Parents of Beyonce split

Tina Knowles, who heads the House of Dereon fashion line with Beyonce, filed against Mathew Knowles in November after taking a cue from her famous daughter's song Irreplaceable. Mathew is a powerful influence in the lives of both Beyonce and younger daughter Solange, having managed their careers and the meteoric rise of Destiny's Child since the girls' childhoods.

"The decision to end our marriage is an amicable one. We remain friends, parents, and business partners," the couple said in a statement provided to The Associated Press on Friday. "If anyone is expecting an ugly messy fight, they will be sadly disappointed. We ask for your respect of our privacy as we handle this matter." Translation: No Tiger Woods-level hubbub over this one. Sorry, kids.

But behind the scenes it might be a different story. Here's why:

Initial paperwork was filed with the Harris County Court Clerk in Houston, TX on November 11 -- about a month after Mathew was named in a scandalous paternity suit. Alexsandra Wright claims Beyonce's dad is the father of her unborn child, conceived 29 years into his marriage to Tina. At the time she filed the suit Wright was about six months along, so Beyonce's alleged new sibling should be making an appearance very soon.

"It's a rough time for the family -- especially over the holidays," a source told Us magazine. "The kids are sad, but it's been unraveling for some time... They will try to make it cordial. They put their kids first, and will still be around each other."

According to IMDB, Wright is a former actress who worked sporadically between 1989 and 2002, with minor roles in shows like JAG and Scrubs. Mathew is loaded from his Beyonce-Destiny's Child earnings -- a nice paycheck for Wright if she proves paternity.

Either way, Tina's outta there.

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