Swizz Beats and Alicia Keys may be Hollywood’s it couple now, but they were tabloid fodder in the start of their relationship. The two began dating during Beat’s divorce from his first wife, Mashonda Tifrere. In an open letter published by Vibe magazine, Tifrere accused Keys of wrecking her and Beat’s marriage, claiming she was surprised by their breakup.

Mashonda wrote via Twitter, “If you are reading this Alicia, let me start by saying, you know what you did. You know the role you played and you know how you contributed to the ending of my marriage. You know that I asked you to step back and let me handle my family issues. Issues that you helped to create… As a woman, I expected so much more from you. I never had intentions on reaching out to you this way but after reading your twits tonight, and the constant disregard, you left me no choice.”

Although Tirfire and Beats’ divorce was acrimonious, the two have remained friends and excellent co-parents over the years. Beats attributes Keys to helping in bridging the gap between him and Tifrere.

Beats admits that being the subject of tabloid stories was not easy. He claims, however, that he just chose to take the higher road.

“The heat was absolutely sizzling since a large amount of people today like to gravitate toward negativity so at any time that persons feels like they can get absent from their ache and make pleasurable of what they come to feel is your discomfort, that’s heading to often be a hell of a celebration,” he says.

Ever since, Tifrere, Beats, and Keys have collaborated on a book called Blend: The Secret to Co-Parenting and Creating a Balanced Family.

Beats has always prioritized the children involved. “We did a book on co-parenting, where was that party at? But everybody wants to throw a party when they think they [Tifere and Keys] wanna kill each other and be all negative and we have kids involved in this and we have to take the time out and go back to that word communicate and understand that everybody has their right to react. Everybody has the right to their emotions and everybody has to right to figure out how to move forward as adults and as parents.”

Tifere claims that she and Keys have formed a “sisterhood.” In 2018, Beats told People Magazine: “Mashonda and Alicia are the ultimate Krazy Glue that keeps our blending together. Women are the healers of the world.” Similar thoughts were expressed by Tifere, who said, “I commend us as women… We have tea, girl talk. She wants to know who I’m dating — it’s really cute.”

Beats says Mashonda and Keys are the leaders of their mixed family. The group spends a lot of time together.