Princess Love’s split with Ray J has taken a turn. The 35-year-old Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood star is now filing for sole legal and physical custody of the two kids she shares with the singer — daughter Melody Norwood, 23 months, and son Epik, 4 months — according to her petition for divorce filed on May 5, and reviewed by HollywoodLife on May 22. Princess is also requesting child support from Ray, while asking the court to not allow support awarded to Ray. However, Princess checked off the box that would grant visitation rights to her estranged husband.
This news may come as surprise, since Ray sounded nothing but positive about their co-parenting system after Princess filed the documents. “I’m at the house with the kids now, and for us to just spend time together and, you know, talking, and just being great parents, I think a lot of things will unfold from that. And I think that’s a good start with us, just spending time with the kids, and making sure that Melody has a great birthday,” Ray revealed during the listening party for his new single, “Stranded,” hosted by social network Tsū on May 21. Princess and Ray will be celebrating Melody’s second birthday this Saturday, May 23.
“Through all of that, we can listen and understand each other, and hopefully [stay] positive. Right now, we just locked in with the parenting. And God is good,” Ray continued, not hinting at a custody battle. Princess requested full custody of their children in the same documents that she filed for divorce, after tying the knot with Ray in Aug. 2016.
Princess actually revealed that she and Ray were no longer together during an Instagram Q&A in Feb. 2020, informing a fan that they were just “just focused on the kids.” The announcement came not long after Princess accused Ray of leaving his wife and daughter “stranded” in Las Vegas and allegedly blocking Princess from “calling,” two days after the family of three attended the BET Soul Train Awards in Nov. 2019. Princess was eight months pregnant with their son at the time.
Later, Princess explained that they allegedly got in a fight over their living situation — Ray wanted to live in Vegas, and Princess wanted to stay in Los Angeles — according to her side of the story, which she shared in an Instagram Live session in Nov. 2019. Princess also claimed that Ray allegedly admitted to “entertaining some women,” upon discovering that he was allegedly keeping a second cell phone (Ray never directly responded to these allegations). “I don’t want to be married anymore,” Princess declared during the Instagram Live, and she followed through on her word. HollywoodLife has reached out to Ray J’s rep in regards to the new court documents, but didn’t hear back by the time of publication.