Tyler Perry and Gelila Bekele had been together since 2009 and have a son, Aman, together. They have been ensuring that they protect their child first.
Ending a long-term relationship can seem like the end of an era. For many people, it's the moment they take a hard look at themselves and either feel gratitude for what they were able to have or regret the things that went wrong. Not all endings are unhappy but they might still leave us contemplating and retrospecting about the past.
Media mogul Tyler Perry, 51, who has a net worth of $1 billion, as estimated by Forbes, recently revealed that he was going through a tough phase in his life. He shared a photo of himself looking workout-ready with the caption, "This is what a midlife crisis looks like. I’m 51, single, and wondering what the next chapter in my life will look like."
"Whatever it looks like I’m going to walk with God, be the best father and man I can be, hold my head up high, and try to look my best doing it!! In a world with so much sadness, please try and stay in the good! Merry Christmas and let’s look forward to 2021 bringing us peace!" he added.
With the caption, Perry announced his split from his longtime girlfriend, model & activist Gelila Bekele, who is also the mother of his child, Aman Tyler Perry. A source told People that Perry and Bekele, 34, "amicably split some time ago and remain close friends." They added that the former couple's focus is on being the "best parents they can for their son."
The couple met in 2007 at a Prince concert, started dating two years later, and welcomed their son in December 2014. "There’s no other person on this planet that I would want to be involved with or have a child with because she’s amazing," the entertainer told People in 2017. He added that he found out about Bekele's pregnancy over FaceTime.
In a March 2020 interview, he was asked why he wasn't married and when would he have someone to share his wealth with, as per E! News. The Madea franchise creator, responded, "I have someone who's wonderful and she's getting her share of all of it." He didn't say much more but added how important privacy is for him.
He has been protective of his son and kept him away from the public eye. He said, "Even my son, being in the public...She and I are really good about that, making sure at 5 years old, he's protected, he's clear about who he is before people start telling him who he is. I'm good with that."
In another interview, he shared similar views. "I know there are no pictures of him, but that’s not something we do,” Perry said in a 2016 interview on The Rickey Smiley Morning Show. "We’re not the kind of parents — my son’s not famous. We’re trying very hard to keep him protected so that he can know who he is before he gets into the crazy bull crap of this social media world.”
He had also said in 2013 that marriage may not be on the cards for him. "I’m not so sure, with this kind of work ethic, what kind of husband I will be," Perry said (via The Huffington Post). "I don’t know about marriage as much as I do know that I would be a great father," he added.
It looks like he loves being a father and the former couple has their priorities sorted when it came to their child. Though, it seems that they had different paths to take personally. The media entrepreneur has a busy time ahead as he is going to produce Sister Act 3, which initially featured Whoopi Goldberg.
Perry, who came from a financially modest background, has built himself up from the ground. "I love when people say you come from 'humble beginnings,'" he says, as per Forbes. "[It] means you were poor as hell," he said, adding, "Ownership changes everything."
References:
https://people.com/movies/tyler-perry-and-gelila-bekele-split/
https://www.eonline.com/ap/news/1219983/tyler-perry-and-longtime-girlfriend-gelila-bekele-break-up
https://rickeysmileymorningshow.com/1709909/tyler-perry-son-social-media/
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tyler-perry-marriage-father-video_n_3331989
