D. Smith Announces Detransition After 12 Years Living as Trans Woman

D. Smith, a Grammy-nominated producer and star of the reality series "Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta," announced on September 18, 2026, that he is detransitioning after living publicly as a transgender woman for 12 years. In a statement shared on Instagram, Smith said he will now live and present as a man and use he/him pronouns. Smith, 51, emphasized that his decision was not about erasing his past. "Living my life as a woman for 12 years showed me the man that I wanted to become," he wrote. "Those years weren't a mistake. They were real." The announcement marks a significant personal shift for Smith, who first came out as transgender in 2014. He joined "Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta" in 2016, becoming the show's first openly transgender cast member. Before his transition, he was an established music producer who had worked with artists like Katy Perry, Lil Wayne, and CeeLo Green, earning a Grammy nomination for his work on Lil Wayne's 2008 album "Tha Carter III." Smith stated that the change has been developing over several months. "Over the past several months, I've begun a new chapter in my life," he wrote. "Going forward, I'll be living and presenting as a man and using he/him pronouns.