After dating for about a year, Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o and her boyfriend Selema Masekela called it quits, the actress said on October 19.
Without specifically mentioning her ex-partner, Lupita announced the news on Instagram, saying that she had to come clean about a personal reality and break her connection with someone she could no longer trust.
Lupita talked about her recent heartbreak—which was brought on by a love that was abruptly and tragically destroyed by deceit—in her emotional article. She acknowledged that she is going through a painful and vulnerable season as a result of her heartbreak.
Lupita said that although her first instinct was to hide from the world and go into the shadows, she ultimately made the brave decision to face the agony head-on.
She realized that the intensity of her suffering matched the depth of her love, and she is deciding to face it head-on with fortitude and the faith that this trying time will pass.
The actress gave a public explanation of why she decided to share this traumatic incident, saying that she wanted to support anyone who was experiencing heartbreak.
“There are much more important things going on in the world right now, and my thoughts are with those who are deeply suffering.
“At this moment, it is necessary for me to share a personal truth and publicly dissociate myself from someone I can no longer trust,” she wrote.
She realized that the intensity of her suffering matched the depth of her love, and she is deciding to face it head-on with fortitude and the faith that this trying time will pass.
The actress gave a public explanation of why she decided to share this traumatic incident, saying that she wanted to support anyone who was experiencing heartbreak.
She feels that by talking about her own heartbreak, she might help people who might be going through something similar by providing advice, understanding, and consolation.
“I find myself in a season of heartbreak because of a love suddenly and devastatingly extinguished by deception. I am tempted to run into the shadows and hide, only to return to the light when I have regained my strength enough for me to say, “Whatever, my life is better this way.”
“But I am reminded that the magnitude of the pain I am feeling is equal to the measure of my capacity for love. And so, 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 wrote.
Lupita articulated the idea that a tender heart ultimately gives birth to fearlessness, expressing her hope that this belief holds true.
“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,”
Selema Masekela and Lupita’s relationship
The relationship between the now-ex-couple goes back a few years, as TV host and designer Selema Masekela openly admitted in 2016 that she had a thing for Lupita Nyong’o.
“Hypothetically speaking, let’s say you’re seated behind Lupita Nyong’o on an airplane, what would be your opening line?” he tweeted at the time.
By March 2022, when Lupita attended the grand opening of his surf gear brand, Mami Wata, in Venice, California, their connection had gone from being hypothetical to actual.
In December 2022, Lupita and Selema publicly expressed their love on Instagram. “We just click!” she tweeted, along with the hashtags “#thisismylove.”
Hearts are synced, Selema wrote in a different post, expressing his intense love for Lupita. My true, whole love, @lupitanyongo.”
Just two months prior, Lupita sent a powerful birthday card to Selema, describing him as her favorite playmate and expressing her affection for the Sunshine Human.
In return, he praised her for the birthday gift and declared himself the luckiest man alive.
Lupita announced the split on Instagram, but Selema Masekela hasn’t spoken about it yet.
Fans and supporters of Lupita Nyong’o and Selema Masekela are shocked and devastated by their sudden breakup, as they had seemed to be a happy and loving couple.
