Lupita Nyong’o is addressing rumors that she and partner Selema Masekela have separated in a lengthy note shared to social media about pain and deception.
After seemingly acknowledging the current Israel-Hamas war, noting there are “much more important things” happening in the world, Nyong’o updated fans on her relationship status.
“At this moment, it is necessary for me to share a personal truth and publicly dissociate myself from someone I can no longer trust,” she said.
Nyong’o expanded on her current “season of heartbreak,” writing of a “love suddenly and devastatingly extinguished by deception.”
“I am tempted to run into the shadows and hide, only to return to the light when I have regained my strength enough for me to say, ‘Whatever, my life is better this way,'” she said. “But I am reminded that the magnitude of the pain I am feeling is equal to the measure of my capacity for love.”
The Oscar-winning actress said that in “choosing to face the pain” and finding the courage to deal with life in the moment, she trusts that “this too shall pass.”
She continued, “The promise, they say, is that a tender heart is what gives birth to fearlessness.”
Nyong’o said that by sharing her message and revealing the breakup, she hopes to help others who may be “experiencing the grip of heartbreak.”
“Let’s face our pain so we don’t spread it,” she said.
Her announcement comes days after she was captured at an event with Joshua Jackson, who’s wife, Jodie Turner-Smith, recently filed for divorce after four years of marriage.
Nyong’o and Masekela went public with their relationship by sharing a since-deleted Instagram video in December 2022.
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