Late last week, the news broke that Joey Lawrence and Samantha Cope were divorcing after two years of marriage. They have a 19-month-old daughter named Dylan. What made their divorce newsworthy was Samantha’s allegations that Joey cheated on her with Melina Alves, his co-star in the upcoming movie, Socked in for Christmas. Sam’s sources revealed that the two had gone to marriage counseling, but Joey would get ready for dates with Melina in front of his wife, who would be crying as she watched.
Now, a source close to Joey is pushing back, claiming that he’s “disappointed and upset” at how things are going down publicly. The source also threw a lot of shade at Samantha, claiming that his relationships with his second ex-wife, Chandie Yawn-Nelson, and their two daughters, Charleston, 18, and Liberty, 14, have gotten much better since their split. He was also tired of defending the three of them and his mom to Sam as well, so he can “breathe” now that they’re no longer together. Oh, and we also got the classic “man of faith” narrative. Basically, Joey’s side is saying that he and Sam have fought since the beginning of their relationship and yeah, he cheated, but the “infidelity isn’t the cause” of their split.
“Once they split, things got exponentially better between him and his ex wife and their girls,” the source says of Lawrence. “Joey’s strong and strong in his faith so he’s trying to take it all in stride, but he is very disappointed and upset at how all of this has turned out.”
Last week, another insider told PEOPLE that Lawrence allegedly had an affair with his Socked in for Christmas costar, Melina Alves. The source close to the family notes that the two “had a working relationship and were partners on a couple things.”
“He knew she was also going through a divorce,” the source continued. “He was very empathetic to her situation as well and called her collateral damage when it comes to all this.”
Lawrence and Cope tied the knot in May 2022. They first met while filming Lifetime’s My Husband’s Secret Brother a year prior. On Aug. 13, Cope filed for divorce from Lawrence after two years of marriage. According to a divorce filing obtained by PEOPLE, Cope cited irreconcilable differences as reason for their split and submitted the paperwork on Aug. 13 — two months after their date of separation, which was listed as June 7, 2024.
Following the news, a source close to the former couple claimed that the pair went their separate ways after Lawrence allegedly struck up a relationship with Alves, a writer and costar on his upcoming film, Socked in for Christmas.
“Joey met Melina Alves on the set of their movie, where she was a producer,” the source claimed. “He then love-bombed her just like he love-bombed Samantha. He continued to date Melina even after Samantha found out about it and confronted him.”
Another source later told PEOPLE that Lawrence and Cope “had troubles from the beginning of their relationship” and noted that while Lawrence did strike up a relationship with Alves, “infidelity isn’t the cause” for their split, “not by a long shot.”
“He had gotten to a point where he had hit his limit with defending his kids, his mom and his family to Samantha,” the source claimed, adding that Lawrence was “relieved the marriage is over because he can breathe.”
“He can be himself,” the source further explained. “He’s taking the time to make up for all of the lost time that he had with his children.”
Woooo boy, this is messy, messy, messy. It sounds like they were a bad match to begin with, probably because, ahem, the timeline is pretty sketchy on when Joey filed for divorce from Chandie and first got with Samantha. Of course his ex-wife and daughters weren’t going to get along with her. I’m curious what the bit with Joey’s mom is about, though. Even though it is in her best interest to not respond, I don’t get the impression that Samantha will go quietly. I give it two days, tops, before her camp does a little “She Says” in response to his “He Says.” I just feel badly for all three of Joey’s daughters who are involved here. It’s great that he’s on better terms with Charleston and Liberty, though I’m sure the past few years haven’t been easy for them at all. I hope he steps up and stays in Dylan’s life, and I hope Samantha doesn’t make her into a pawn to punish Joey.
Photos via Instagram
Who is Joey Lawrence?
I had to ask myself the same thing – was he in a boy band or something? But it turns out he was a child actor and he’s been acting here and there since and released an album and appeared on some shows like Dancing With the Stars.
Joey lawrence was the dumb good looking guy on the tv show Blossom with mayam bialik.
He was the dumb good looking kid in a lot of shows around then
Thanks, all.
This comment thread made me feel incredibly old, ha! Love it. Joey was my favorite at the time (as a character).
As a Christian myself, this supremely gives me the irrites – when people like him call themselves ‘a man of faith’ – and yet do all things contradicting a person of faith (assuming his faith is Christian..?)
Anyway- regardless which ‘faith’ it is, What a messy, selfish man.
I just bet he is disappointed in the way things turned out. His wife wasn’t having it. Maybe he should keep his di*k. In his pants.
So the divorce from his third ex-wife has him getting along better with his second ex-wife? wait another couple years to hear about how Melina feels once she’s his fourth ex-wife. I’m sure his faith will be even stronger by then
The reason his relationship was bad with his mom, ex and their kids was due to his decision to have an affair and to marry his mistress. Duh, Joey! Seriously. Why would any of those ladies be okay with the new wife? There was always going to be animosity. And history is repeating itself because there he goes again with the wandering d1ck.
Also he could very well be using his second wife as an excuse for why he was an absent father.
I hadn’t heard of him and don’t know anything about him – but – he’s MAGA I’m guessing
His use of passive voice here is WILD.
So much d*uchebagginess in one man.
Even the baby is side-eyeing them.
I’m a man of faith! Goes on dates whilst married. What faith does he belong to?
Cute baby, that’s all I’ve got.