Alicia Keys has insisted that she didn't start dating current husband Swizz Beatz until after he split from his ex-wife Mashonda Tifrere.
There was a lot of controversy surrounding her new relationship with Beatz - real name Kasseem Dean - last year, when only after 3 months of being divorced from his wife, Alicia were married and expecting their first child.
But the songstress claims they didn't start seeing each other until Beatz split with his wife:
"We didn't start seeing each other until months after they had separated. I was aware of all the false things that were being said about me, it definitely hurt."
Alicia added that she didn't speak about her relationship to the press because she knew a slagging match would begin:
"I was sure that if I engaged it would become back-and-forth like some sick entertainment, which goes against everything I believe and would have made things worse."She also revealed that Beatz' relationship with his ex-wife and son Kassem Jr has improved and she's happy about that:
"Things are really good now. Kasseem is very present in his children's lives. I wouldn't be able to love him otherwise."
Keys and Beatz welcomed their own child, a son named Egypt Daoud Ibarr, last October.
