Serayah Calls Off Joey Bada$$ Engagement, Alleging ‘Repeated Infidelity’ During Their Relationship

Serayah McNeill and Joey Bada$$ in Atlanta in September 2025.

Serayah has announced the end of her engagement to rapper and actor Joey Bada$$, saying she made the painful decision to walk away after what she described as “repeated infidelity” throughout their relationship.

The 31-year-old actress and singer, whose full name is Serayah Ranee McNeill, shared the news in a lengthy Instagram statement on Monday, Aug. 24. In the post, the Empire star said she had decided to end both her engagement and her romantic relationship with Joey Bada$$, 31, who is also the father of her child.

The former couple began dating in 2022 and welcomed a son last year.

Serayah opened her statement by explaining that she had reached a point where prioritizing herself had become necessary rather than optional.

“There comes a point in a woman’s life when choosing herself is no longer an option, it becomes necessary,” she wrote.

She explained that she had been deeply invested in the relationship and in the future she believed she and Joey were creating together.

“I loved deeply, believed wholeheartedly in the life we were building, and wanted nothing more than to protect our family,” Serayah continued.

However, she said that she eventually had to confront what she called a painful reality about the relationship.

“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 alleged.

Serayah did not provide specific details about the alleged infidelity or identify any other individuals in her statement. Instead, she emphasized that she was speaking publicly about the experience not to seek sympathy or retaliate against her former fiancé, but because she wanted other women to trust themselves when they feel something is wrong.

“I share this not for sympathy, retaliation, or to publicly tear anyone down,” she wrote. “I share it because too many women are taught to question themselves before they question what is happening right in front of them.”

She then encouraged women to pay attention to their instincts.

“If your intuition is telling you something is wrong, listen to it,” Serayah continued.

The actress also reflected on the emotional compromises people sometimes make while trying to preserve a relationship or the future they imagined for themselves.

“Don’t make yourself smaller to keep someone else comfortable,” she wrote. “Don’t compromise your values because you’re afraid of losing the future you imagined.”

Serayah added that another person’s actions should not determine someone’s sense of self-worth.

“And don’t allow someone else’s choices to become a referendum on your worth,” she said. “Love should not require you to abandon yourself.”

Despite the breakdown of their engagement, Serayah made clear that her son remains her primary concern and that she intends to protect his relationship with both parents.

“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 wrote.

Because of that, Serayah said she does not plan to publicly disclose further intimate details about what happened between her and Joey.

“For that reason, I won’t be discussing the intimate details of our relationship publicly beyond what I have shared here,” she continued.

She concluded the statement by acknowledging that the relationship did not end as she had hoped, while expressing a willingness to move forward into a new stage of her life.

“This chapter did not end the way I prayed it would,” Serayah wrote. “But endings can also be beginnings.”

A representative for Joey Bada$$ did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment regarding Serayah’s allegations.

The announcement marks a dramatic turn in a relationship that had previously been discussed publicly in affectionate terms by both stars.

Serayah and Joey first met in 2021 while attending a mutual friend’s birthday party. Joey later recalled being immediately struck by Serayah when he saw her for the first time.

Speaking to Essence last year, he described the moment as unusually memorable.

“I saw her and I remember thinking to myself, like, ‘Wow, I’ve never seen a woman so beautiful,’” Joey said.

According to the rapper, Serayah’s appearance and presence immediately caught his attention.

“She was just strikingly gorgeous, and her aura was just kind of radiating,” he continued.

Joey said he did not initially express those feelings to her and instead kept the reaction to himself.

“It was really just a silent thought,” he explained. “But it was definitely a very distinctive feeling that I’ve never felt before.”

The two eventually began dating in 2022, developing a relationship that would later become increasingly public.

Their romance also appeared to influence Joey’s views about relationships.

Before becoming serious with Serayah, the Power Book III: Raising Kanan actor had openly discussed being polyamorous. However, he later told Essence that his relationship with Serayah had caused him to reconsider what kind of romantic dynamic he wanted.

“It definitely shifted, and the dynamic that I wanted changed,” he said.

Serayah McNeill and Joey Bada$$ in East Rutherford, New Jersey in June 2026.

Joey explained that he had moved toward monogamy while still respecting people who choose different relationship structures.

“So I’m very much monogamous now, and I don’t discourage or disagree with anybody going after polyamory or whatever if that’s what you want to do,” he said. “But this is where I’m at now and this is where I feel secure.”

The couple later expanded their family, welcoming a son last year. Their engagement and transition into parenthood appeared to signal an increasingly serious commitment between them.

That made Serayah’s Aug. 24 announcement particularly significant. Her statement indicates that, despite the family they had built together and the plans she believed they shared, she ultimately concluded that remaining in the relationship was no longer consistent with her values or emotional well-being.

At the same time, Serayah carefully separated the end of their romantic relationship from their responsibilities as parents. She made it clear that whatever happened between the adults, she wants their son to maintain privacy, stability and meaningful relationships with both his mother and father.

For now, Joey has not publicly responded to the allegations outlined in Serayah’s statement.

Serayah, meanwhile, appears determined to keep additional details private. Rather than continuing a public discussion about the circumstances surrounding the breakup, she framed the end of the engagement as both a difficult conclusion and an opportunity to begin another chapter.

After meeting in 2021, becoming a couple in 2022, welcoming a child and eventually becoming engaged, Serayah and Joey Bada$$ are now moving forward separately as romantic partners while remaining connected through their son.