Skylar Grey was forced to sell her song catalogue in order to pay for her divorce.
The singer-songwriter, real name Holly Brook Hafermann, is known for co-writing Eminem and Rihanna’s 2010 single, Love the Way You Lie, and for providing guest vocals on tracks by Nicki Minaj, Dr. Dre, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, and Macklemore.
But in a new interview for Variety, Grey revealed that she ended up selling her songs in order to pay for the divorce settlement.
“Since 2017, I was going through a divorce and lawsuit, that was just wrecking me emotionally and financially. This past year, 2021, we finally resolved it, settled, I had to sell my catalogue in order to afford the settlement, which was very sad in a way, because those songs like Love The Way You Lie and Coming Home, those are my babies,” she commented. “But at the same time, nobody can tell me I didn’t write those songs just ’cause I don’t own the rights to them anymore. I didn’t want to sell them, but it was my only way to put the past behind me…”
The star remained tight-lipped about her ex-husband but was reported to be wed to Todd Mandel in 2017.
Grey added that she has had such a “weight” lifted off of her since finalising the divorce and is focused on promoting her upcoming self-titled album.
“I’m not on the phone with lawyers every day, and I’m not having to pay all these legal bills anymore. Now I’m just focused on creating a new catalogue and new money and new opportunities,” the 36-year-old added.