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Tyrese Gibson thanks Will and Jada Pinkett Smith for sending him $5 million amid custody battle

Will and Jada Pinkett Smith are pretty amazing friends. According to Tyrese Gibson, the power couple is wiring him $5 million to help offset his legal fees amid his contentious custody battle with his ex-wife, Norma Gibson, over their 10-year-old daughter, Shayla.

Gibson thanked his friends on Instagram for their contribution and posted a series of photos of himself with the Smiths. “When we show UP for each other there’s nothing that can’t be done I repeat nothing… My wife kept the news away from me cause I’ve been on with lawyers all day but our family and our sister Jada-Pinkett Smith and my brother Will Smith just sent us 5 million dollars to help keep us afloat,” he wrote.

Tyrese shares photos of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith on social media. (Photo: @tyrese/Instagram)
Tyrese shares photos of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith on social media. (Photo: @tyrese/Instagram)

According to Gibson, the Smiths also requested that he stay off social media. Last week, the Fast 8 star made headlines for his emotional videos about Shayla and for continuing to slam co-star Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson.

He continued, “[You] guys asked me to get off and stay off the Internet now that my daughters legal fees will be paid! Will listen….. The Smiths’s and their whole family has always shown up for The Gibson’s. Uncle Will you’re an uncle for real…..”

Yahoo Lifestyle reached out to reps for the Smiths for comment but received no response. However, a source tells E! that Gibson’s claim about the $5 million is true, noting that Will Smith is one “down-to-earth guy” willing to help his friend out. “Will and Tyrese are extremely close friends,” the insider alleges. “Will is one of those guys that’s always there for his friends and family. Will is a giver. Even if it was his last penny, he would give it away to help someone out.”

Smith, 49, and Gibson, 38, have been close for many years. While promoting his self-help book, How to Get Out of Your Own Way, in 2011, Gibson credited the actor with helping change his life.

“He is every bit my mentor and friend,” the actor revealed. “He always makes time to talk about whatever I’m thinking about or what I can’t figure out on my own,” said Gibson. “I can’t really compare him to anybody else in my life. He believes in me more than I believe in myself. It created another level of belief in myself that wasn’t there before.”

In an emotional video posted to Facebook last week, Gibson claimed that he was paying $13,000 a month in child support to his ex amid their ongoing legal battle. He also said that his “millionaire and billionaire” friends wouldn’t help him.

Norma Gibson alleged that Tyrese Gibson hit their daughter “between 12 and 16 times” in August, and she was granted temporary legal and physical custody. Gibson denied the “hurtful lies,” and over the weekend, child services confirmed that they closed their investigation and would not be seeking criminal charges against the actor.

It doesn’t appear that Gibson is heeding the Smiths’ advice and staying off social media.

In one follow-up post, Gibson thanked his wife, Samantha Lee Gibson, for standing by his side. In another, he shared a video of a young boy defending him, writing, “feel you….. ! feel you….. Who ever this genius kid is just know that your full scholarship to Harvard University will be paid for as soon as my Will Smith Wire comes in…”

Tyrese hasn’t detailed what he exactly he intends to use the $5 million for, but we will probably find out about it on social media, despite the Smiths’ wishes.

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