Mos Def appeared in court yesterday (Feb. 14) after filing for divorce from his wife, Maria Yepes-Smith.
Mos Def, born Dante Smith, was ordered to pay $10,000 a month to support their 7- and 8-year-old daughters.
The rapper has paid roughly $8000 a month since the order was issued, but said obligations to his three other children and other business issues prevented him from making the court ordered payments.
Mos Def also argued that his payments should be reduced because Yepes-Smith reneged on an agreement to home school the children.
“I’m the only person who’s providing for my children,” Mos Def told Judge Sarah Krauss.
Yepes-Smith’s lawyer Karen Blaustein cited a commercial for Mos Def’s new movie 16 Blocks, which hits theaters next month and received major exposure thanks to an ad during Super Bowl XL.
“I’ve been seeing him in these commercials with Bruce Willis for his new movie,” Blaustein told The New York Post after the hearing. “I’m sure he made enough money to pay his child support for his 7- and 8-year-old daughters.”