Le’Veon Bell’s shocking response to arrest for not paying child support

Ex-NFL running back Le’Veon Bell is speaking out about his arrest after he failed to pay a reported $50,000 in child support.

Local police in Canton, Ohio arrested Bell on Sunday on a warrant from Michigan. Bell had been in town for an autograph signing at Prime Time Sports and Framing. Two days after his arrest, he tweeted “F*** CHILD SUPPORT,” alongside a crying emoji.

Bell is still in custody in Ohio. His attorney, Thomas Shaffer, has previously said that the root of the problem is that Bell’s required child support payments are still based on his NFL salary, even though Bell last played in the NFL in 2021.

“His guidelines are still inaccurately being deemed based on his NFL salary and his professional boxing career,” Shaffer told the Canton Repository.

“This is a revolving door because he pays a number that doesn’t reflect his true income. The issue will never end. The court needs to reflect his true income,” Shaffer continued.

In his eight seasons in the NFL, Bell earned over $45 million, per Spotrac. Bell now has seven children with six different women.

Pittsburgh Steelers player LeVeon Bell breaks a few tackles from the Miami Dolphins defense during their AFC Wild Card playoff game at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, 08 January 2017. EPA

Last year, he went viral for being unable to name all seven of his children when asked to on a podcast appearance, and he recently discussed the difficulties of having children with several different mothers.

It’s unclear which child Bell failed to pay his child support payments for, leading to his arrest.

One of Bell’s children lives in Michigan, where Bell attended college at Michigan State before being drafted to the NFL. Bell then went on to spend the bulk of his career with the Steelers before bouncing around the Jets, Chiefs, Ravens, and Buccaneers.