Earlier this month, Victoria Monét fans were ecstatic to learn that the “On My Mama” singer is preparing to release a deluxe edition of her Grammy-winning album, Jaguar II. But while that news was welcome, today, she followed it with some less pleasant news, confirming her breakup with longtime boyfriend John Gaines, with whom she shares one child.
In a statement posted to her social media, she explained why she waited nearly ten months before making the announcement, while also asking fans to “be gentle” with the former couple and their daughter. You can read the full statement below.
With good intentions, we honestly have been avoiding a formal statement about something as natural and as personal as love. We originally preferred to keep this out of the public (as announcing this publicly is sure to make pain resurface) but it is becoming more and more difficult to suppress. Yes, we have seen all of the questions and extremely false accusations of our origin story and we have thought long and hard about whether we owed it to anyone to explain where we are as we heal, since we understand how social media can magnify the truth or run far with untruths. Ultimately we decided to be open and address it in hopes to put a period on the question marks for the sake of our healing process.
We spent the last 10 months trying to respectfully and privately navigate the fact that we are no longer in a relationship. Though we still completely adore and respect each other, we are not a couple anymore. There was no infidelity, toxic behavior nor drama. We both just have some fundamental growing to do that would be best done apart so we can remain the best versions of ourselves for our daughter. It simply didn’t work out and that’s okay. We still think the world of each other and operate with love in every interaction for our family. We have an incredible daughter to raise for life and that is undoubtedly our number 1 priority forever. No relationship status can remove or replace that fact. We are committed to doing the inner work and trust that God will place us both where we belong in due time.
To all of our supporters, friends and family, thank you for your love, care and concern. Please allow us the peace and space to maintain a safe and happy environment to continue to co-parent to the best of our ability for Hazel! We plan to remain a family regardless of our public facing title, so please when you see us together with Hazel, be understanding and gentle. We appreciate you all for hearing us out and hope to be kept in your well intentioned prayers. Thank you
Sincerely Victoria and John