Lupita Nyong’o reveals reason behind public breakup with Selema Masekela
‘There is a time to be open and there’s a time not to be,’ Oscar winner says
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Your support makes all the difference.Lupita Nyong’o revealed why she went public with her breakup with Selema Masekela.
In an interview with Glamour, the 41-year-old Oscar winner candidly spoke about why she announced to the public in October 2023 that she and her ex-boyfriend had gone their separate ways. The A Quiet Place: Day One star noted that it came from a place of honesty.
“Honestly, the thought of having to update people one at a time was going to be harrowing. I had made the choice to share the relationship with the world, and I wanted to make the choice to share the end of it with the world,” she explained. “I knew that announcing it or sharing it with the world would mean there would be a reverb and I would have to deal with the onset of that.”
Since December 2022, the actor dated the TV host and sports commentator, with the pair going public with their relationship that same month. Throughout their relationship, the couple would often post about each other on their social media pages. However, Nyong’o now clarifies that she won’t be as public with her personal life as she once was with Masekela.
“There is a time to be open and there’s a time not to be, and I chose that time to be open,” Nyong’o said. “I’m very happy with what I did, and I don’t want to do it anymore. I don’t want to share that part of myself anymore.”
This isn’t the only time Nyong’o has spoken about her breakup with the TV host, with the Oscar winner having spoken to Porter in February about how things were after the split. She admitted that she had been “living in a lot of pain and heartbreak“ at the time.
“I looked at the environment of my social media and thought I don’t want to be a part of this illusion that everything is always coming up roses,” Nyong’o recalled. “Surely there is a lesson for me to learn in this, and I just want to be real about it.”
Months after her breakup, the actor was photographed holding hands with Joshua Jackson in December, and later in March, the pair were spotted vacationing in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Neither Jackson nor Nyong’o have publicly confirmed whether or not they are dating.
Nyong’o’s first film release since 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, A Quiet Place: Day One, is set to arrive in theaters on 27 June.
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