Ben Baller's Divorce Was Messy and Riddled With Cheating Rumors

Celebrity jeweler and content creator Ben Baller has had a rough couple of years. He's usually open online, sharing about his kids' lives and the passing of his father — though he was surprisingly private about his divorce from his ex-wife. Despite marrying in 2012 (after getting together in 2009), Ben has not addressed his split much online, taking down all of his images with her and removing the post announcing his divorce. For those who missed it, here's what happened.

It's been more than a year since Ben and Nicolette Lacson revealed they were splitting up. The pair had been together for 13 years before their divorce was announced, and in his post to his followers on Instagram Ben claimed to be "blindsided."

“As some of you may or may not know, the last 2 months have been the hardest, worst and darkest time of my entire life,” he wrote on Instagram, per All Hip Hop. “I was blindsided by some unfortunate news and I tried to fight as hard as I could, but I gotta take this L. So after 13 years, me and Nicolette are parting ways and this is for the best. I do not hate her. She gave us 3 beautiful children and she changed my life forever and made me a better man."

"You know for the last 10+ years of being a husband and father has been the epitome of my brand," he continued in the post. "But now it’s time to focus on my kids, work and my health. Please respect our privacy. The back 9 begins tomorrow.”

That post has since been deleted from his feed, suggesting that Ben may have healed a bit from the split. He did not provide more information on why the pair decided to split, but fans have shared their theories online.

In a now-archived Reddit post about their split, fans speculated in the comments that Ben's cryptic post was an indicator that Nicolette cheated on him.

"It sounds like she cheated (him being blindsided), and then saying he's not mad at her (why would he be mad at her?), so maybe she cheated in some way," one user commented, noting that Ben had previously mentioned being cheated on by an ex-girlfriend as well.

"I think she cheated. He's probably never home and that's how couples grow apart and fall for others on their own time," another Reddit user speculated.

Though the commenters theorize that Nicolette was unfaithful to Ben, they're surprisingly not mean-spirited. In fact, plenty of the comments are sympathetic to the situation, noting there are a variety of reasons someone may look to betray a marriage.

"Being left at home to take care of 3 kids is probably so exhausting and isolating. It’s not a partnership no more at that point," one user said. "Yes he was making money, but if he talks so much about his income- he should have enough passive income to live on."

Though it's not entirely clear what ended their marriage, what is clear is that Ben has continued to stay in his kids' lives following the divorce. Their custody agreement isn't public at this time, but Ben continues to post online about his children, suggesting he's still actively involved in their lives.