Lena Waithe splits from wife Alana Mayo just two months after they married in secret
Alana Mayo (L) and Lena Waithe. (Dan MacMedan/Getty)
Actress and screenwriter Lena Waithe has announced that she has split from her wife Alana Mayo just two months after they tied the knot.
Waithe and Mayo confirmed the news in a joint statement released to PEOPLE.
“After careful thought and consideration, we have decided to part ways,” they said.
“We have nothing but support for one another and ask that you respect our privacy during this time.”
Lena Waithe and Alana Mayo married in a secret ceremony in November 2019.
The couple wed in November in a secret, low-key wedding ceremony after three years of dating. They got engaged on Thanksgiving in 2017.
Speaking on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to guest host John Legend in November, Waithe revealed that she had married in secret.
“We snuck and did it, you know,” she said. “We didn’t make any announcements.
“We went to San Francisco. We went to the courthouse. Got married right in front of Harvey Milk’s bust. It was her idea, as all good things are.
After careful thought and consideration, we have decided to part ways. We have nothing but support for one another and ask that you respect our privacy during this time.
“And she was just driving and she saw the courthouse and she said, ‘We should get married there.’ And I said, ‘Cool, I’m down.'”
She continued: “It was a humbling day, you know, to marry someone so amazing. But also to really appreciate all the work that so many people have put in for us to be able to do that.”
“Absolutely, it was a struggle to make that happen,” Legend said. “It’s beautiful that you can live your full truth and be in love and declare it to the world.
“Everybody should be able to do that,” Waithe said.
Waithe won an Emmy for her work on Master of None.
Waithe is best known for her role in Netflix hit Master of None. In 2017, she became the first black woman to win a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series after writing the show’s “Thanksgiving” episode, which was loosely based on her personal story of coming out as a lesbian to her mother.
During her Emmys acceptance speech, Waithe spoke passionately about the need for diversity in the arts.
“Thank you for embracing a little Indian boy from South Carolina and a little queer black girl from the south side of Chicago. We appreciate it more than you could ever know.
“My LGBTQIA family, I see each and every one of you. The things that make us different those are our superpowers.
“Every day when you walk out the door, put on your imaginary cape and go out there and conquer the world. Because the world would not be as beautiful as it is if we weren’t in it,” she said.
