Jeannie Mai says being divorced feels “earth-shattering” and like “a wake-up call” in a new video addressing the labels society has placed on her.
In the YouTube video posted Friday (Dec. 5) titled “divorced, 46, single…with a toddler,” Mai reflects on her experience navigating divorce and everything that comes after it.
“Divorce is a word you never imagine attached to your name,” she says about two and a half minutes in. “Not because you’re special, but because you think you know how to save something before it breaks.”
“As a divorcee, you’re always seeing people talk about the warning signs before a marriage ends,” she continues. “But the one thing nobody tells you is that it’s both earth-shattering and a wake-up call. It’s because the life you imagined disappears, and the future you truly need starts calling out to you.”
Mai then breaks down what she feels is the hardest part of divorce. “The hardest part about divorce isn’t heartbreak, it’s letting go of the woman I performed, the version of me I kept up because I was scared to admit the truth,” she says. “One day, you realize you’re not broken — you’re honest. And honesty is heavy. It’s freedom.”
Mai finalized her divorce from Jeezy in 2024. In November, she shared a video reflecting on how difficult the past two years have been for her and their daughter, Monaco Mai Jenkins, while also acknowledging the growth that followed.
“It cracked me open and showed me everything that I’ve been trying to mask. I went through things that I wouldn’t wish on anybody,” Mai said. “The kind of pain that shakes your faith and makes you question everything. A chapter of my life ended, one I once shared right here.”
“And what looked like an ending became the awakening I never saw coming,” she added. “Because I realized how far I had abandoned myself. How often I traded peace for making broken things look whole. And when everything fell away, it stripped me down until the only person left to meet was me.”
