When the world first learned that Swizz Beatz was divorcing his wife, Mashonda Tifrere, news also leaked that the 35-year-old hip hop producer fathered a child with someone else during their six-year marriage. It turns out the child’s mother is Jahna Sebastian, a London-based singer and producer. During a recent interview with Mara The Hip Hop Socialite, Jahna opened up about co-parenting her daughter, Nicole, with Swizz and why she kept the birth of her child a secret for so long.
While having a child outside out one’s marriage seems like the ultimate betrayal, Jahna insists that her child was not the reason for Swizz and Mashonda’s divorce because she refrained from reaching out until she learned that they were splitting up.
“I did not want the news about my pregnancy and my daughter’s birth to become the reason of his divorce [from Mashonda],” Jahna explained. It wasn’t, because I kept it secret from most people and from the media, although I mentioned the name in my immigration case during that time when I was asked but demanded confidentiality from them.”
“On top of that I didn’t even want to have anything with a married man,” she added. “But I had to put my pride aside to give my child a chance to have a relationship with her father, however it had to happen at the right time. I only reached out with official paperwork after I have found out that the divorce has already been filed for totally different reasons that had nothing to do with my child and I.”
Jahna also discussed what a difficult time she had prior to revealing that Swizz fathered her daughter.
“I wanted to save my daughter from that kind of negativity, because children are innocent. During those two years until I reached out I had to deal with everything on my own without any child support and I was not entitled to any welfare at all either, those were hard times. I have never been on welfare anyway.”
“Having a child in the UK does not give you the right to stay here or get British passport, you have to have other valid reasons to stay and prove that you can also contribute to the community, which I have done. If I didn’t fight for my immigration case at that time, Nicole would have also been deported to Russia. However, at least my daughter has nothing to do with the divorce and everybody was happy to find out about her.”
Now that Swizz knows about Nicole, Jahna says that he has been a good father, seeing their daughter approximately 3-4 times per year.
“Three to four times a year on average. I have always supported their relationship. That was the initial reason I have reached out in the first place because a child deserves a chance to have a relationship with the father.”
“I have always supported their relationship. That was the initial reason I have reached out in the first place because a child deserves a chance to have a relationship with the father.”
Surprisingly, Jahna says she also has a relationship with Swizz’s ex-wife, Mashonda.
“We keep in touch. It’s all good.”
Read her full interview here. Thoughts?
