It’s been a little over two and a half years since Toni Braxton and her ex-husband, former Mint Condition group member Keri Lewis, had their highly-heated public conflict over their divorce arrangement in December 2018. We’ll recap that in a sec’…but for now, it was just cool to see the two former lovebirds recently (and peacefully) reunite for the celebration of their youngest son, Diezel’s, high school graduation.

On Saturday, June 5 2021, eighteen-year-old Diezel Braxton-Lewis made the transition to high school graduate as his famous parents beamed with pride. Toni and Keri took to social media to praise their son’s accomplishment with loving posts. Their nineteen-year-old son, Denim Braxton-Lewis, was also there supporting his lil’ bro.’ Check them out below…

Toni shared the following graduation photos of herself with Diezel and Denim. In her caption, she announced Diezel’s upcoming college plans:

“Congratulations @diezel.braxton! Mom is so proud of you. 💜 Howard University here he comes!”

 

 

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A post shared by Toni Braxton (@tonibraxton)

Keri Lewis also shared pics with their sons, captioning his photos with:

“Congratulations young King!! Words can not describe how proud of you I am @diezel.braxton!! Howard University next!!”

 

 

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A post shared by Keri Lewis (@_keri_lewis_)

When Diezel was much younger, Toni Braxton went public with his diagnosis of autism, becoming an advocate for the fight to bring awareness to the condition. Years later in 2016 Toni happily announced that Diezel “overcame” autism and has now flourished in many ways, including socially, emotionally, and academically. So it’s beautiful to see Diezel out here doing his thing not only as a college bound young broth, but also as a professional model. Now, onto his parents’ past public dispute…

Recap Of The “B**c*h” Feud Between Toni And Keri

In case y’all missed our prior report on the public beef between Toni Braxton and Keri Lewis, here’s what we reported in December 2018…

Toni Braxton stirred up all kinds of emotions after her interview with her best friend, Jada Pinkett-Smith, on “Red Table Talk.” In particular, she caught flack over her comments about her ex-husband of 12 years/former Mint Condition member, Keri Lewis. They divorced in 2012 and the details of what transpired afterwards are what Toni went clean off about in her interview. She even went as far as to liken Keri to a “b–ch.”

Toni Braxton to Jada P. Smith:

“My husband became my boyfriend and we were attempting to salvage the relationship again, we were hopeful,’ she said. ‘We dated for a good year and a half, almost two years after we got a divorce. Like immediately. I know it sounds crazy, right?”

“I hated being divorced. I hated everything about it. I hated having to surrender to the loss. Everyone’s like,’you have to accept it at this stage.’ I feel like I lost, I’m waving the white flag.

Yes, I had to pay alimony. I was one of those girls. There’s a couple of us that I know. There’s me, there’s Brittany (Spears), Halle (Berry), Mary (J. Blige) allegedly. I was very very angry about that, but it was because we had an existing prenup and post-nup.”

Toni says she understood why Keri should’ve received, but she was still pissed:

“[I was angry] because I wanted to reneg. I’m gonna be honest. I thought he should say ‘no.’ … I went through this phase of, ‘oooh, men are the new b**ches!’ That’s how I felt. That’s what I was so angry about. “

Days later, the typically private Keri Lewis took to Instagram to blast his ex, Toni, for referencing him to being a b**ch and for playing the victim in the alimony scenario:

“I feel the need to address and shed light on the matter, as the impression is being made that I came for her finances and/or wasn’t there for Toni.”

Keri says prior to their wedding, it was Toni’s attorneys who “suggested” she get a prenup, but he didn’t get an attorney because of ‘his love for her,’ thinking they’d last forever. By 2012, he moved out and Toni reportedly told him to get alimony payments. He received them from 2012 to 2014. But here’s what seems to have really pissed him off:

“We are raising two sons and it can NEVER be to the degree of her referencing ME as a b**ch.. that’s a problem! I’m definitely open for the discussion on women paying alimony to men, and vice versa…every situation is different,” wrote Keri.

Hopefully, Toni and Keri are truly in a happier co-parenting space these days and weren’t just frontin’ for the cameras at their son’s graduation. However, even if they were it’s still good they could put their potential differences to the side for a few hours for the sake of their two young kings.

The post Years After Heated Public Feud, Toni Braxton And Ex-Husband Celebrate At Son’s Graduation appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

We all know the Braxton family is filled with talent, but Toni Braxton’s and Keri Lewis’ (formerly of Mint Condition) son, Diezel is proving the Braxton ladies aren’t the only ones makin’ moves. According to BCK Online, the Grammy Award-winning singer’s youngest son just inked a major deal that will likely open many doors for his career.

Welcome To Wilhelmina:

On June 29, Toni took to Instagram with a photo of her son, to congratulate him on his new modeling contract with Wilhelmina Modeling Agency. “Congrats Diezy @diezel.braxton on signing to Wilhelmina Modeling Agency!!!” Toni wrote. For those who don’t know, Wilhelmina is a very big deal. Many of the world’s most notable beauty and fashion brands have turned to Wilhelmina for models. So Diezel is well on his way to solidifying his career in the modeling world. However, the latest milestone is bigger than modeling for his mother as it has a deeper significance.

Embed from Getty Images

Overcoming Obstacles:

The latest news about Diezel follows a string of reports where Toni has spoken about her son’s autism. When she became an ambassador for Autism Speaks, she began raising awareness about autism. During a past discussion about her son’s condition, she credited early diagnosis to 100 Day Tool Kit from Autism Speaks for her son’s development. “I remember the signs: like no eye contact, very little communication, just little things and I said ‘hmm,'” Toni recalled.

“Autism Speaks is the first organization that reached out to me and said, ‘Look. These are the tools that you need to get your baby on the right track.'” In her memoir, she admitted there were times when she blamed herself for her son’s autism. “As a parent you always feel, was there something I could have done differently. But what I’ve come to understand through my friends at Autism Speaks, is there is nothing wrong with our babies, and it’s nothing you’ve done or you could have done differently, it’s just what the situation is.”

https://youtu.be/qTsTeIGqa7c

Over the years, Diezel has had his share of obstacles with autism and Toni has also revealed how her son has evolved. Not only has Diezel been involved in modeling, he’s also done acting work and even appeared in the Lifetime film Twist of Faith with his mother. Toni revealed Diezel, who was 9 at the time, was supposed to have a larger role in the film portraying the role of her son, but school and other obstacles prohibited him from starring in the film. Even then, he was making progress with autism.

“He was supposed to play my son initially but by the time we worked out the shooting schedule, school had started,” Braxton said of 9-year-old Diezel. (She also has an 11-year-old named Denim.) “Even though he’s considered high functioning right now, he wasn’t in the past, and that’s why I thought him carrying the movie and trying to do the movie and tutoring would have been too much for him,” the 45-year-old singer said.

https://instagram.com/p/BjdXXRcHJSu/

During a previous interview with Essence magazine, Toni explained how things have gotten much better for her son. Back in 2016, Toni revealed Diezel no longer shows signs of autism. “As everyone knows, my son Diezel suffers from – or I should say suffered from autism,” Toni revealed. “He [has] no signs of autism,” she added.

Congratulations to Diezel!

The post Son Of Toni Braxton & Mint Condition’s Keri Lewis Inks Major Deal In A Career No One Expected appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Keri and Toni’s marriage technically lasted for 13 years, but they separated by the 8 year mark in 2009. After separating, it seemed like there was hope for reconciliation, because they took hella long to go through with their divorce – 4 more years to be exact- and they were still very close. But they decided to make their divorce official in 2013. Now that they’ve moved on with their lives, new details behind some of the drama that took place behind the scenes have surfaced.

For years, there had been whispers that Keri’s former band members were pissed off when Keri married Toni Braxton. Now, Mint Condition’s lead singer, Stokley Williams, has confirmed that the group members were so heated, that all of them (except Stokley) refused to attend Toni’s and Keri’s wedding. They weren’t being petty for no reason though, after hearing what Stokley revealed, they had a good reason to be.

In an interview with Vlad TV, Stokley revealed that Keri and Toni B. met when they were an opening act for her back in the day. Everything was all good, until a short while later, Keri told them he’d fallen in love with Toni and therefore was saying ‘Peace out’ to the group…forever. Wow…Ms. Braxton must be a helluva woman to make a brotha decide to give up his ENTIRE career, just sayin.’

Anywho, not only did Keri’s sudden departure sting his group members -because they were like family and felt betrayed- it also briefly affected the fate of the group’s future. According to Stokley, after Keri split quicker than we could say “Unbreak my heart,” it caused Mint Condition’s signature live band sound to change.

Their fans apparently didn’t adapt as quickly to that change and it showed in record sales at that time. Therefore, their outrage was understandable, because y’all already know- family or not- when somebody messes with one’s livelihood, it does NOT sit too well in one’s soul. In fact, it’ll make a person wanna reach out and touch somebody- and not in the way that Diana meant it.

After all of the drama, Stokley ended up attending the wedding because he still wanted represent for his Mint Condition brotha on his big day.

These days, we’re not sure if the other Mint Condition members have completely forgiven Keri Lewis after kicking them to the curb for Toni Braxton. However, now that Keri and Toni are divorced, I wonder if Keri now regrets giving up everything for his ex. One thing’s for sure, Toni is happy and crazy in love with her fiancee,’ Birdman, so there probably are no regrets on her end.

The post Mint Condition’s Stokely Exposes Why They Were Pissed When Group Member Married Toni Braxton appeared first on I Love Old School Music.