'Orange Is the New Black' couple Samira Wiley and Lauren Morelli announce divorce

Samira Wiley, best known for her role in the series ‘Orange Is the New Black,’ has announced her divorce from writer-producer Lauren Morelli after nearly a decade of marriage. The former couple filed for an amicable divorce on Friday, January 30, a representative told Out.

"After nine years together, we have decided to end our marriage; however, our lifelong commitment to co-parenting will forever remain," the couple said in a statement to the magazine.

Samira Wiley and Lauren Morelli first met on the sets of ‘Orange Is the New Black’ in 2012, when Wiley starred as Poussey Washington and Morelli was a writer. They eventually started dating. Earlier, Morelli spoke about how she realized her sexual orientation while working on the hit series. She was married to a man at the time. She married producer Stephen Basilone in 2012 and announced their divorce in 2014.

“I realized I was gay in fall 2012, one of my first days on the set,” Morelli wrote in 2014. She separated from her then-husband the same year. “Accordingly, I was nervous about the first love scene I’d written for Alex [Laura Prepon] and Piper [Taylor Schilling]. I loved writing it, loved watching a tenderness emerge in their relationship where passion always seemed to be the ruling principle, but by that time, I was so deep in my own self-doubt that I constantly felt like a fraud,” she said.

Meanwhile, Samira Wiley and Lauren Morelli said ‘I do’ in March 2017. The couple exchanged vows in an intimate setting in Palm Springs, California, attended by family and friends. The former couple share a daughter, George Elizabeth, who was born in April 2021. Wiley announced the arrival of their daughter via social media.

"Happy 1st Mother's Day to my beautiful wife, who four weeks ago today, after laboring for almost three days, gave birth to our first child — our gorgeous daughter, George," Wiley captioned. "Welcome to the world, babygirl. We love you, and we thank you for giving us the best 1st Mother's Day two ladies could ask for.”

Despite the split, the couple has promised a lifelong commitment to co-parenting their daughter.Get the latest entertainment updates from the Times of India, along with the latest Hindi movies, upcoming Hindi movies in 2026 , and Telugu movies.”