After Recent Breakup, Lupita Nyong’o Says She Won’t Be Doing Anymore Soft Launches Of Her Relationships Online

Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o went through heartbreak last year with the first man she’s openly claimed, musician Selema Masekela. In a recent interview, the star said in a few words that she won’t be doing that again anytime soon. The interview, with Porter magazine, began with her explaining why she chose to go public with her relationship, and also divulging when it ended on social media.

“In my mind, when I shared my relationship status with the world, it was because I felt sure about it,” Nyong’o, 40, said during the interview. In October 2023, the star announced that she and Masekela, 52, were done, citing “deception” as a reason at the time.

She continued, “I was living in a lot of pain and heartbreak. 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. Surely there is a lesson for me to learn in this, and I just want to be real about it.”

The star added that sharing the news with her millions of followers made her feel less isolated in the heartbreak she was experiencing. 

“I knew how it could be interpreted; I knew it would have a life of its own. But then I started to see the comments and people were being so loving and supportive. The ones that moved me the most were other people sharing their pain and their heartbreak,” she said.

Nyong’o and Masekela went public with their relationship in Decemeber 2022, but it’s unclear when it actually started. The actress is allegedly now dating Dawson’s Creek alum Joshua Jackson, and that caused quite the stir since he recently split from actress Jodie Turner-Smith, whom he married in 2019. She filed for divorce in October, citing “irreconcilable differences” as the cause. They share a daughter together. Nyong’o and Jackson were first spotted together at a Janelle Monáe concert in Los Angeles around the time of her breakup announcement. Shortly after, they were photographed holding hands while taking a stroll.

During the Porter interview the actress made it known that she won’t be sharing the juicy details of her romances moving forward. During the interview she said it was, “very, very sage of me,” to be public about her relationship since she’s usually so private. “I’m going back to those days, by the way.”