Kehlani’s former partner, Javaughn Young-White, is requesting full custody of their 5-year-old daughter, Adeya, citing concerns that the singer is involved in a cult. According to court documents obtained by In Touch, Young-White, who ended his relationship with Kehlani in 2020, is seeking to modify their current custody arrangement and is also requesting child support.
Young-White’s filing reveals his apprehensions about Kehlani’s influence and the environment Adeya is exposed to. He asserts that Adeya stays with him while Kehlani is away, and they share custody when Kehlani is in town. However, he claims that Kehlani is scheduled to go on tour in August, and he has specific concerns that he wants addressed before her departure.
In his court filing, Young-White states, “I come to this Court due to the fact that as a father, everyone else has a bigger say in the upbringing of our daughter than I do. Adeya was born through a home birth orchestrated by what I would describe as a cult that [Kehlani] belongs to.”
Young-White also contends that Adeya’s birth was not registered in a hospital, leading to complications with adding his name to the birth certificate. He has reportedly struggled for five years to have his name included on the certificate and accuses Kehlani of withholding their daughter’s social security number from him. “Based on [Kehlani’s] actions and behavior, I am not even sure if Adeya has a social security number,” he claims.
His concerns about Kehlani’s alleged involvement in a cult have been growing over the past few years, according to his filing. Young-White alleges that this group exerts control over Kehlani’s actions and parenting decisions. He claims that the cult’s leader informed Kehlani that her ex-partner posed a threat to their daughter, leading to months during which Kehlani allegedly prevented him from seeing Adeya.
Further, Young-White describes alarming conditions related to Adeya’s care when Kehlani is on tour. He expresses concern about the alleged involvement of the cult leader, who he claims has been accused of sexual assault and performs “religious ceremonies” on Adeya in private. Young-White recounts a troubling incident on Adeya’s birthday in 2023, during which he was reportedly restrained and threatened by cult members while trying to retrieve his daughter.
In his petition, Young-White asserts that he has tried to express his concerns to Kehlani about their daughter’s living environment but has been met with online disparagement instead of a constructive response. “I have been trying to express my fear, anger, and concern to [Kehlani] about our daughter’s living environment when she is on tour and when she is with her cult, who essentially live in her home,” he writes. “However, instead of addressing my feelings, she resorts to disparaging me online to her millions of social media followers.”
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Young-White is requesting the court to formally recognize him as Adeya’s legal father and grant him full custody. He also asks that Kehlani be subjected to a psychological evaluation. In closing, he appeals to the court, saying, “I am not here to disparage [Kehlani]. However, the environment that she has created for herself is not the type of environment that a child should be living in, and therefore, I bring myself to the mercy and wisdom of the Court to save my daughter before it is too late.”
Kehlani has not yet responded publicly to these allegations or the custody request.
