Forest Whitaker Files for Divorce from Wife Keisha Nash Whitaker After 22 Years of Marriage
Forest Whitaker has filed for divorce from his wife Keisha Nash Whitaker after 22 years of marriage.
Whitaker, 57, cited irreconcilable differences in his petition for divorce which he filed on Thursday, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE. A rep for Whitaker did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
On Christmas, the Black Panther actor tweeted, “Christmas is a celebration of solidarity – a time of the year when we are reminded that the bonds our families, friends, fellow citizens and beyond are based on sharing and bringing joy. #MerryChirstmas to you all!”
Whitaker and the actress, 46, married in 1996 and share two daughters together: Sonnet Noel, 22, and True, 20.
Christmas is a celebration of solidarity - a time of the year when we are reminded that the bonds our families, friends, fellow citizens and beyond are based on sharing and bringing joy. #MerryChirstmas to you all! ????
— Forest Whitaker (@ForestWhitaker) December 25, 2018
Whitaker also has a 28-year-old son, Ocean, while Keisha has 27-year-old daughter Autumn, both from previous relationships.
Keisha, who is also a model, told PEOPLE in 1997 that the Oscar-winning actor “swept me off my feet.”
“He is very honest and sensitive and romantic,” she shared at the time. “He swept me off my feet — not with material things, more like the way he displayed his emotions.”
The two met on the set of their 1993 film Blown Away in which she portrayed Whitaker’s girlfriend. He proposed the following year and married in 1996 in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
“It was basically more spiritual than traditional and sealed by a beautiful Apache marriage blessing,” she told In Style in 1996 about their wedding.
In 2009, the actor told Parade he wasn’t a “tough love guy” when it came to raising their children.
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“They come to me when they’re trying to slip something by,” he said while describing Keisha as “much stronger” with their kids.
“I have to always take a pause when they come and say, ‘Hey dad, is it okay if we do this?’” he explained. “So I just look at them like, ‘Have you talked to your mom about that?’ They know I’m the easy one.”
The Blast first reported the news.
