Phaedra Parks Is ‘Disappointed’ But Not ‘Shocked’ Apollo Nida Is Back In Jail, Says She ‘Had No Idea’ About His Illegal Activity

Phaedra Parks, Apollo Nida

Phaedra Parks Is ‘Disappointed’ But Not ‘Shocked’ Apollo Nida Is Back In Jail, Says She ‘Had No Idea’ About His Illegal Activity

It’s been two years since Apollo Nida and Phaedra Parks’ divorce was finalized. Still, the two are linked for life as they’re parents to two boys, Ayden, 9 and Dylan, 6. They split after Nida went to jail following a guilty plea of laundering $2.3 million in a money scheme. He was released earlier this year and now all eyes are on Parks to see how she’ll react.

Phaedra Parks with sons Ayden and Dylan Nida

It’s safe to say she’s keeping it moving despite the drama she and Nida had over the years. She said their sons were “sad” after Nida was sent back to jail just before Father’s Day amid accusations he violated his parole.

‘There’s a box of Father’s Day cards, mugs, little plates and things that they’ve made that I was going to send him. And so my youngest son was like, “so daddy will be here for Father’s Day?”And I had explained to him, no. He couldn’t come anyway because he was in the halfway house transition home. But you know, they can’t talk to him at all now because he’s back in prison.”

Unfortunately, Parks said she’s not shocked.

“Apollo had been telling me that he was coming home early. I’m of the mindset, ‘I’ll believe it when I see it.’ And so when he called us on FaceTime and he was in a car and we could see that he was outdoors and so he said, “I’ve been released” and we were all excited because of course I want the boys to have a relationship with their father – and it would be great to have that support from Apollo. But of course, you know, nine days later he was rearrested.’

She continued

“I was disappointed, but at the same time, I don’t know if I was that shocked because he is a risk taker and I just hate it because now it’s just above all of us, only Jesus can fix it. I can’t make him be what he doesn’t want to be. He has to want to change. Being a parent does not come with the manual. So I don’t think that there’s any perfect parents, but obviously when you have a parent that is absent, like my ex husband, it makes it very difficult because I am the sole provider. You know, a woman cannot really teach a young man how to be a man. And so that’s been the source of frustration for me.”

Apollo, Phaedra and their kids circa 2014

She has yet to hear from him since he went back to jail but added that their sons have great male role models around.

“I make sure I have great guys from the Church that mentor them. And so I have a village of people that really help me parent them and make sure that they’re getting the things they need as young African American boys. My sons have been through a lot, they’ve seen a lot of good things, they’ve seen a lot of bad things and nobody’s life is going to be perfect, so we’re just going to continue and keep our schedules as they have been and we’re going to hope and pray that Apollo can get it together.”

Phaedra Parks, Apollo Nida circa 2013

Still, she also spoke on their better days and detailed how they met back in 1995. Apparently, he got her attention on I-285 in Atlanta.

“He saw me, flagged me down, we met and he followed me home and walked up to my doorstep and said, ‘Hey, I want you to be my girlfriend.’ And so that’s how we got together. Apollo was extremely nice, always very generous, just a really good guy.”

He later went to jail in the early 2000s for a car theft scheme, and the two sparked their relationship again after he was released. But old habits died hard as he told her about his new legal troubles when they were expecting their second son, who is now six.

“I had no idea what he was doing until after the news broke and I read about it in the media. To be honest, I was pregnant with our second child I was getting up at 3am to drive to Alabama for mortician school and I was a lawyer and was on a TV show and had another small child to take care of.”

Phaedra parks, Apollo Nida

She said at first he insisted he was innocent, but then later took the plea. She also shut down rumor she knew about his secret life.

“I’m not a micromanager, I’m not that type of wife – whatever you tell me, that’s what I’m trusting that you’re doing. I’m definitely not checking up on him, I’m not one of those type of women, even if I was I never had the time. I make a very good living and all the things he said he wanted, he had. He had a family, he had a beautiful home in Buckhead, he had a beautiful child with another on the way. I supported him in whatever business endeavor he was doing, I was a very supportive wife, but it clearly wasn’t enough for him.”

She said she could no longer back him after she found out he was guilty.

Phaedra Parks, Apollo Nida, 2 sons

‘Once I worked out he hadn’t been truthful with me, I could no longer support him. I’d already paid out over $100,000 in legal fees. To do something this crazy when there’s no rhyme or reason to do it, he was financially set, he did not think about me or his sons. It was very selfish. He broke the law to be flashy to impress people. We didn’t have joint bank accounts so he needed money to spend on that flashy life, he was narcissistic. I was done. From the moment I discovered that he had done all this stuff, I was finished with that relationship.”

She added she’s not sure if Nida cheated on her.

“I don’t think it ever became clear. It’s sort of a blur, it was very overwhelming, I had so much going on.”

Nida has since moved on with fiance Sherien Almufti. She has yet to respond to Parks’ interview.

Sherien Almufti, Apollo Nida

What are your thoughts on what Phaedra had to say? Tell us in the comments!