It's official! Tyler Perry and his longtime girlfriend Gelilia Bekele are no longer together.
Actor Tyler Perry announced his breakup with Gelilia through an Instagram post on 17 December 2020:
"This is what a midlife crisis looks like. I’m 51, single and wondering what the next chapter in my life will look like. Whatever it looks like I’m going to walk with God, be the best father and man I can be, hold my head up high, and try to look my best doing it!! In a world with so much sadness, please try and stay in the good! Merry Christmas and let’s look forward to 2021 bringing us peace!"
Gelila didn't have any comments regarding her split with her former boyfriend, Tyler.
A source tells PEOPLE Perry and Bekele, 34, 'amicably split some time ago and remain close friends.' The insider adds, 'Their focus is on being the best parents they can for their son.'
Tyler Perry and his ex-girlfriend Gelilia Bekele (©: people.com)
Speaking about romantic encounters, Perry and Bekele first met at a Prince concert in 2007. But it took them two years to date.
The ex-couple then welcomed their son Aman in 2014. Perry and Bekele prefer their son to stay out of the limelight and allow her son to have an everyday life.
'There’s no other person on this planet that I would want to be involved with or have a child with because she’s amazing,' the Madea creator Tyler Perry told PEOPLE in 2017, as he learned Bekele was pregnant through facetime.
When their son turned five years, Tyler Perry told his son through an interview with PEOPLE.
"Even the things that are driving me crazy. I love once he goes to sleep because he’s just at that age where he’s inquisitive about everything." This is the thing he does: ‘Can a cheetah beat a rancher? Can a cheetah beat a car? Can a cheetah beat a bird? Can a cheetah beat a leaf falling? By the time we go through all of, ‘Can a cheetah beat?’, I’m beat."
'But no, it’s just joy,' Tyler added. 'Just watching him learn and discover, and yeah, it’s wonderful.'
In an interview with PEOPLE in June 2020, Perry also described his son in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder. Perry wrote about what it means to be a black man in America and how he knew his young son would face difficulties in the future:
"The level of racism and brutality that George Floyd faced is something that we as Black people know all too well. When I saw that video, I had so many raw, guttural emotions. I felt for him and his family, I felt for all of us as black people, I felt for my five-year-old son. As I watched with tears in my eyes, it brought back a flood of years of emotions from carrying what feels like the weight of racism on my neck."
Perry added about his son Aman:
"I know that as his father, a Black man in America, it is my duty to prepare him for the harsh reality that awaits him outside of the watchful eyes of his loving parents. It will be a hard, heartbreaking conversation but one that I must have and will have soon."
While Perry might have split from Aman's mom Gelilia Bekele, they are looking forward to raising their son on a mutual agreement.