- Tanya Hijazi is an American costume designer and former wife of the musician, Rick James
- During her relationship with the funk star, she was arrested for assault and other crimes and had to serve 15 months in prison
- Tanya and her ex-husband got divorced 5 years after getting married and as of 2021, she was engaged to her ex-husband’s godson.
Tanya Hijazi is also known as Tanya James as she was once married to the musician, Rick James. She is however widely known for this relationship and the fact that she is a professional fashion/costume designer who has worked on projects such as Unseen.
Tanya’s relationship with Rick James was quite eventful and for not-so-good reasons. More than once, she was accused of being assaultive. As a result of these accusations, the ex-wife of late Soul musician christened James Ambrose Johnson Jr., got a 4-year jail sentence.
Tanya Hijazi’s Stint in the Entertainment Industry
Tanya was born Tanya Anne Hijazi in the United States of America in the year 1972. Professionally, she worked as a costume/ fashion designer. Due to her career path, she was opportune to meet with and work for quite a number of big names in the American entertainment industry in the late 80s and early 90s.
Hijazi is known for her contribution to the production of the 2005 movie The Unseen. On this set, she served as an assistant to the costume designer. However, she also has TV stints where she served as a cast member.
Hijazi was in 2009’s Documentary I’m Rick James as a cast member and also the 2021 profile of her ex-husband. On B!tchin: The Sound and Fury of Rick James, she appeared as herself as well.
Tanya Hijazi Met Rick James When She was 17 Years Old
Sometime in 1989, Tanya, described as a party-goer, met with the legendary Rick James. At the time, she was 17 years old, and soon after, they began to date. As of 1990, Rick and his newest love interest as at then were in a relationship.
About 2 years later, in 1992, the couple welcomed their first child together named Tazman James. Despite being the first child of Hajiza, Tazman wasn’t Rick’s first nor only child.
The 1992-born has older siblings – a sister named Tyenza and a brother named Rick Jr.
She Did 15 Months of Jail Time for Assault
The relationship between Hijazi and the Super Freak singer was eventful as said earlier. The reason for this is that she got involved in some of her lovers’ misdeeds. This inadvertently led her to be incarcerated for 15 months.
At the time of the relationship between the costume designer and the singer, James was heavily into drug abuse. This got him and his then-girlfriend into trouble, several times.
While aged 19, Tanya was arrested alongside her boyfriend on account of assault. A woman named Frances Alley who was 24 years at the time, reported the couple for kidnapping, abusing, and torturing her. Alley also reported that she was made to perform oral s*x on Tanya.
Something similar also repeated itself about 2 years later when Tanya and Rick assaulted a music executive.
According to this narration, Mary Sauger, the victim, and accuser was apprehended and beaten for about 24 hours in Rick’s hotel room. She explained that she was invited over for a business meeting but things soon got out of hand and she was battered.
James Rick was going to be sentenced to life imprisonment while his girlfriend also faced a 14-count charge.
Tanya was to serve 4 years as jail term for her part in the offenses but after pleading guilty to the charges, her term was reduced to 15 months.
Tanya Hijazi and Rick James’ Marriage Lasted for Half a Decade
After serving over 2 years of jail term, Tanya’s boyfriend was released on August 21, 1996. A year later, they got married on December 24, 1997, though some sources claim they got married before this date.
She pleaded to be allowed to make arrangements to get married during her sentencing in 1993 and the judge allowed her. However, he did not promise to pronounce them husband and wife.
After being in a relationship for over 7 years, Tanya Hijazi and James Ambrose Jackson got married in the presence of their close family and friends. The marriage lasted for just 5 years and ended in 2002.
When their son was about 9 years old, the entertainment designer and her husband decided to get divorced.
2 years after the divorce, on August 6, 2004, Funk musician, Rick James died from pulmonary and cardiac failure. He was found dead in his Oakwood Toluca Hills apartment located in Los Angeles. He was eventually buried at the Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo.
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Tanya Reportedly Got Engaged to Her Ex-husband’s Godson
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As of the end of October 2021, news began to spread that former reality TV star, Darius McCrary was engaged. He gave hints and talked about his relationship with Tanya and further clarified this during an interview.
Tanya Hijazi, 52, also confirmed the dating story to hiphollywood when she kissed her fiancé during the interview.
McCrary stated that the initial speculations that his fiancée was transgender Sidney Starr were untrue. He further emphasized that he was only friends with Starr and was actually dating someone else.
Interestingly, Darius stated that he was the godson of Tanya’s ex-husband. He also said he was quite close to him and was with the musician the night before he died.
