The Handmaid’s Tale star Samira Wiley and his wife, Lauren Morellithey have separated after nine years of marriage.
“After nine years together, we have decided to end our marriage,” Wiley, 38, and Morelli, 43, wrote in a joint statement shared with outside magazine of Thursday, January 29. “However, our lifelong commitment to co-parenting will remain forever.”
A rep for the now exes, who share 4-year-old daughter George, added that they are “filing for divorce amicably” on Friday, January 30. Wiley and Morelli have not addressed their breakup further. Us Weekly has reached out for comment.
The couple initially met in 2012 on the set of orange is the new black in which Wiley played Poussey Washington and Morelli was one of the screenwriters of the series.
A series of breakups rocked the celebrity world throughout 2026, starting with Bill Hader and Ali Wong. News of the couple’s split broke on January 7. A day later, The Real Housewives of New York City alum Kelly Bensimon announced on her iHeartRadio “I Do Part 2” podcast that she had recently broken up with her boyfriend. Thank you (…)
“I had started to question my sexuality as a result of being in the writers’ room and talking about all the things on the show. I was still very confused, but I knew the attraction between us was magnetic,” Morelli said. outside in 2016. “We spent a couple of weeks together before Christmas on that first episode, and then I went back to New York in February. On the set, there’s a group of women, so everyone hugs and touches each other. It’s a very loving place.”
He continued: “I had fallen into this alternate universe, but I thought I would go home and disappear. But Samira was still so present to me.”
Morelli divorced her then-husband Steve Basilone in 2014 before coming out publicly as queer and starting dating Wiley.
“I remember walking down the street in New York and finally being able to hold his hand, and how big he felt,” Morelli recalled to the network. “Going on the date was more romantic and mattered more than where we were going or what we were about to do… It had been such a journey to discover my sexuality and claim it in such a public way was amazing for me.”
Last year she asked us if love is even real after a months-long onslaught of celebrity breakups. One of the first shocking breakups that took the world by storm in 2023 was Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix. Us Weekly confirmed in March that the Vanderpump Rules stars had split after nearly a decade of (…)
Wiley and Morelli announced in 2016 that they were engaged, tie the knot the following year. After Morelli and Wiley exchanged vows, they began discussing their future plans.
“There’s always talk of our future, and we’ll just have to see where our lives take us,” Wiley. explained exclusively we in June 2019. “We don’t spend that much time together, we’re always traveling, so it’s really special when we’re together to be able to take time and look into each other’s eyes. We just sit and talk and maybe watch a documentary or something.”
Two years later, Morelli and Wiley secretly welcomed daughter George Elizabeth in April 2021.
“Happy first Mother’s Day to my beautiful wife who, four weeks ago today after laboring for almost three days, gave birth to our first child: our beautiful daughter, George,” Wiley said. he wrote via Instagram in May 2021. “Welcome to the world, baby. We love you and thank you for giving us the best first Mother’s Day two women could ask for.”
Morelli announced George’s arrival in his own tribute on social media.
“Four weeks ago today, our daughter came into the world and changed everything,” Morelli captioned family photos. “We are so happy, so grateful and so tired.”