Serayah Ends Engagement to Joey Bada$$: ‘If Your Intuition Is Telling You Something Is Wrong, Listen’
Joey Badass and Serayah McNeill attend the 2024 ESSENCE Black Women In Hollywood Awards Ceremony at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on March 07, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. Paras Griffin/Getty Images for ESSENCE
Joey Bada$$ and Serayah have called off their engagement after more than three years together. The Empire actress posted a statement to Instagram on Monday (Aug. 24), making the split official, while citing allegations of infidelity.
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“After much thought, I have made the difficult decision to end my engagement and relationship with the father of my child, Joey,” she wrote. “I loved deeply, believed wholeheartedly in the life we were building, and wanted nothing more than to protect our family.”
Serayah opened up about facing a “painful truth” regarding Joey’s alleged “repeated” cheating during their romance.
“Unfortunately, I also had to face a painful truth: there had been repeated infidelity throughout our relationship, including during some of the most vulnerable and meaningful moments of my life,” she added. “I share this not for sympathy, retaliation, or to publicly tear anyone down. I share it because too many women are taught to question themselves before they question what is happening right in front of them. If your intuition is telling you something is wrong, listen to it.”
Billboard has reached out to Joey Bada$$’s reps for comment.
The Brooklyn rapper and Serayah welcomed their first child together in June 2025, about four months after announcing her pregnancy.
“I will always respect the fact that we share a beautiful son, and my priority will be protecting his peace, privacy and relationship with both of his parents,” she continued. “For that reason, I won’t be discussing the intimate details of our relationship publicly beyond what I have shared here.”
Joey Bada$$ and Serayah met in 2021 at a mutual friend’s birthday party. Romance rumors were sparked when the rapper cast Serayah in his 2023 “Show Me” music video; Joey confirmed they were dating a few months later in a social media post on Serayah’s birthday in June 2023.
The former couple appeared to get engaged in July 2025 around the time they welcomed a child, as Serayah referred to Joey Bada$$ as her fiancé in a postpartum update post on Instagram.
On the music side, the Brooklyn native’s most recent project arrived with his Lonely at the Top mixtape in August 2025.
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