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Colombian singer Shakira assures that she is in “one of the most difficult and darkest hours” of her life and that there is no place where she can hide from photographers with her children, in addition to highlighting that, for her, writing music is “like going to the psychiatrist,” her “castaway table.”
In an interview published by Elle Spain magazine, Shakira (Barranquilla, Colombia, 1977), who divorced this summer from Spanish soccer player Gerard Piqué, with whom she has two children, recalls that her ex-partner “wanted to play soccer and win titles” and she had to support him.
“Either he would leave his contract with Barcelona (his team) and move to the United States with me, where my career is, or I would have to do that instead,” she explains.
And so, she continued, one of us had to make that effort and that sacrifice. “And I did. I put my career on the back burner and came to Spain to support him so he could play soccer and win titles. And it was an act of love,” he emphasizes.
“Regardless of how things ended or how Gerard and I feel as an ex-couple, he is the father of my children. We have a job to do for these two incredible children, and I have faith that we will figure out what is best for their future and the right solution for everyone. And I would hope and appreciate it if you would give us the space to do it privately,” she says.
But, she adds, “There is no place where I can hide from photographers with my children except in my own home. We can’t take a walk in the park like a normal family or go for ice cream or do any activity without being followed.”
The singer rejected the agreement offered to her by the Spanish Prosecutor’s Office to avoid being tried for defrauding the tax authorities of 14.5 million euros and decided to go to trial for tax fraud, given that she is “fully confident” of her innocence, as well as being “a matter of principle.”
“Even without evidence to support these fictitious claims, they have resorted to a lewd press campaign to try to influence people and exert pressure on the media along with the threat of reputational damage to force settlement agreements,” he stresses.
And she assures that “it is well known that the Spanish tax authorities often do this not only with well-known people” like her or the soccer players Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar or Xabi Alonso, “but it also happens unfairly with other anonymous taxpayers.”
She points out about her profession that writing music is like going to the psychiatrist, “only cheaper,” and it helps her to heal.
