Public Enemy hypeman turned reality TV star Flavor Flav (William Drayton, Jr.) will soon answer charges that he owes $63,458.00 in back child support to the mother of three of his children.
According to the Albany County Child Support Collection Division, Mary Parker originally had an agreement in place since 1996 that covered the former couple's two children at the time. However, Parker moved to have the agreement amended in July 2008 after the birth of a third child.
She was successful with an appeal last month, and a judge ordered Flavor Flav’s weekly payment of $117 increased to $837.72, along with requirements to cover private school tuition fees dating back to the original 2008 amendment filing.
Flav, who celebrates his 51st birthday next month, explained that he will contest the order on the grounds that he’s made payments to his children’s mother beyond the court decreed amount.
"The judgment is recent as I was just made aware of it," Flav stated to the NY Post. "I'll certainly be addressing it. However, I've made payments on my children's tuition, and have made direct payment to the mother outside of the court order."
Since finding success on several VH1 reality shows (Surreal Life, Strange Love, Flavor of Love) in the mid 2000s, Flavor Flav has been attacked by several family members for alleged financial abandonment.
In January 2009, a daughter accused him of bring a bad parent for reneging on a promise to pay for her final semester of college, and only seeing her one week out the year.
Karen Ross-Fortunate, another mother of three of Flav’s children, went public in stating the Public Enemy member did not financially support his children, in particular their eldest son’s college tuition expenses.
Flav has seven children, the last being a boy named Karma born in 2007.
At press time, Flavor Flav’s Albany County child support case does not have a court date.
