparked by host Charlamagne Tha God’s question about whether or not he’s taken the time to deal and process with the grief he’s experienced over the last handful of years and if he’s been staying busy to distract himself from it.

For context, Gibson’s sister Selendra passed away in 2021; his mother Priscilla Murray passed in 2022, and his other sister Shonta passed in 2023. Added to that were the deaths of other close friends and colleagues such as his “Fast and Furious” costar Paul Walker (2013), “Baby Boy” director John Singleton(2019) and recent collaborator Ray Liotta(2022) with whom he filmed his forthcoming film, “1992.” Gibson had also been embroiled in a messy divorce and custody battle from his ex-wife Samantha Lee with the two of them finalizing things back in 2020 but still exchanging less than stellar words about each other as recently as last year. He’s also been in an tense on-again, off-again relationship with his current girlfriend Zelie Timothy while gearing up to release his most vulnerable album to date, titled “Beautiful Pain.”

“I’m doing the best I can with every 24 hours I get,” Gibson said while fighting back tears. That’s it—naw, I don’t need no tissue. Black men cry. [I] don’t need no fucking tissue. Every 24 hours I get, I’m doing the best I can. ‘Beautiful Pain,’ ‘1992,’—there is no square footage I could live in, there’s no rims, no jewelry and no car. There is no net worth, there is no press release, there is no costar, there is no collaboration in the world that could ever replace my mama. That could ever feel the void of what it’s like to wake up and get married and want to be in something for the rest of your life and it goes away.”

He continued:

“Black men cry! When divorces happen, women aren’t the only ones that are devastated. When a miscarriage happens, women aren’t the only ones you should be checking on. When you can’t put food on the table because your career goes up then it goes down—stop calling skipping over the man and checking on the woman. This is real shit out here, I’mma wipe my own tears....when you do things from the heart, it affects hearts. That’s what ‘Beautiful Pain’ is.

The “Stay” singer went on to share his thoughts on how “Baby Boy” didn’t perform well in the box office but is now revered as a classic, how he was in dire need for money when he did “The Masked Singer” back in 2021, and how the jewelry he was wearing was fake and partially purchased on Amazon for $23.

“If it all ends for me tomorrow: I never sold you on fake. None of the jewelry that’s on my arm is real...When you do things from the heart, it affects hearts. That’s what beautiful pain is,” he said.

While the above sentiment may be somewhat comical in nature, the broader point about the emotional toil on grief shouldn’t be taken lightly. And while the internet has dubbed him “Cryrese” thanks to his viral 2017 video, I think it may be time to cut him a little slack, give him a little grace and take his mental and emotional state into serious consideration.