NE-YO Confirms He and Wife Crystal Renay Are Getting a Divorce: ‘I Will Always Respect Her’

NE-YO and Crystal Renay have decided to part ways.  On Saturday’s episode of Private Talk With Alexis Texas, the 40-year-old R&B singer — whose real name is Shaffer Chimere Smith — confirmed that he and his wife have split and are in the process of filing for a divorce.  “It’s slowly but surely becoming public knowledge that myself and my wife have decided to go ahead and get a divorce,” NE-YO said on the podcast. “It’s not a sad thing, it’s more of us realizing — long story short, I’m never gonna talk bad about her.  I’m not that person. There’s nothing bad to say about her. She’s a fantastic woman. She’s the mother of my children and she’s always gonna be that and I will always respect her.”  “Long story short, she’s got demons just like everybody else, just like me,” he continued. “We realize that our demons don’t mesh and until both of us get a hold of our personal demons, it’s gonna be just difficult for us to stay married.”  The World of Dance judge concluded, “With that being said, that’s that, that’s the end of that chapter, not the end of the book. Like I said, that’s the mother of my kids and I love her to death. We’re going to be family forever.”  NE-YO and Renay, a model, first met when he was putting together his 2015 album Non-Fiction. The Grammy-winner once previously spoke to PEOPLE about their first encounter.  NE-YO has two children from his previous relationship with Monyetta Shaw: son Mason Evan, 8, and daughter Madilyn Grace, 9.