Ne-Yo Says Ex-Wife Returned Ring Because She’s Not "Money Petty"

Not long after announcing that he and his wife Crystal Smith planned to divorce, Ne-Yo stepped back into the music scene with a brand new single “Pinky Ring” featuring O.T. Genasis. The superproducer-singer-songwriter and his ex have been cordial in the media and during his visit to Pull Up with Joe Budden, Ne-Yo expounded on his personal life.

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“‘Pinky Ring’ is a song about taking lemons and turning them into lemonade,” the singer said. “It is about a situation that anybody can use as an excuse to be down and feel a way, but instead, taking it and letting it be a positive thing. Not allowing it to bring you down.” Joe didn’t seem too satisfied with the answer and wanted to know what Ne-Yo did that led to the breakup with his wife.

“Without incriminating myself, without incriminating her and without putting any negative connotation on this… I will say that neither one of us was exactly who we needed to be in order for this to last, and that’s why it didn’t. Bottom line,” Ne-Yo said. “That’s what it was. I own mine, she owns hers, and the craziest thing is there’s no beef, there’s no animosity, there’s no love lost because we both understand that.”

Budden wasn’t convinced that there’s no beef between Ne-Yo and Crystal and called the singer “oblivious to what’s going on.” Ney-Yo disagreed. Budden later talked about his struggle with getting his engagement ring back from his ex-fiancé Cyn Santana and was surprised to hear that Crystal gave her wedding ring to Ne-Yo without a problem. Budden revealed he had to legally wait for the courts to rule on the matter.

According to Ne-Yo, Crystal isn’t the type of person who would hold onto something in order to get back at him or make things difficult. “She’s never been petty like that,” Ne-Yo added. “She’s never been money petty like that. That’s not her.” Watch Ne-Yo and Joe Budden chop it up on Pull Up below.