Lupita Nyong’o Let Fans Into Her Breakup & It’s Been “A Balm” For Her

Sometimes stars really are just like us — in the realest, most human of ways. Yes, Lupita Nyong’o is an Academy Award winner, but she’s also currently facing a relatable personal crisis: heartbreak.

After a bad breakup, the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever star posted about her pain on Instagram on Oct. 19. Though she acknowledged that “there are much more important things going on in the world right now,” she shared that it was “necessary” for her to “share a personal truth and publicly dissociate [herself] from someone [she] can no longer trust.”

The actor didn’t name the person who hurt her, but she did briefly shame him. “I find myself in a season of heartbreak because of a love suddenly and devastatingly extinguished by deception,” she wrote. “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.’”

Facing The Pain

Nyong’o continued to explain that she is “choosing to face the pain, cultivating the courage to meet [her] life exactly as it is, and trusting that this too shall pass.” As for why she confided in fans, she said she hoped “knowledge of [her] experience” could be helpful to others coping with their own heartbreak. What she did not anticipate, though, was for fans to offer “a little corner online for the romantically heartbroken to gather.”

Love apparently came in waves, because Nyong’o returned to Instagram two days later to thank her supporters and share some of their kind messages and wisdom in a series of nine stories. “The words of encouragement mean more to me than I anticipated. They are a balm,” she wrote in part in the first.

Her followers sent various resources that helped them with past pain. Among them were “songs, poems, books, [and] quotes,” and she’s asked fans to keep the recommendations coming. “I will be sure to share some of what is resonating for me,” Nyong’o noted.

Her first batch of “#HeartbreakHealing” stories contained several messages she received, including one from director Ava DuVernay. “We lift you up with love and sisterhood,” the filmmaker wrote. “Your miracles are all around you. Let us count them in confidence and in faith. XO.”

He Who Shall Not Be Named?

Though Nyong’o opted to “publicly dissociate” from her ex, her posts don’t explicitly single anyone out. She was last linked to TV host and sports commentator Selema Masekela. The two went public with their romance on Instagram in December 2022, as People reported at the time, with the actor writing that they “just click!”

Nyong’o has historically tried to keep her personal life private. “Privacy is a commodity that is hard to come by,” she told British Vogue in 2019. Nonetheless, sharing her recent heartbreak appears to be helping her heal.