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Brandy Marriage a Hoax

Singer's "ex-husband" says they never wed

July 22, 2004 12:00 AM ET
Brandy's ex-husband, music producer Robert Smith, might not be an ex-husband after all. Smith this week said that their suspicious secret wedding in July 2001 never happened.

Smith, a music producer, appeared on Wendy Williams' The Wendy Williams Experience radio show this week claiming that the couple, who had daughter Sy'rai in 2002, never tied the knot, but instead the union was cooked up by the R&B singer/actress' mother, who was hoping to preserve Brandy's wholesome image because she was pregnant with their child.

The timeline of Brandy's relationship with Smith seemed odd from the outset. She was twenty-three years old in February 2002 when they announced that they were married. "I've fallen in love with a very warm, gentle, understanding and focused person," Brandy said in a statement at the time. "This summer [2001] we married quietly. A new experience, a new day for me -- I couldn't be happier!"

The catch was that they made the announcement seven months after they allegedly held the nuptials. And just two weeks after Brandy and Smith claimed that they were married, the singer announced that she was pregnant. Sy'rai was born in July 2002 -- the birth process was shared with the nation, courtesy of the MTV reality show Diary Presents Brandy: Special Delivery -- a year after the marriage and five months after it was made public.

One year later came word that the couple had split.

Brandy has fired back with a partial defense to Smith's allegations, saying she was "hurt and shocked" by them. However, although she admitted that she and Smith's relationship was "a spiritual union" and that they had "a true commitment to each other," Brandy wouldn't confirm that they were ever legally married. The singer also accused Smith of "trying to destroy" her reputation.

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