Family Matters Actor Darius McCrary Ordered to Pay $29 Monthly In Child Support, After Receiving “Low-Income Adjustment” According To Court Documents

Family Matters was one of the most beloved sitcoms on television in the 90s.  The show centered around the Winslow family who lived in Chicago dealing with various situations, including their nerdy neighbor “Steve Urkel” played by actor Jaleel White. The show would run for nine seasons, becoming the second-longest-running non-animated U.S. sitcom with a predominantly African-American cast.

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Out of the show’s cast, actor Darius McCrary, who played the role of Eddie Winslow, has been active since the show has gone off the air in 1998.  Outside of different walk-on roles on television shows like Girlfriends, Moesha, and Minority Report, McCrary has starred in various tv shows as well as movies, keeping himself busy.  

The Family Matters star also had major roles in films such as Kingdom Come, Next Day Air, the horror film Saw VI, and 35 & Ticking amongst others.  The actor also played the voice of “Jazz” in the summer blockbuster Transformers in 2007.  Most recently, McCrary has been seen as well in major television roles such as Star, Monogamy (which he also serves as executive producer), and BET’s American Soul.

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On the outside looking in, it would seem as though the actor’s life was pretty solid.  However, as the years went on, negative publicity would begin to surround him, particularly in his family life.  He’s been married three times and divorced just as many.  First, he was married to Juliette M. Vann in 2005, but their marriage would last for only a year, divorcing in 2006.  

Following his union to Vann, the Transformers actor met and fell in love with once-popular video vixen and best-selling author, Karrine Steffans (aka “Supah*ad) in 2009.  Their marriage would prove to be extremely troublesome and multiple reports of domestic violence would emerge. He spoke with Vlad TV on their rocky relationship. 

“Everyone was so shocked when I walked into the room with her,” the Young And The Restless star recalled. “Whoa. She was lookin’ hot. She’s a gorgeous woman. She’s beautiful, I mean she’s amazing in so many ways. What attracted me to Karrine wasn’t her body, it was her mind. So you put that kind of mind into that kind of body and it’s dangerous. We fell in love, man, we were headed 95 going south on the interstate. It was amazing.” 

Not long after the two married, court documents were filed in Los Angeles claiming that McCrary choked his ex-wife from behind as well as beat her with a belt during a heated argument, while her then 12-year-old son witnessed.  The documents also claimed that months later more tumultuous behavior would occur at the Sun Marquis Hotel in Los Angeles as many witnesses viewed the actor choke her and shoved her into a car.  Just short of meeting a year of marriage, the couple would divorce, while he was ordered to stay at least 100 yards away from her via a restraining order.  

“At the time, I wasn’t aware that beautiful women are like exotic cars,” he also said in the interview. “They take a lot of maintenance. You take a Rolls Royce, the brake job is ten thousand dollars alone. You can’t just run a Rolls Royce if you’re not expecting to pay for that brake job. It was a very expensive and tumultuous situation and it’s pretty much the reason why I don’t drive a Rolls Royce.”

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A post shared by Tammy Brawner (@tamstunna) on Sep 13, 2020 at 3:17pm PDT

His next marriage was to former Harlem Globetrotter, Tammy Brawner.  The two married in 2014 and lasted for 3 years until divorcing in 2017.  Reports surfaced via TMZ that Brawner made several claims against McCrary labeling him “violent, destructive and unstable emotionally.”  Court documents were also filed that he also “uses drugs and drinks heavily on a regular basis.”  Brawner was also granted a temporary restraining order against McCrary and according to The Wrap, after she attempted to leave him while she was eight months pregnant with their daughter Zoey, he threw a cell phone at her.  

In a highly shocking allegation towards the actor, Brawner made claims that when Zoey was around eight or nine months old, he “held [our daughter] over a hot stove with boiling water going,” also alleging that he said he “wished he didn’t have her.”  McCrary’s lawyer stated to TMZ that she “is a predator motivated by a desperate desire to extort money out of Mr. McCrary while trying to create an advantage in an impending divorce and custody battle.”  However, upon receiving news of the statement, Brawner fired back in a post on social media.  

“I have no reason to lie on ANYONE about ANYTHING,” she wrote. “And trust and believe, I DID NOT contact the media. I haven’t posted ONE thing about these matters on social media as I’ve tried to handle it privately and gracefully. However, these documents, unfortunately, are public record and were obviously attained. I have a duty to protect her and myself. #MuchLove #ZoeysMom.”

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I have no reason to lie on ANYONE about ANYTHING. And trust and believe, I DID NOT contact the media. I haven’t posted ONE thing about these matters on social media as I’ve tried to handle it privately and gracefully. However, these documents, unfortunately, are public record and were obviously attained. The guilty always respond guilty. I post my daughter ALL the time. I love her, I am proud of her, and I’m happy God chose me to be her mother. With that being said, I have a duty to protect her and myself. #MuchLove #ZoeysMom

A post shared by Tammy Brawner (@tamstunna) on Feb 22, 2017 at 5:20pm PST

The ex-couple would become embroiled in a volatile divorce battle for 2 years.  During the process, it was revealed that the actor had fallen on some seriously rough times since working on the Lee Daniel’s produced show Star.  He had previously told the courts that he was having a hard time finding work and wasn’t even able to afford the required visitation monitor to see his child.  According to The Blast, McCrary’s required $29 per month payment is based on his reported income of $462 per month, applying him a “low-income adjustment”.  He is however required to pay half of her health and medical costs.  

Although the couple are no longer together, with their divorce being finalized in 2019, things may or may not be all good between the parents, but he’s been recently seen all smiles with his baby girl.  Brawner was awarded physical and legal custody of Zoey, but Mccrary is able to have weekly monitored visits, while also attending drug or alcohol and co-parenting classes with his ex-wife.  

McCrary shared a recent picture of one of his visits with his daughter in a joyful post.  He captions it, “clearly Family has always Mattered to me but in these parallels times we are witnessing we can’t take this kind of love for granted … If we can take anything from the recent events … take every opportunity to love more … parents even though we’re working to better our families lives we gotta get it every way we can cuz it isn’t promised like #KB said I want every moment I can get when I’m not on my grind.”  He then goes on to acknowledge Brawner, saying  “@tamstunna thanks mommy @zoeyzanai ur the best date ever !!! “