Tyrese Gibson may be better known for his roles in the successful Transformers and Fast & Furious franchises than he is for music nowadays, but, for a while, he was one of R&B music's most popular talents. And so, for the first time since 2012, Tyrese has made his way back to our pages. Unfortunately, the reason isn't new music.
According to a report from TMZ, Tyrese is being sued by a writer named Cynthia Banks. Banks was tapped by Tyrese's mother, Priscilla, a few years back to pen a book based on Priscilla's 27-year struggle with alcoholism. According to Banks, she had a solid rapport with Priscilla and the rest of the Gibson children as she worked. Tyrese, however, was openly and publicly disapproving of the situation. His public trashing, Banks claims, ruined her reputation. She filed a lawsuit against the R&B singer in her home state of Texas, seeking compensation for a loss-of-earnings that resulted from Tyrese's shaming. Tyrese skipped the court date and the judge rewarded Banks $75,000 for her trouble.
That was several years ago. Now, Banks is attempting to get a California judge to order Tyrese pay over his debut, which has inflated to $83,000 due to interest.
Tyrese says he had no idea Banks had filed a lawsuit against him in the first place, but adds that she "bamboozled" his mother at a low point in her life. He told TMZ, "I did what I had to do to protect my mother from this woman who took advantage of her while she was in rehab."
He added his mother has been sober for 7 years, and the whole family is standing together "to make sure this goes away."