Details on Tyrese Gibson’s Messy Custody Battle With Ex-Wife Norma Mitchell

January 2009

Tyrese and Norma filed for divorce back in Oct. 2008, but the following January, Norma filed additional court papers to modify their custody arrangement. At the time, she claimed Tyrese was an absentee-father who didn’t support her or their daughter.

August 2017

Norma accused Tyrese of abusing their daughter on Aug. 19, alleging the actor "pushed our daughter to the ground, pinned her face down, put his knees on her back, grabbed her hands with one arm and beat her with the other."

The 36-year-old — who was married to Tyrese from 2007 to 2009 — alleged her ex hit Shayla "between 12 and 16 times," leading the child to allegedly later tell her mother. "Mom, Dad beat me so hard that it hurts when I sit down."

September 2017

In court documents obtained by PEOPLE, physical and legal custody of Shayla was temporarily granted to Norma, while ordering the "Signs of Love Makin'" singer to stay 100 yards away from both of them, including Norma's home.

In a lengthy Sept. 13 Instagram post, he wrote, "All I wanna do is co/parent nothing else…… Please…. Stick and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt…… I've only prayed that your heart heals and we live our lives separately and peacefully on behalf of our daughter…… There's someone out here for everybody – Norma I know you can see this, I'm sorry I got re-married, I'm sorry we didn't work out…… Sometimes you get married and have kids and things just don't work out, but I have NEVER wished harm on you……. But I see the attacks just won't stop so I believe this too will pass and God and the courts will reveal the truth….. I want you to know I still love you and wish you the best in all that you're looking to do… I just simply wanna co-parent and raise Shayla to be a respectful, decent, smart angel that I know she is… Paint your picture but God knows the truth…… if I was a bad dad I wouldn't of went from 80/20 to 70/30 to 60/40 to 50/50 custody in my favor…… All of the honorable fathers and parents out here keep fighting the good fight you may embarrassed at times but in the end the kids will always run into the arms of the ones who really has their backs in a great father not because I'm famous with money but because I am – that's my story and I'm sticking to it…. More truths coming soon……. Child custody family issues are the worst……."

October 2017

Tyrese violated his temporary restraining order on Oct. 24 when he hired a plane to fly a banner directed at his 10-year-old daughter that read, "No matter what, daddy loves you Shayla." A few days later, Norma admitted to sending Tyrese a text message stating that she wanted to have his fingers cut off. A judge granted Tyrese permission to visit his daughter for the first time in two months for a monitored visit of six hours. Yet based on his emotional breakdown on Nov. 1, it doesn't appear that visit ever happened.

November 2017

On Nov. 2, Tyrese told his fans he was fine, despite his emotional plea. "Contrary to what some of y'all believe, I'm actually ok," he said in an Instagram video.