What Happened To Christina Milian?
For a few years in the 2000s, it was almost impossible to avoid Christina Milian. Songs like "Dip it Low" had the clubs bumping from "AM to PM;" the first song even earned the R&B star a Grammy nomination. She was always a girl who did her homework, telling MovieWeb, "I took college courses on music as a business, constantly educating myself, looking at albums and paying attention to who produced this and who's at the record label and hustling my way through it and singing any and everywhere."
However, later that decade, her career began to falter. A week after she put out her third album "So Amazin," she was dropped by her record label. "It was embarrassing," she told Rap Up. I would be in my room a lot of the time crying by myself." Furthermore, Milian revealed that she might have been cast aside so that her label could support a certain other rising star. "[Def Jam] probably got rid of projects like mine to spend the money on [Rihanna]," she said.
Even though her music no longer dominated the charts, Milian never fully faded from the spotlight. She's been around, diversifying her interests and endeavors as a way to establish herself as a fixture in the culture. She's a singer, an actor, an entrepreneur, a reality TV star, a mother, and more. Here's what happened to Christina Milian after the radio stations moved on.
Her acting career in the 2000s
While Christina Milian found the most success as a musical artist, she also spent the 2000s acting. Milian appeared in films like "Love Don't Cost a Thing," "Torque," "Man of the House," and "Pulse." Milian wanted to be a true multi-hyphenate, telling MovieHole, "I've gotten a lot of scripts where it's a singer in a movie but I always turned them down because I really want to me known as a real actress. When I'm acting in a movie, that's what I want to do mainly."
Milian played a cheerleader in both "Love Don't Cost a Thing" and "Man of the House." While discussing the former film, she told ComingSoon, "I was so excited when I read she was a cheerleader in the script, and then they put us together with the choreographer." She added, "I wanted to be a cheerleader when I was in high school but I never got to because I was always working. It was a great opportunity to finally totally get into it." Milian also noted, "It looks really hot in the movie, too."
Apparently, her co-star Nick Cannon agreed, because the two dated for years after filming the movie together. Milian revealed more than a decade later that she and Cannon broke up because she'd caught him cheating. However, the rapper told Power 106, "If I am careless enough to allow myself to get caught then that means I wanted to get caught." Yikes!
Her Dream marriage didn't last
A few years after her relationship with Nick Cannon didn't work out, Christina Milian married music producer The-Dream, the man responsible for hits like Beyonce's "Single Ladies," Rihanna's "Umbrella," and Justin Bieber's "Baby." The duo got hitched at a drive-thru wedding chapel in Las Vegas, the same place where Britney Spears' first marriage took place.
Unfortunately, the relationship didn't last. "I tried to be someone I wasn't because I wanted my marriage to work," the "Dip it Low" singer told Latina Magazine. "But ultimately, if it's not working, it's not working." Their divorce got pretty ugly; Milian contested that he made her sign the papers while she was pregnant. TMZ also reported that, while The-Dream had filed papers claiming the marriage was "irretrievably broken," Milian claimed that they "had marital relations on numerous occasions" after signing the papers.
The divorce was finalized the following year after they came to a settlement agreement. While their split was acrimonious, it seems that the exes have reached a better place in their relationship out of concern for their daughter Violet. "We've done so well. It's been 10 years," Milian told Us Weekly in 2020 about their co-parenting strategy. "I'm really proud of how we've always put Violet first and our friendship goes along with that as well, but we get along great."
Christina Milian tried to be a music manager
Christina Milian's last appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 was in 2006, with "Say I ft. Young Jeezy" sent to #21. In 2010, she explored a new aspect of the music business, signing up to manage two Australian artists, Kasey Osborne and Kelsey-Maree. Osborne told Now To Love that she ran into Milian in a Starbucks and decided to shoot her shot. "I said, 'I'm a fan,' and she said, 'Oh, my God – you're so cute. What do you do?' and I said, 'I sing and dance,'" Osborne recalled.
Speaking with The Daily Telegraph, Osborne gushed about her new manager. "She has taken me under her wing," Osborne said. "By the end of next year, I hope to have a whole album out and I hope to have already done a TV show or a film or something like that. You've got to be a triple threat, otherwise, you're not going to be that successful."
Details are scarce, but Kasey Osborne and Kelsey-Maree's albums never wound up materializing under Milian's leadership. However, both managed to make headlines on their own. Osborne later wound up appearing on "Married at First Sight" as an "intruder bride." Kelsey-Maree now goes by Kelsy Karter. And in 2019, she became world-famous when a photo of her went viral online thanks to her unusual ink; Karter claimed to have gotten a tattoo of Harry Styles on her cheek.
The singer is a snow globe queen
While Christina Milian's acting in the mid-2000s focused on theatrical films, as the decade came to a close she shifted to made-for-television movies. Curiously, Milian has starred in two separate, unrelated made-for-TV Christmas movies about someone who gets trapped inside a magical snow globe. The first, simply called "Snowglobe," was released on ABC Family in 2007. The film features Milian as a woman who slips into a Christmas fantasy land inside a snow globe. She told CW11 that she's a "family-oriented person," so filming a Christmas movie in August got her excited for the holiday early. "I felt like a kid again," she said of filming with fake snow. "It was amazing."
A few years later, she starred in "A Snow Globe Christmas," a movie about a woman who ends up in a Christmas world inside of a snow globe. Sound familiar? Again: no relation! This time, though, Milian wasn't the lead; instead, she played a Christmas spirit of sorts, a trickster who shows up throughout the film to help the heroine along her holiday journey. She later told HipHopDX that this was her favorite film she'd done, especially because she could show it to her daughter, Violet. "She gets excited to watch her mom work," Milian revealed. "She's watching this fantasy on another level where her mom is in a snow globe. [It] must be something."
Christina Milian competed on Dancing with the Stars
At the peak of her career, Christina Milian was a triple threat, known for her dancing skills just as much as for her acting and singing. She put those skills to use in 2013 when she competed on Season 17 of "Dancing with the Stars." Milian was paired with dancing pro Mark Ballas and together they danced the cha-cha, the Charleston, and more. "It's fun — I'm honestly having the time of my life," she told SheKnows. The performer said she was initially apprehensive about being judged so publicly, but that fell by the wayside as she got into the rhythm of the show. "To be honest, it's the week-to-week challenge of learning a new dance and getting on that stage and performing live [that] is actually a lot of fun," she explained.
Milian was eliminated from the show in a shocking episode. She and her partner got 10s from the judges, but they were cut from the competition anyway. "I was shocked, for sure. I'm not saying it should have been anybody else, but to be honest, after having a great performance you feel a bit more confident," Milian explained to Today. While fellow contestant Leah Remini joked that Milian's shocking elimination meant the show must be fixed, Milian was more gracious. "I don't think it's rigged at all," she insisted.
She had her own reality show
In 2015, Christina Milian pivoted to reality TV with the launch of the E! series "Christina Milian Turned Up." The show chronicled Milian's attempts to kickstart her career, from new acting gigs to business endeavors to music. In addition, the show was about how all of the above impacted her relationships with her family members, and her mother and sisters were regular cast members, too. "[Fans will] see my drive, how family-oriented I am; that's what kept me here today, and gave me the longevity and my foundation, my core, which is family," Milian told SingersRoom, along with "how willing I am to make mistakes, try new things and becoming a woman."
The show was enough of a hit that it got a second season, which aired later that year. Milian told Perez TV that the move to reality TV had been an easy one, considering the fact that she had spent most of her life in the spotlight by that point. "To me, I wanted to have that voice, you know?" she said. "Sometimes people aren't getting the full story." By starring in her own reality show, Milian said, she could make sure that she was getting her truth out there. She added, "I just felt like that type of access really would be great for my fans."
She starred on a short-lived Fox sitcom
Christina Milian acted in a bit on television in the '90s, including guest spots on shows like "Sister, Sister," "Charmed," and "Smart Guy." At the peak of her 2000s fame, she was starring in more movies, and in the 2010s, she returned to her television roots. In 2015, the same year her reality show premiered, Milian played Liliana on "East Los High." She then joined the cast of the Fox sitcom "Grandfathered."
The show was about a man (John Stamos) who learns that he has a son (Josh Peck) he never knew about at the same time he learns that his son has a son. In other words, he's not just a father but a grandfather! Milian played Vanessa, the mother of said grandson. She told The Bragging Mommy that she appreciated her character's relatability. "She's a real girl, so her hair [is] a little messy, it's not all giant lashes and all this stuff and that's what I love," she said. "There's a girl that's watching this show that relates to it and she's like, 'Oh my gosh that's so me.'"
It also seems like Milian got along well with her castmates. She told Sippy Cup Mom that at first, everyone kept things professional, but as they got to know each other better while filming, the cast became close."We're at the moment where we're all doing annoying group chats," the actress said. "I usually hate group chats, but I don't mind ours."
She dated Lil Wayne
Between Nick Cannon and The-Dream, Christina Milian was no stranger to high-profile romances. She released a song called "Rebel" in 2015, and during an interview with ET to premiere the music video, Milian confirmed that the song's inspiration was her then-new relationship with rapper Lil Wayne. "He's very special to me, yeah," Milian confessed. She later revealed in an interview with Hot 97 that the "Lollipop" rapper had been interested in getting to know her for a long time. "When I first started my career, like, he was one of the first people that got my number somehow." She said their initial contact "fizzled out" but confirmed that they'd known one another for "a good fifteen years."
Before the pair went public, they performed together at the American Music Awards. Milian also did interviews in 2015 claiming that she would be featured on multiple tracks on "Tha Carter V." But by the time the album was released in 2018, the "Call Me, Beep Me!" singer's contributions hadn't made the final cut.
Later that year, when Milian found out that the rapper had been unfaithful, she ended things, and their split played out on "Christina Milian Turned Up." "I've never loved anyone the way that I love Wayne, not even my ex-husband," she said on the show. Perhaps that's why, according to Milian's comments on "The Meredith Vieira Show," they stayed friends after the breakup. "He and I are actually very good," she said.
Meet Shelby Star ... eventually?
Not all of Christina Milian's plans have come to fruition. For much of the 2010s, Milian teased the release of "Shelby Star," her animated alter ego. A 2013 Instagram announcement promised, "#ShelbyStar is a charismatic, smart and bilingual 12-year-old musician whose bubbly personality, positive attitude and unique sense of style have set the stage for super stardom." Milian added, "More to come!"
The character also has her own Instagram account with intermittent posts over the years; some are inexplicable, like one featuring something called "twinkle cakes." Milian released a "Shelby Star" teaser on Facebook in 2014, and she posted an Instagram photo of her daughter wearing "Shelby Star" merch the following year. "'Shelby Star' is going great," she told VH1 in 2015. "We shot a music video and I'm building an app and some other things for the project." Speaking with HipHopDX, she said Shelby's creation was inspired by Milian's work creating the theme song for "Kim Possible." She teased, "We got four songs in the can along with [a] music video."
A deal announcement came in 2018 via LicenseGlobal, revealing that Milian had signed with a company called memBrain. Though the deal promised video content and apps, none seem to have materialized in the following years. And while LicenseGlobal reported that a "Shelby Star" music video called "It's Gonna Happen" had been released, the video seems to have been pulled from the Internet. At this point, it's unclear whether "Shelby Star" will, indeed, happen.
Christina Milian is a Beignet Box boss babe
Not content to rest on her laurels in the fields of acting, singing, and dancing, Christina Milian is also an entrepreneur. She has a wine brand called Viva Diva Wines, and she told Black Enterprise that at first, their strategy involved appealing to other famous people. "We did a lot of celebrity events at the beginning ... People like Snoop Dogg had our wine, and many others. It helped elevate the brand," she said. However, now that famous faces have been spotted drinking Viva Diva, others are catching on. "My fan base has been extremely supportive," she added.
Viva Diva Wines isn't Milian's only business venture in the food and beverage space: She's also the co-founder of Beignet Box. Milian told LA Weekly that the idea was born out of time she spent helping rebuild Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, where she fell in love with the city's iconic desserts. "Beignets are not something I was accustomed to," she said. "Louisiana is so flavorful — salty, sweet — and that's how Cubans like it." The beignet-based business began as a food truck, attracting celebs like Harry Styles and Beyoncé. They then opened a cafe, which Milian was particularly proud of.
The Beignet Box website might sum up Milian's approach to the business best. On their About page, she said simply, "Who doesn't love coffee and beignets!"
Milian is a Netflix movie star
Just as she once starred in two unrelated cheerleader movies, and then two movies where someone gets trapped in a snow globe, Christina Milian added another set of similar accomplishments to her IMDb profile. In 2019, she starred in the Netflix romance "Falling Inn Love." A few years later, "Resort to Love" followed, also on the streaming platform. Despite both films' hospitality-related titles, the movies have nothing to do with one another, aside from having Milian as their star.
In "Falling Inn Love," Milian plays Gabriela, a woman who unexpectedly wins an inn only to find out her prize is located in New Zealand. She heads across the world to care for the property, falling "inn" love with a local in the process. Milian told Refinery29 that she was willing to let her co-star take all the credit for how funny the film was. Not her human co-star Adam Demos, that is; she meant the movie's goat. "There were so many funny moments that I found myself giggling out loud ... Whenever you want more goat, it pops up out of nowhere."
In "Resort to Love," on the other hand, Milian plays a singer who falls in love at a luxury resort. "I'm having the time of my life," she told CherryPicks. "I've got a growing family. I'm living out my dreams. I'm working. And not just working because I have to, but because I love it and doing the things that I love."
Christina Milian stepped up for Starz
After "Glee" alum Naya Rivera died in a tragic boating accident, Christina Milian took over her role in what was initially titled "Step Up: High Water." The TV show continuation of the hit dance movie franchise was initially a YouTube Red original, but it jumped to Starz for its third, Milian-starring season, re-titled "Step Up." The character, Collette Jones, is the head of the performing arts school where the series is set.
Milian was initially concerned about stepping into Naya River's role, especially since the beloved star had recently died. She told The Independent that she asked herself, "How could I do this respectfully? Was it right to even do it? What are her fans going to feel?" The performer found that it wasn't just Rivera's fans who needed to get used to someone else in the role; Rivera's co-stars, too, were still processing their grief. "I didn't want to force myself on them," Milian revealed. "It took some time."
Ultimately, Milian told Express that she was able to find her way into the character and had a good experience on the show. "I had to figure it out," she said. "I first said to myself, just trust what is happening here and why it's come to you and it just started to make sense to me." In December 2022, Starz announced that the show would not be returning.
She remarried and is a mom of three
In early 2017, Christina Milian was eating at a French restaurant when she was introduced to Matt Pokora, a French singer. She told Daily Pop that she was surprised to discover they had the same birthday, and she was touched when he immediately mentioned having children together. "So we switched numbers, found out we had the same birthday that night, and it was like the stars aligned," she said.
"This is different than anything I've ever experienced and I'm really happy that the universe brought us together," she told HollywoodLife in 2019. A few months later, she posted a photo on Instagram of the happy couple proudly showing off an ultrasound. "What a blessing! Let's do this babe," she wrote, tagging her boyfriend. Their son Isaiah arrived in January 2020; they married later that year, and another son, Kenna, arrived in early 2021.
Milian spoke with OK! about her growing family in 2022, revealing that she and her husband like to take the time to go on adventures together. "I think the best part is just our kids, our family," she clarified. "We don't argue, we like to have fun, and we just really mesh well. Our kids make us so happy and we live for them and each other." She summed up their luck, saying, "We have been waiting a lifetime for this."