Jay-Z has said therapy with his wife Beyoncé helped them get through his failings as a husband.
“I want to have the emotional tools that it takes to keep my family together,” the rapper told David Letterman in the latest episode of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction. “I have a beautiful wife who was understanding and who knew I'm not the worst of what I've done.”
Jay-Z said he and Beyoncé sought counselling. “We love each other, so we really put in the work for years,” he said.
“I like to believe we're in a better place today. I'm proud of the father and the husband that I am today.”
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In the same interview, Jay-Z opened up about making peace with his father Adnis Reeves, who abandoned he and his three siblings as children.
Jay-Z said Reeves’ was obsessed with finding the person who killed his brother.
“Someone would call and say, 'I just seen the guy who killed your brother,’” he recalled. “He would get up from his bed – his bed with his children – and he would take his gun, and he'd leave the house.”
Jay-Z said his mother urged Reeves to focus on his family at home.
“She didn't have the language that she needed to speak to him, like 'We love you. We don't want to lose you, as well,’” he said. "Her fear came out almost like an ultimatum to him. ... That kinda like splintered their relationship. From there, he was in deep pain, started using heroin, and things like that.”
Jay-Z said he’s learned to have compassion for his father.