Highlights
- Brenda Harvey-Richie shows love for all of Lionel Richie’s children, even though only one is biologically hers.
- Lionel Richie and Brenda had a bitter divorce after an altercation with his mistress, but they are now on good terms.
- Lionel later had two children with his affair partner, and Brenda has a close relationship with them as well.
Lionel Richie is famous for his music, but for a time, he was infamous instead for his troubled personal relationships. An early-career marriage to Brenda Harvey-Richie helped Lionel top the charts, and the two started a family together. But not long after, Lionel made headlines for a reported affair, which even led to his then-wife getting arrested.
Their marriage didn’t end immediately, but after it did, fans were surprised to learn about Lionel’s first wife’s relationships with his children.
Brenda Harvey-Richie Is Close With All Of Her Ex’s Kids (And Only One Is Hers)
Brenda regularly shows off her kids on Instagram (but they’re not all hers)
Looking at Brenda Harvey-Richie’s Instagram, fans will see photos of everyone Brenda loves: Nicole Richie, Sofia Richie, her goddaughter, and even some famous faces like Michael Jackson.
The ‘catch,’ of course, is that the only child she’s the parent of is Nicole Richie. Nicole is Brenda Harvey-Richie’s only child, whom she adopted with Lionel Richie back in the ’80s.
Nicole was placed with Lionel and Brenda when her biological mother, Karen Moss, could no longer care for her. The adoption wasn’t finalized until Nicole was nine, but it seems as if she was with the Richies full-time since she was about four, according to quotes from Lionel.
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Nicole Richie hasn’t spoken about her biological mother much but did reveal that she wanted to reach out when pregnant with her first child. Since then, however, Richie hasn’t made many comments on the matter — and publicly, she’s all about her adopted mom and showing love for Brenda.
Only knowing the story of Nicole’s adoption and, by all accounts, happy childhood with Brenda and Lionel, there was so much more going on behind the scenes, making it very surprising that Brenda Harvey-Richie is close with all of Lionel’s kids today.
Lionel Richie And Brenda Harvey-Richie Had An Acrimonious Split When Their Daughter Was 10
Lionel and Brenda divorced after an altercation with his mistress
Lionel Richie and Brenda Harvey-Richie might be on good terms today, but it wasn’t always that way. About a year after Nicole’s adoption was apparently finalized, the two had a bitter spat and wound up divorcing.
The story goes that Brenda discovered Lionel was cheating on her with Diane Alexander. At the time, in 1988, Brenda made headlines for apparently assaulting Lionel, trespassing, and disturbing the peace, among other charges.
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Lionel and Brenda divorced in 1993, and he went on to marry Diane Alexander in 1995 — but their son Miles arrived in 1994. Their daughter Sofia followed in 1998, and six years later, Diane and Lionel would also divorce.
Brenda never remarried after splitting from Lionel, but she seems quite happy with her chosen family — including Lionel’s other children.
Lionel Richie Went On To Have Two Children With His Affair Partner
Lionel later married Diane Alexander and they had Sofia and Miles together
Things are very different for Brenda Harvey-Richie today than they were back in the ’80s and ’90s. For one thing, she hasn’t had a bad word to say about Lionel in years, keeping something of a low profile and turning down media deals.
While Brenda’s demeanor is surprising given what Lionel apparently put her through, there seems to be a good reason for it: Brenda loves her ex’s kids. Along with gushing about her daughter Nicole, Brenda also posts on social media about her ex’s two kids, calling herself “Mama B” when writing about Sofia and wishing her and Nicole a happy “National Daughter’s Day.”
Commenters routinely shower Brenda with praise for being an “inspiration,” while Sofia Richie herself replied to her dad’s former wife’s post by saying “Love you so much.”
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Fans might feel like they need to fact-check after seeing Brenda’s birthday post to Sofia, where she wrote, “Happy 25th Birthday to my beautiful Virgo twin daughter. I love you so much and I am blessed to have you. ❤️🎂🎁🎊🎉@sofiarichiegrainge”
But it’s true: Brenda is very close with her ex’s two kids from his affair partner and now-ex-wife. Commenters are right to be impressed with how Brenda handled the situation, and clearly, things changed after those difficult headlines back in 1988.
Notably, Brenda doesn’t post much about Miles, but that hardly suggests she’s not close with him, too. Unlike his sisters, Miles is not in the public eye much, though Miles’ mom Diane does post about him on Instagram.
It’s unclear whether Diana and Brenda are on better terms today than they were a few decades ago, but both reportedly attended Sofia Richie’s extravagant wedding to Elliot Grainge.
Either way, the three Richie kids are clearly not short on loving relationships, even if their moms aren’t BFFs.
Source: NewsFinale
