It was a year and a half of crying myself to sleep every night. You know, nobody sees that. Yeah, nobody sees that. You know, like, you live five minutes away from your babies, you know what I’m saying? Because people who know Cory Hardrict know that his kids and his family were everything to him. Damn, Cory Hardrict is finally opening up about his divorce from Tia. And while it looks like the divorce really devastated him, a lot of people are saying that it’s too late to appreciate Tia now because he had his chance and he completely blew it. But does he really feel like Tia took everything from him? And what has he said about Tia supposedly moving on? And what do they say? Stella got her groove back; it’s like Tia got her groove back.
So, Cory was at the American Black Film Festival when he shared some of his challenges of being a private person and working through his pain and trauma after Tia filed for divorce. You know, it’s tough when it feels like you’re going through something alone and no one understands, and, you know, no one’s there for you. And it’s just like, you know, you’re a man, especially a black man. He actually said that he cried for over a year after Tia filed for divorce because his family was literally everything to him. So, after more than a decade of marriage and nearly two as a couple, Cory implied the post-split period was painful for him, but it seemingly showed him that he’s stronger than he thought he was. You know what I’m saying? So, it’s like I’m stronger than I thought I was. Yeah, I’m really stronger, and that, by the grace of God, by the grace of God, it’s like I’m here, and I’m still going.
Now, just for a bit of background about how we even got here, in October 2022, Tia confirmed via Instagram that she and Cory had separated after 14 years of marriage by telling her followers, “I have always been honest with my fans, and today is no different. I wanted to share that Cory and I have decided to go our separate ways. These decisions are never easy and not without sadness.” She also filed for divorce in Los Angeles, citing irreconcilable differences as the reason for their split and asked a judge for joint custody of their son and daughter.
In June 2023, Tia then gave additional context about the reason she filed for divorce, and she said that she’d been considering the split for about five years. She also said that despite loving the role of a wife, tradition didn’t allow for the constant nature of change. “I knew when I really started to focus on my happiness. I feel like women, we tend to focus on everybody else’s happiness, making sure that everybody else is okay—meaning our children, meaning, you know, our children, our friends, our, you know, family.”
According to Tia, after some family deaths, she attended therapy and started questioning her peace and happiness, and ultimately she decided that choosing herself was best for her and her babies, Cree and Cairo. “There was just an ‘aha’ moment in me where I said, you know what, you need to tap in, see what’s really going on with your happiness. Life is short, let’s go, let’s start working on you and really focusing on what really, really matters here, which is, at the end of the day, your peace, your joy, and your happiness.”
Well, we have people responding to these comments by saying that the real reason why Tia filed for divorce was because she was tired of pulling the weight, especially financially, in the marriage. In fact, we had people saying that she should have seen that Cory only dated her because she was already super rich when they met on the set of “Sister, Sister.” And this is where they were coming from: You see, Cory had been granted an unemployment check by the state of California by the time he was meeting Tia, but allegedly the state later discovered that he wasn’t eligible and asked for the money back. And when they didn’t receive it, they filed a case against Cory.
Now, I’m not sure whether Cory disclosed that information to Tia or not when they started dating, but according to most people, that is one of the indicators that Cory only wanted to be with Tia for her money. And over the years, Tia excused Cory by saying that gender roles did not matter in their household. “We don’t focus on, you know, specific gender roles, meaning the women should just do one thing and then the men should just do one thing. It’s a team effort at our house.”
But after filing for divorce, Tia herself alleged that she was tired of being the breadwinner. When TikToker Lee Hammock created a scenario surrounding a couple where one is happy to pay the bills together and the other is using a manipulative tactic to get out of paying bills, and she liked the post:
“I’m so happy we live together. I’m excited to pay our first bill.”
“You know the rent’s due, right?”
“Who on Earth is excited to pay bills? And what do you mean, ‘together’? You live here, so you’re not going to pay?”
“Wait, what? So, what would you do if I wasn’t living here with you?”
“I would pay the rent and all the bills.”
“Exactly, so why do you need me to pay the rent and the bills if you can do it by yourself?”
“It was your idea to move in together.”
“So you’re not going to help pay any bills?”
“You know I’m in between jobs, you know I done put in five applications.”
“Then why’d you move in with me?”
“So, wow, you’re going to kick me out? I thought you loved me.”
“Love don’t keep the lights on.”
“But love keeps our relationship on. Is that not worth anything to you?”
“It’s worth something to me, but I’ll have a job within the next 6 to 12 months.”
“Six to twelve months? What am I supposed to do till then?”
“Do what you do if I wasn’t here, duh. You said it earlier.”
Was she trying to tell fans that they were right all along about Cory doing the bare minimum and only sticking around because of her money? I don’t know. To make matters worse, Tia’s initial divorce filing claiming the two were divorcing due to irreconcilable differences was contested by Cory, and he even asked the court to terminate Tia’s right to spousal support while asking his right to seek spousal support from Tia. In addition, he wanted the courts to determine the validity of their prenuptial agreement, and that only made more people say Cory wanted to cash out. Well, they somehow came to the agreement that she should not have to pay spousal support, and the divorce papers also noted that they had no community assets, which meant that whatever Tia acquired on her own remained solely hers, and whatever Cory acquired on his own remained solely his.
Now, other than the money situation, followers also pointed out how uninterested Cory always seemed, even when they did interviews together. For instance, there’s this interview where Tia was talking about how she literally couldn’t live without Cory, and Cory was just looking bored.
“He’s like a part of my body, you know what I mean? It’s like, you know, it’s like I can’t even visualize myself, you know, without Cory.”
Then there’s how Tia talked about how she had to schedule her lovemaking with Cory. She actually revealed on the “What to Expect” podcast that becoming parents had made spontaneous hookups less of a possibility and strongly defended how they scheduled their intimacy. And do you know how they even managed to spend less and less time together? Tia allowed her kids to sleep with them in their marital bed, and apparently Cory was okay with that.
“My one-year-old is still in my bed. So, my one-year-old, ever since she was born, was always in our bed, and my son was in our bed till he was four.”
“What’s everybody else think about that?”
“My husband’s fine with it.”
“If he was not fine with it, maybe we would have to have a discussion.”
“Yes, but he is so cool with it.”
So, it was things like these that made people say that Cory didn’t appreciate Tia enough, and now that they are over, it’s too late for him to be saying how his family meant everything to him. On the other hand, Tia is living her best life in solitude. But at the end of the day, it’s about self-love. And when you start to really work on yourself, love yourself, know your value, know your worth, then all of a sudden there’s this awakening. It’s not easy; it’s a hard journey, but at the end of the day, I feel like it is so, so worth it.
Anyway, Cory was also at the BET Awards recently, and he gave more insight about how he’s been holding up. First of all, shout out to him for being an involved dad because we love present dads over here.
“I mean, that’s my number one guy, that’s my son, my firstborn. I would have brought my daughter too, but she’s too young. Yeah, so we, Cree, we love you. Yes, Cree, Daddy loves you.”
He also talked about how he’s dealing with the divorce and once again said that it’s by the grace of God that he’s come this far.
“God’s grace and a lot of patience and just being still, you know what I’m saying? And just leading by example, you know what I’m saying? I’m just very determined and inspired just to keep moving forward and, you know, taking care of my beautiful children, and everything is fine. Everyone loves everybody, you know what I’m saying? We’re one big happy family. We’re still a family, everything is great.”
Then, while talking about working through the next steps of his life and career and how he stays positive through all the noise, he said,
“I stay still and just do the work, you know. A lot of praying, meditating, and I just stay out of the way and block the noise. I’m just walking in purpose, that’s all. I’m excited.”
You know, it’s interesting that Tia was also at the BET Awards and she was interviewed right after Cory and Cree were interviewed.
“I’m encouraging people to be courageous and strong as they go through transitions in life, whether it’s a divorce, whether it’s a change in a job, a loss, whatever. And if I can be that source of inspiration, then I feel like I am doing what I’m supposed to be doing.”
Well, according to fans, the only time they remember seeing Tia there was when BET picked up “The Game,” so she had to be there with her cast. A lot of people actually feel like she went this year because Cory was there. But do you think she actually went there because Cory would be there? Child, for me, it’s Cory promoting a movie called “Divorce in the Black” while Tia is in the crowd. BET, y’all are shady. Anyway, this divorce still has people talking, with some people saying that Cory deserves better and other people saying that Tia deserved better. But what’s your honest opinion? Did Tia really leave Cory for no good reason? Did she deserve better than him? Is Cory the one who deserves better? Drop those thoughts in the comments section below.
