Nia Long Revealed the Powerful Reason Why She Decided Not To Reconcile With Her Fiancé After His Public Infidelity Scandal
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Nia Long weathered a very public split from her fiancé Ime Udoka in September 2022, but the nature of the breakup wasn’t anything she had a hand in. The former Boston Celtics basketball coach had an affair with a woman on the team’s administrative staff. The infidelity scandal left her heartbroken and wondering what her next steps should be.
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The 53-year-old actress shared her thoughts for the first time with Jeezy, who is going through his own divorce from Jeannie Mai, in a frank conversation to promote his new album, I Might Forgive… But I Don’t Forget. Long called the unexpected news “a wakeup call” because she realized her family structure was going to look much different all of a sudden. She told herself, “‘You’re gonna do this on your own and you’re gonna be fine!'”
Long has her 11-year-old son, Kez, that she shares with Udoka to consider in this equation, too. Even though she felt the pressure to keep the family together, she suddenly realized that it wasn’t serving her in a healthy way. “I had to come to a place where loving myself was bigger and more important than saving anybody,” she recalled of the powerful moment when she put herself first. Long found strength from the support she received from Black women who “stood up” for her and made her realize that there was no reason to be “embarrassed” for someone else’s behavior.
It’s been an emotional ride for Long, who also endured a custody battle with Udoka over their son, but she’s come through stronger than ever. “Somedays I’m, like, totally good, and then other days I’m like, ‘Ugh, God, this feels like so much work!” she summed up tearfully. “Then other days it feels like women shouldn’t have to be this strong. I don’t want to be this strong sometimes.”
Before you go, click here to see all the celebrity couples who have stayed together after cheating scandals.
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