Sia is speaking out after her divorce settlement put one number front and center, and it is a big one.
The ‘Cheap Thrills’ hitmaker has addressed the child support agreement that will see her pay estranged husband Daniel Bernad more than $40,000 a month for their son, making it clear she does not see the arrangement as fair so much as necessary. Her explanation was short, blunt, and very much loaded with exhaustion.
“I’m a sober working mom trying to buy peace,” Sia wrote in a statement shared on X on Tuesday, April 7.
Sia Says the $40K-a-Month Deal Is the Price of Peace
The singer, 50, said the reason behind the huge monthly payout comes down to California child support rules and the fact that she is the one bringing in money.
“I have primary custody of our son and since i am the only parent earning income i still have to pay California’s incredibly high child support,” she wrote.
That comment came after court filings showed Sia agreed to pay Bernad $42,500 a month in child support for their son, Somersault Wonder Bernad. The payments reportedly began on April 1 and will continue until the child turns 18, or until 19 if he is still attending high school full time and has not yet graduated.
The filing also says the support could end sooner under certain conditions, including death, emancipation, marriage, or another court order.
Sia’s post made it sound like the settlement was less about making peace with the number and more about getting through a brutal stretch without dragging the fight on any longer.
“This has been a horrific year but it taught me how to navigate incredibly difficult situations, prioritize my family and not absorb other people’s negativity,” she added.
Then she signed off with a line from Alexander Pope’s ‘An Essay on Criticism’: “To err is human, to forgive is divine.”
The Divorce Filing Filled In More of the Picture
Court documents previously showed that Sia and Bernad welcomed their first child together on March 27, 2024. The singer filed for divorce in March 2025, roughly a year after their son’s birth. The former couple had married in 2022.
Beyond the monthly support payments, Sia is also on the hook for private school tuition, agreed-upon extracurricular activities, uninsured healthcare costs, and maintaining health insurance for the child.
The two will share legal custody, with a custody schedule that reportedly went into effect on April 1. According to the filing, the issue of spousal support had already been handled separately in December 2025.
Why the Reaction Is So Strong
Celebrity divorce settlements always pull attention, but this one carries extra heat because Sia’s statement sounds less like a polished legal response and more like someone who is fed up, cornered, and trying to get through the mess with as little damage as possible.
There is also the image shift. Sia has long kept parts of her private life heavily guarded, so hearing her talk this directly about money, custody, and emotional fallout feels unusual. That is part of why the story has bite.
She is not pretending this was easy. She is saying, in plain terms, that she sees the money as the cost of quiet.
Online, the response on X was fierce and mostly on Sia’s side.
Many users were stunned by the idea that she says she has primary custody, earns the income, and still has to make such a massive monthly payment. “Ma’am, you’re the only one earning income. You have the kid most of the time, and you’re still cutting checks to the other parent? That’s not buying peace that’s California family court robbing you in broad daylight while you smile and quote ‘to err is human, to forgive is divine,’” one person wrote. Another added, “having to pay your deadbeat ex child support when YOU have primary custody is laughable!”
Others went even further, attacking the system itself. “Child support is extortion plain and simple. No child needs 40K a month. They absolutely deplorable tha the laws allow this. Something needs to change,” one user posted. Another wrote, “The law must change. It will change. Because of your voice, alongside so may others like ours.”
The reaction made one thing clear: plenty of people do not just see Sia’s settlement as shocking. They see it as a sign of a system they think is badly broken.
