Samira Wiley, Lauren Morelli file for divorce after 9 years of marriage

LOS ANGELES: ‘Orange Is the New Black’ star Samira Wiley and writer-producer Lauren Morelli have decided to part ways after nearly a decade together.

The former couple filed for divorce on Friday, January 30, after nine years of marriage and one child together, People magazine confirmed. On the same day, Wiley and Morelli released a joint statement to Out, as reported by the outlet.

“After nine years together, we have decided to end our marriage; however, our lifelong commitment to co-parenting will forever remain,” the statement read as per People.

Wiley, 38, and Morelli, 43, first met on the set of Netflix’s hit series Orange Is the New Black in 2012. Wiley starred as fan-favorite inmate Poussey Washington, while Morelli worked as a writer and producer on the show. Their relationship began after Morelli publicly came out as gay and separated from her then-husband in 2014.

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“I realized I was gay in the fall of 2012, one of my first days on the set,” Morelli wrote in 2014, the same year she split from her then-husband, according to People.

“Accordingly, I was nervous about the first love scene I’d written for Alex [Laura Prepon] and Piper [Taylor Schilling],” she added. “I loved writing it, loved watching tenderness emerge in their relationship, where passion always seemed to be the ruling principle. But by that time, I was so deep in my own self-doubt that I constantly felt like a fraud.”

Wiley has also been open about her own journey with her sexuality, revealing in past interviews that she was outed without her consent by a fellow cast member. She later said that portraying Poussey helped her “fall in love” with herself and better understand who she was.

After dating for several years, Wiley and Morelli got engaged in Palm Springs in October 2016 and tied the knot there in 2017. The location held special meaning for the couple, as it was where they first decided to spend their lives together.

In April 2021, the pair welcomed their first child, daughter George Elizabeth. Wiley announced the birth in a heartfelt Mother’s Day post, praising Morelli and calling their daughter “gorgeous,” while sharing how the newborn had changed their lives. (ANI)