Lupita Nyong’o Announces Split From Selema Masekela After Being ‘Devastatingly Extinguished by Deception’

Lupita Nyong'o announced that she and boyfriend Selema Masekela have called it quits —and alluded that the split may not be amicable.

“At this moment, it is necessary for me to share a personal truth and publicly dissociate myself from someone I can no longer trust …” Nyong'o, 40, wrote via a lengthy Instagram statement on Thursday, October 19. “I find myself in a season of heartbreak because of a love suddenly and devastatingly extinguished by deception.”

Nyong'o shared that she was “tempted to run into the shadows and hide” and return once she “regained” her strength. However, the actress ultimately decided to be honest about her emotions.

“I am choosing to face the pain, cultivating the courage to meet my life exactly as it is, and trusting that this too shall pass,” she continued. “The promise, they say, is that a tender heart is what gives birth to fearlessness. I hope it’s true … I share this to keep it ??, and hoping that the knowledge of my experience might be useful to someone else out there experiencing the grip of heartbreak who is poised to try and escape from the pain and miss out on the wisdom that comes from it. #Breakup.”

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Nyong'o ended her message by encouraging her followers to face their pain so they “don’t spread it.”

Masekela, 52, has yet to address the breakup. However, both Masekela and Nyong'o’s social media pages no longer feature photos of one another.

While Nyong'o didn’t mention Masekela by name in her post, she was last romantically linked to the TV host. In December 2022, the Oscar winner publicly confirmed her relationship with Masekela.

“We just click! ?? @selema #thisismylove #nuffsaid,” she captioned a since-deleted Instagram video of the pair trying on outfits at the time.

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One night prior to announcing her split from Masekela, Nyong'o was photographed alongside Joshua Jackson — who split from estranged wife Jodie Turner-Smith in September — while attending Janelle Monáe’s Los Angeles concert on Wednesday, October 18. TMZ reported that the actors attended the show with a group of friends, taking in the show as Nyong'o and Jackson, 45, were all smiles and dancing in their seats.

Jackson and Turner Smith, 37, met in 2018 and wed the following year. In 2020, they welcomed their daughter. The twosome were married for four years before Turner-Smith filed for divorce. Before Jackson attended the concert, the model shared an inspiring quote about personal growth in the midst of her divorce. “Everything heals and grows when it is loved well. People, too,” the quote read via Turner-Smith’s Instagram on Tuesday, October 17.