Tyrese was a proud father while sending off his firstborn daughter, Shayla Gibson, to prom over the weekend.
On Sunday (May 17), the actor and R&B singer posted an Instagram reel that showed him taking photos with Shayla, 18, and her prom date. Tyrese also captioned that his popular ‘My Shayla’ meme “changed my life forever.”
“This is my first born, Shayla Gibson…The heir to the Gibson legacy and empire that I’m still building brick by brick,” he continued.
“If “putting it all on the line for your child” was a person… it would be me,” Tyrese proclaimed. “I stand here today as a survivor of family court, divorce, public judgment, private pain, reputation hits, sleepless nights and every test imaginable… but I never stopped showing up as a PRESENT father. Never.”
Tyrese also shares a 7-year-old daughter, Soraya, with his second wife, Samantha Lee, who he had a contentious divorce and custody battle with.
The “Lately” vocalist added that Shayla had completed her final day of high school just two days before and had been accepted to college on a full-ride scholarship.
“Her GPA surpassed mine years ago,” Tyrese admitted. “In many ways, I’m healing parts of my own upbringing by watching my daughters rise higher than I ever did. That’s the goal. That’s generational growth.”
“This may honestly be one of the proudest moments of my life since the day you were born,” he continued.
Last month, Tyrese appeared on Angie Martinez’s IRL podcast, where he reflected on the origins of the “My Shayla” meme, sharing that he was undergoing a withdrawal from psych medication, which caused him to be emotional.