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NYDaily News reports:

Don’t call Alicia Keys a homewrecker. Because according to her, she’s not.

Keys’ husband, fellow musician Swizz Beatz, was still wed to R&B artist Mashonda when they began dating in 2009, prompting rumors about whether the singer was the reason his marriage was ending.

“We didn’t start seeing each other until months after they had separated,” Keys told Essence in its June issue, adding that she “was aware of all the false things that were being said about me.”

“It definitely hurt,” the 30-year-old said.

Beatz, 32, and Mashonda, who have a young son together, finalized their divorce last May, just two months before he married Keys.

Keys was pregnant during their wedding – she gave birth to son Egypt in October – and Beatz has two other children from previous relationships.

The “Empire State of Mind” songstress admitted that Mashonda was none too pleased by her romance with Beatz and even said she received a letter accusing her of “destroying” their family.

Keys didn’t reply.

“I was sure that if I engaged, it would become back-and-forth like some sick entertainment,” she explained, adding it would have gone “against everything I believe and would have made things worse.”

But “things are really good now” with Mashonda, Keys claimed.

Beatz “is very present in his children’s lives,” she told the magazine. “I wouldn’t be able to love him otherwise.”