10 Most Expensive Black Celebrity Divorces

Breaking up is hard to do, especially when it costs you millions of dollars. The Black celebrities below know all about that pain as they had to dish out a good chunk of their fortune to finally call it quits.

Some of these celebrities went into marriage with no prenup and had to dish out millions. Others had prenups in place and still had to pay up a good amount of money to settle the divorce.

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1. Dwayne Wade & Siohvaughn Funches

Dwayne and Siohvaughn started dating in high school. They actually met when Dwayne was just 9 and eventually married in 2002. They have 2 children together but their marriage came to an end in 2007. But their lengthy divorce did not come to an end until 2013! 

Dwayne filed for divorce in 2007 shortly after the birth of their second child Zaya and he was eventually awarded sole custody of their two children in 2011 and the financial portion of the divorce was finalized in 2013. Siohvaughn went through more than a dozen lawyers and even sued Dwayne during their divorce over claims of not paying her income from his endorsement contracts. 

After much back and forth, the two reached a permanent settlement in which Dwayne paid a $5 million lump sum. She was also awarded their home in Chicago and four cars.  Before that agreement, they had a temporary deal in which Dwayne was paying Siohvaughn $25,000 a month in spousal support and an additional $10,000 a month for travel and expenses. 

This divorce got so ugly that there were claims of abuse by Siohvaughn while Dwayne accused his ex of becoming mentally unstable. 

2. Mike Tyson & Robin Givens

Tabloids dubbed Robin Givens “the most hated woman in America” when she filed for divorce from Mike Tyson in 1989 after only 10 months of marriage. The boxing champion and actress dated for only about a year before they got married without a prenup in place. 

During a joint interview with Barbara Walters, the couple discussed why they didn’t have a prenup in place. But that wasn’t the only topic of conversation in that famous interview. Robin also revealed she had suffered from abuse by Tyson and that he suffered from a personality disorder. It was shortly after this interview that Robin filed for divorce. 

As expected, the divorce was anything but amicable, with Robin claiming abuse and Tyson claiming Robin was stealing from him. At the end, it’s been reported that Robin Givens was granted a $10 million divorce settlement. 

3. Michael Strahan and Jean Muggli

Football star turned morning show host Michael Strahan and first wifeJean Muggli were married in 1999 and were together for seven years before divorcing in 2006. They share twin daughters that were born in 2004.

The divorce was ugly with Jean accusing Michael of abuse and infidelity and Michael accusing Jean of spending money excessively. When the case settled, Michael was ordered to pay Jean $15 million in settlement on top of paying $18,000 a month in child support. That number was reduced to just under $13,000 in 2009. But the story doesn’t end there. 

In 2019, Jean claimed in legal documents that Micheal wasn’t holding up his end of the child support deal. It was reported that she was looking to get over $540,000 from her ex. In turn, Micheal has accused Jean of physically and emotionally abusing their daughters. The case was later settled. 

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4. Eddie Murphy & Nicole Murphy 

Comedian/actor Eddie Murphy & model Nicole Murphy met in the 80s and got married in 1993 in one of Hollywood’s most talked about wedding ceremonies. They went on to stay married for 12 years and have 5 kids together. Then Nicole filed for divorce in 2005.

The amicable divorce settled with Nicole getting a sweet $15 million payday. Years later, it was reported that Nicole lost up to $10 million of her settlement to a swindler. The conman was a friend Nicole knew for many years who promised to invest her money overseas. She allegedly had to remortgage her house after she lost millions. 

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5. Dr. Dre & Nicole Young

Rapper and mega producer Andre “Dr. Dre” Young and Nicole Young had been married for 24 years when Nicole filed for divorce in June 2020. She accused Dr. Dre of abuse in court documents and claimed to suffer post-traumatic stress syndrome from the abuse. When the divorce finally settled in 2021, Dr Dre agreed to pay Nicole a whopping $100 on top of her keeping their Malibu beach house and four vehicles. But Nicole will not be getting any spousal support after the divorce. 

But don’t feel bad for Dr. Dre. The music mogul that was estimated to be worth over $800 million at the time still kept seven properties and six vehicles in the divorce as well as full rights to his master recordings. So, yes, the divorce was an expensive one but nothing that will bankrupt Dr. Dre anytime soon. 

6. Michael Jordan & Juanita Vanoy

Basketball legend Micheal Jordan and first wife Juanita Jordan were married from 1989 to 2006 and have three children together. Juanita first filed for divorce in 2002 but the two reconciled and stayed married until their divorce in 2006. That divorce goes down in history as the costliest divorce for any athlete up until that point as Jordan had to pay up $168 million to Juanita even with a prenup in place. Even though Jordan went on to become a billionaire, at the time, he was worth around $350 million. So that $168 million settlement accounted for almost half of his fortune. 

Jordan went on to remarry in 2013 to model Yvette Prieto and had a much tighter prenup in place. 

7. Kanye West & Kim Kardashian

What can I tell you about the marriage of Kanye and Kim that you don’t already know? The rapper and reality TV star have had a very public relationship and an even more public and ugly breakup. But their divorce settlement was actually clean thanks to a prenup they had in place and the fact that both of them are almost billionaires. Actually, Kim is now officially a billionaire while Kanye was once a billionaire but lost that status for a very public reason that we won’t get into now.  

Kanye and Kim started dating in 2012 and married in 2014. They have four children together and share joint custody of them. The couple had around $70 million in assets together, including their homes in California, Miami, and two ranches in Wyoming. 

According to their prenup, neither one of them requested spousal support. But what makes this divorce expensive is the fact that Kanye has to pay Kim $200,000 a month in child support! That’s even with the agreement that each parent is responsible for covering 50% of their children’s educational and security expenses. And you thought your kids were expensive! 

8. Tiger Woods & Elin Nordegren

Perhaps no other divorce was brought on by such a massive scandal than Tiger and Elin’s divorce. We all remember, at least those of us who were of adult age already when it happened, how much all the news was dominated by Tiger’s cheating stories. 

Tiger and Elin were married for nearly six years and have two kids together. The pro golfer, who was worth around $600 million at the time, had to dish out $100 million to his ex-wife in their settlement, $20 million for each year they were married. She also received around $20,000 a month in child support and the couple share custody of their kids. Elin was also awarded their home in Windermere but she later sold it and moved to a new mansion. Elin has acknowledged that although money doesn’t fix everything, it sure makes a lot of things easier. I bet! 

9. Lionel Richie & Diane Richie

Lionel Richie’s been married and divorced twice and it’s his second divorce that’s famous for being one of the most expensive celebrity divorces of all time. 

Lionel and Diane married in 1995 and have a son and daughter together. Their marriage came to an end in 2004 and the two headed to court to settle their financial split. Initially, the couple agreed upon an alimony payment of $55,000 per month and Diane getting the couple’s $5 million mansion. But a few months later, Diane filed a demand asking for a staggering $300,000 a month support. She justified that ask citing she needed $15,000 a month for clothing and accessories, $20,000 annually for plastic surgery, $3,000 a month for dermatology treatment, and $125,000 in tuition for their son among other expenses. 

Although the final settlement was kept private, it’s been reported that Lionel agreed to pay his ex a $20 million lump-sum amount to finally settle the divorce. 

10. Russell Simmons & Kimora Lee

Businessman Russell Simmons and Supermodel Kimora Lee were hip-hop royalty in the 90s and early 2000s. Shockingly, Kimora was only 17 and Russell 35 when they first met and soon began dating, although Russell has made it clear that they didn’t get romantically involved until Kimora turned 18. They got married in 1998 in a civil ceremony in New York. Their split came in 2006 and Kimora officially filed for divorce in 2008. The divorce was finalized the following year. 

Kimora was awarded full custody of their two girls and Russell was ordered to pay a whopping $40,000 a month in child support, $20,000 per child, until their youngest daughter turned 19 and half years old.