Erica Mena recently expressed her relief over now sharing child-related expenses with her ex-husband, rapper and reality TV figure Safaree Samuels, in a new Instagram post.
The former couple were married from 2019 to 2022 and have two children together: a 5-year-old daughter, Safire, and a 4-year-old son, Legend. Mena, an actress and former Love and Hip Hop star, is also a mother to a 17-year-old son, King, from a previous relationship.
As viewers saw on the VH1 reality series, Mena and Samuels’ breakup was far from smooth, with Safaree previously releasing surveillance footage in 2024 that showed Mena physically attacking him in front of their children.
Despite their strained relationship, Mena shared an update with her Instagram followers on Tuesday (Jan. 13), revealing that she had wrapped up a legal dispute with her ex over the financial responsibilities for their kids.
“For 2½ years and counting – I’ve endured malicious filings, unnecessary legal attacks and intentional financial pressure, all while being the only consistent present parent for my two youngest children,” Mena wrote in the caption, alongside a photo of herself standing next to her lawyer, Lisa Weber.
Mena said she’s been the one covering medical care, schooling, childcare, and the day-to-day costs of raising their two younger children since they were born.
“Yesterday wasn’t about revenge. It was about receipts, facts and accountability,” she wrote.
“After years of intentional hardship and financial burden placed on me, I finally stood up for the expenses I’ve carried alone … medical, childcare, education,” Mena continued. “While parenting full-time and filling in where effort, presence and responsibility are by choice repeatedly consistently absent.”
The reality TV star added that asking to split financial responsibilities shouldn’t be seen as a burden, stressing that she was simply “asking for what’s right.”
“Children have two parents. Even when only one consistently shows up,” Mena added, before thanking Weber.
Elsewhere, Mena claimed that Safaree has been making “an ongoing attempt to drastically reduce child support.”
“It’s easy to underestimate the cost of children you don’t actively raise, especially while always publicly flaunting luxury,” she wrote. “But children don’t live off appearances. They live off stability, care and responsibility.”
Back in December, Mena also reacted to Safaree’s appearance on Keyshia Ka’oir’s podcast, where he described his situation with his ex-wife as “unstable.” Mena fired back by saying Safaree hadn’t seen their children in six months.
