Most people didn’t read my post yesterday about Jay-Z’s 4:44, or the newly released “Footnotes on 4:44.” In the footnotes, Jay-Z and other men talk about marriage, toxic masculinity, their emotions and more. Jay-Z assembled a wide array of black men and men of color for the project, which is awesome. One of the assembled dudes was Jesse Williams, who left his wife Aryn Drake-Lee earlier this year. The rumor going around was that Jesse and Aryn’s marriage was over soon after he met Minka Kelly last year. Page Six and TMZ pretty much confirmed Minka’s role in Jesse’s divorce, but that didn’t stop Jesse from trying to, like, take the high road in the footnotes project. He says in “Footnotes on 4:44”:
“I was in a relationship 13 years, 13 real years, not 5 years, not 7 years — 13 years. All of a sudden motherf—ers are writing think-pieces that I somehow threw a 13-year relationship. Like, the most painful experience I’ve had in my life with a person I’ve loved with all of my heart — that I threw a person and my family in the trash because a girl I work with is cute.”
Justifiable shade (towards the gossip press) or is he just shady as hell? I said yesterday that he can try to sound indignant all he wants, I am still convinced that he did exactly what he describes: he threw away 13 years with Aryn so that he could get with Minka Kelly. That’s not a thinkpiece, that’s a factual statement about what the f–k happened. Well, those comments came out late Monday. Mid-day Tuesday, People Magazine ran this story:
New couple alert! Jesse Williams and Minka Kelly are dating, a source confirms to PEOPLE.
“They’re having a good time together,” adds the source of the pair, who are currently working on a video game together. The news comes three months after Grey’s Anatomy star Williams officially split from wife Aryn Drake-Lee.
Williams filed for divorce on April 11, according to documents obtained by PEOPLE. The actor first met Drake-Lee, a real estate broker, while working as a schoolteacher in New York. The pair wed in September 2012 after more than five years of dating. Williams and Drake-Lee are currently in court regarding the custody agreement over their two young children: daughter Sadie, 3, and son Maceo, who was born in 2015.
We’ve talked before about the culture of gossip and I’ve expressed some concerns that sometimes we “cancel” celebrities too soon, or that people are being canceled over some minor infraction or poor choice of words. But really, I feel like canceling Jesse Williams. He’s trying to have his cake and eat it too, in a lot of different ways. He wants to “get credit” for being with the same woman for 13 years, but he doesn’t want to take the hit for dumping his wife (and mother of his children) for another woman. He wants to revel in his own indignant self-regard for how no one really understands his personal business, all while attempting to rollout his new relationship with Minka in People Magazine. He’s a walking cliche but he believes he is the most special and misunderstood man ever. Sorry, guys. Cancel him.
Oh, here’s more evidence of Jesse’s attempted Girlfriend Rollout: he and Minka got pap’d together on a “date night” last night. Affleck-esque cliche.
Jesse Williams and Minka Kelly's Date Night Photos https://t.co/BEubeMVgcT
— TMZ (@TMZ) July 12, 2017
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I dunno, it seems like it’s because he’s positioning Minka as not just ‘cute’. He wouldn’t throw a person away for just a cute girl, but someone with substance.
It’s disengenuous, but true technically. Interesting to see if that’s his style going forward.
Also, he totally left Aryn for Minka. His marriage didn’t just happen to dissolve, there was a catalyst, whether it was physical or emotional.
I read yesterdays post, I agreed, and the same still stands today.
It’s clear that he’s hinting around that there’s more to it, but whether or not Minka was the final nail in the coffin – we’ll never know. Either way, he’s a cliché despite his attempts to paint it any differently.
Yep, such a old, old story….guy gets successful and cheats on the woman who loved him when he was nobody. Rinse, repeat. Still disgusting.
Or the marriage dissolved before over other things and meeting Minka gave him impetus to finally pull the lever? Most marriages are dead and both partners know it long before one of them has the courage to tell the world.
truth, but it isn’t exactly something that deserves praise, you know? I’m not going to say it was a mature decision. PLus it usually happens when one partner feels its over, and hasn’t told the other – who may not feel that way.
I’d have way more respect if he said – my marriage has been done for awhile, but I couldn’t let go. I was irresponsible with Aryn’s feelings and selfish, I regret that. Instead hes saying – I didn’t just throw away my family for a cute girl.
Well she managed to be the “impetus” for Donald Faison to pull the lever on his marriage too. She seems to be very helpful in that way! 😒
Look believe what you want but what we’ve seen so far supports a gross affair. Wife home with newish baby who reacts with great hurt to this (not someone who knew “it was already over”). Denials of being with the new piece in Paris, indignant denials of tabloid stories (on Jay-Z’s album 😂)…only to pop up in photos on a date with the same girl from those stories. Then someone’s people leaks a “they’re dating!” story to People (his) and the other’s people panics and puts out a “No! Just friends! Not the other woman!! I respect myself!” story on Just Jared (hers). Why the Just Jared story if she’s more than just the “cute girl”? They’ve been caught in a lie. He’s being slimey about it and she’s panicking.
His PR game has been such an amateur hour , especially for someone who most thought was smarter than this
I am just waiting now for the Minka is pregnant stories to put the nail in the coffin
HAHAHAHAHAHA! Time for Jay-Z to edit that video. Did you see this “exclusive” on a Just Jared: http://www.justjared.com/2017/07/11/minka-kelly-jesse-williams-are-strictly-friends-for-now-exclusive/#disqus_thread ?
Strickly friends huh, but dating in People magazine? Somebody’s people aren’t talking to somebody’s people. What a mess! Shady as hell. Gross that he’d try to play the victim.
The pics came out so they thought, let’s run with it. Then Instagram tore these 2 to damn shreds. Thank god he keeps his head shaven because otherwise he might have need those John Travolta plugs after his stans/fans snatched all of his hair, including the follicles. They grossly miscalculated how high they put him on a pedestal and he leaped off it himself. Damage control is in full mode and as soon as they think it’s OK to try and go legit again, there will be another round of pics. I think maybe after the summer. With any luck, they won’t last any longer anyway and then he can crawl back to Aryn maybe (I don’t know so many stories could develop from this stupidity, I love it).
yeah, i saw that. Nice try to spin the pics coming out…
I am not even shading him for falling in love with somebody else. It is never black and white, in love and marriage there are many grey zone. But at least man up and admit it. But all this fake ‘we are only friends’ bs to save face is unworthy.
5-7-13-20-40 years… it’s all the same. Cheating is cheating.
When are people going to learn that there no way to spin that?
Here, here.
Plus, he has two small children at home. He loses all credibility in my eyes.
What was worse was that Aryn supported him before he broke through as an actor. So now he’s in a higher income bracket he decides to trade the wife in for a hot slutty mistress?
Yup, gross and a total cliche.
What does she see in him?
she has a bad picker to be sure…
She has a great picker, and seems to get with men with more fame/social status than her to give up everything and everyone they’re doing for her.
She’s just shady as hell and so is he.
Honestly, I have never seen her in any acting job…I’ve only seen her is in gossip columns because she’s hooking up with somebody.
She had a major role in Friday Night Lights actually. It was a long time ago but the show was amazing.
The show was amazing but her baby voice was (is) not.
Minka is just as shady as Jesse.
*smh* so cliche, so pathetic, so not worth any faux indignation on his part or, worse, real indignation.
Well wishes to his future ex-wife and their children. Hope she finds someone worthy of her.
I stopped caring when he supported Nate Parker. I don’t care whether he cheated on his wife or not, supporting a rapist is what made him trash to me.
Did he? Unequivocally? Because that would be very dissapointing.
I’m not holier than thou-ing here, I just would have respected him so much more if he would have been absolutely and brutally honest in that video. I have the feeling the other guys were and I respect them for that, even if it meant owning up to doing douchebag things, but I think that Jesse was just busy trying to protect his image.
Does it really come as a surprise? These type of men go with the mindset of bros before hos, whether that woman is black, white, or another race. Jesse Williams cheated on his wife just as Jay-Z cheated on Beyonce numerous times. Just as Nate Parker has disrespected and harmed women from his past and likely present. Bros before hos. These misogynists stick together and support each other, but when it comes to respecting women, their own wives, forget about it.
Another black married man under Minka’s belt.
DRAG HUH!
Like, the most painful experience I’ve had in my life with a person I’ve loved with all of my heart — that I threw a person and my family in the trash because a girl I work with is cute.”
But that’s what you did, jackass. But maybe it will work put for you-you can have your “cute girl” without the burden of your wife and kids and Minka Kelly can get more of the press she always seems to be thirsting for.
Stop whining. You did a cowardly, selfish thing-buck the cheater trend and own up to it instead of behaving as if you’re the injured party that has gone through this tragic thing.
I get him although I’m sure I’ll be in the minority. He is saying he didnt “throw away his marriage”, it failed. Thats what he means by emphasizing the thirteen. They hang on for a long time through failure. And he is saying it didnt fail over a “pretty girl”. We rarely know the complete details in stories like these. Perhaps they were merely married by name only and stalling on filing the papers but he met someone that made him want to go that final step. Either way, he is saying this wasnt a happy marriage torn apart by a cute co-worker and in the absence of his wife explicitly disputing that, everything else is just stereotyping men.
That said, I thoroughly dislike his choice of new woman. She strikes me as peak white feminist.
I think it is more about cheaters in general, not just men. It is about the perception of “trading up” which, btw, it isn’t in this case or ever. If one can’t be faithful, one might should publically and officially separate before one par takes of the advantages of single life. It is only fair to the existing spouse and also assures that these questions about your character aren’t brought into it at all.
I know marriage and life are complicated, truly. This just seems to be a decision that you can choose not to make. Just because that door is open doesn’t mean you have to walk through it. If his wife had done that, people would tear her apart.
Seems though all his hard work to try to make the failing marriage stopped as soon as he became moderately famous and the cute hot white girl got interested in him.
Major side eye.
And this whole bring bandage babies to save marriage and leave them children of divorced parents when they r toddler seems really cruel and selfish of couples. Get a bandage plush toy instead of bringing a new life and then bickering over the responsibility
He married her 5 years ago and he was with her for 8 or more years before that. He’s marriage wasn’t even in the phase where you landed in a rut, they were still in the baby stages of their marriage. If they were failing it would have been noticeable early on because eight years of courtship, maybe living together and then moving cross country for his dream. That’s a lot of evolution for relationship and plenty of opportunities to fail, but they stuck through it. The man got bored of his basic home life and started to look around for more options. He could have fallen for his mistress when they met during the red carpets or cast parties for the opening of their movie the butler, but I guess the attraction didn’t show up then. It showed up after he had two children who will never know their parents as couple because their father felt drawn by a woman who was everything their mother isn’t.
So Jesse, you should be happy that your ex doesn’t let your children have sleepovers at your house otherwise you wouldn’t be able to take your girlfriend out to movies. He should concentrate on fostering his “new” relationship instead off mouthing everyone off.
Its a difficult conversation to have because we just dont know. You could be very right for all I know.
I’ll just say that many broken marriages started off with a long relationship preceeding the marriage, the most famous example being Brad and Angie. Also many times people cement a troubled relationship in marriage in an attempt to seal the cracks. Then young kids come along and those cracks break open once again. The young kids phase is the roughest one on any marriage believe me. It is not unlikely that they were on the out before Minka. His indignation at being attacked may be very justified
I don’t understand where being on the “outs” with your spouse is reason or excuse enough to start another relationship while ostensibly married. I can guarantee if your marriage lasts for a long time, there will most likely be periods of time, perhaps months, when your relationship takes a nosedive and you are temporarily on the “outs”. There can be a beauty to perseverance and a unbelievable level of closeness, trust, and respect that can come from that.
Faithfulness through those times are the test of marriage, character, strength, and wisdom. I am not condoning unhappy unions. I am saying that you can end a marriage with bravery and dignity instead of allowing a third part in to salve your ego, conscience, boredom, or whatever dissatisfaction you may have….unless, of course, you just want some strange and are hoping you aren’t caught and if you are the repercussions aren’t that bad. Or, maybe, once you tested the unfaithful waters, you discover you would rather play in the new pond permanently. In which cases, I guess the wronged partner is really getting a crap-covered gift that, only later, they can appreciate as you (not you, personally) and your fickleness can be someone else’s’ problem.
“…Faithfulness through those times are the test of marriage, character, strength, and wisdom….”
Preach!!
I’m 25 yrs married to PhatGuy and the tough times always pass if you truly love each other. If divorce is not an option you temper your feelings and emotions when they are the worst so you can still enjoy the good times.
Dude’s a cad, plain and simple.
Congratulations! Mr. T. garden and I are on year 23. If all the “out times” are added together, I bet there is easily one to two years worth. One day here, a weekend there, that once where for no good reason I didn’t like your face for like a month!
Not to be devils advocate but that’s for the best when kids don’t remember the divorce. In that situation kids mostly don’t feel sad about it. My friend made this choice and it worked for them. What Ben and Jen did was much worse.
But their kids are so young. Why bring them into a “failing” marriage? I know it happens, but why? I don’t think it was failing… until Minka rolled in.
Yep.
So many people think kids will save their marriage. Maybe they made things more stressful.
Maybe it’s the classic story… the wife didn’t know it was failing.
Which is also his fault, then. It’s not the woman’s job to carry the emotional load of the relationship. If he was unhappy, the time to say that was before having a child, much less having two.
It could’ve been fine before kids and failing after. Lots of marriages struggle when kids appear. It changes the dynamic of a relationship.
@Ramona
+1
I agree with you. He is a dog for cheating on his wife, no excuses for that. However his point is that the 13 years WERE valuable and important to him. He loved her and she was his partner throughout. I feel like all the articles I read about his marriage go out of their way to bash and demean his wife with their backhanded “compliments” of her lack of Hollywood looks. They do a “poor girl” pseudo-racist take on his Black wife being not as good looking as his new White size 4 girlfriend. IMO she looks pretty naturally and he spent 13 years proudly showing her off. I have never heard him say ANYTHING negative about her prior to the separation. How many couples in Hollywood have been together for 13 years?
I suspect they grew apart, had a fix-it baby that did not fix the marriage. That said, he should have maned-up and got a divorce instead of cheating.
I agree about the back-handed compliments. IMO, she is beautiful full stop. So is Minka. But the media only sees size 2-4 as beautiful then add in other requirements like height, features, hair, body shape, breast size ( not too large or small), and for WOC, shade of color plus other requirements.
Truly, 99.9% of us have never been and will never be HW beautiful at any age or color. Also, so much of a person’s, particularly females, value is tied to their looks in HW. IRL, we need to reject that thinking and value system. Aron is beautiful and so much more as a whole person. Obviously she was supportive to him, productive herself, and cared for two small children. Maybe, in HW none of that counts for anything, heck maybe out here it doesn’t either to some but I, personally, reject that and hold people to higher standards.
She is a very lovely woman so I wish people would stop with that trash. Looks have nothing to do with it and she’s not ugly anyway. She is a natural woman who isn’t trying to be a pop tart plastic doll. I am sure the marriage was in trouble but Minka Kelly has a pattern. If it was someone else I wouldn’t be as suspicious.
I think he understands that a mother does not want her babies to go off for visitation knowing someone like Minka Kelly is around. That instinct is strong and he should respect that. Their children are babies still. He should be trying to make Aryn comfortable with this new situation respecting her position as the mother of his children.
He needs to shut it. Optics aren’t on his side on this.
Hmm I think aryn looks nice, she’s more attractive than some Hollywood actresses even. However minka is one of the very most beautiful (physically) Hollywood stars in my opinion. They shouldn’t make awkward comments about their respective appearances though. Even if aryn was white. It’s a little too below the belt. It’s not like they are reality show ladies having a funny rivalry. Minka basically just stole aryns husband and father of her children. Why look tacky by rubbing salt in the wound.
Don’t worry Kaiser, I read yesterday’s article, just didn’t have a comment. As for Jesse, meh I find him bland and uninteresting, not nearly as charismatic and relevant as the others included in Jay-Z’s video.
Yea, i feel the same way @snazzy. i used to feel bad because i wanted to be as excited about his talent as an actor and his character’s role on Grey’s as I (used to) to feel about his purported ‘wokeness.’ i could never quite get there.
As you say, this is no shade, just the facts – the man has low charisma levels onscreen. I’ve said it before – no matter who they pair him with, I just don’t believe him – MAYBE it’s because his self-absorption is more believable than the relationship oscreen.
It’s funny that Shonda now appears to have new father, Dr Avery Jackson leaving his white wife on the show, for his cute black colleague.
Shonda throws serious shade. Lol
What a hypocrite! Yeah he’s cancelled’
I refuse to cance Jessie for his personal life. He has done way too much in the black community, his activism is what I’m interested in. I’ll gossip because this is a gossip site, but nope, not cancelling.
Jesse Williams greys anatomy minka Kelly that football show, Blair waldorfs roommate in a horror movie and dated Derek jeter
Oh, so herpes for everyone. There’s a nice wrinkle.
Oh you mean jeter has herpes? Yikes
hmmm, 90% of all adults carry the herpes simplex virus – it’s almost unavoidable as it can be transmitted through saliva. You can catch a herpes virus by drinking from the same glass or kissing.
There’s a significant difference between the two types though so far as management.
I never ‘believed the hype’ anyway Jesse my boy but hmmm mmm, you are in the shitcan now LMAO. All his WOC stans, his activism he so heavily relied on for popularity, poof gone.
It’s one thing to leave your black wife for a white woman, things do happen and cheating is rife in Hwood but dude you literally went on Jay’s 4:44 Fuckboi Confessions Reloaded to say how you’re not cheating with that ‘cute girl’ from work. Aryn chuck them deuces up! And what girl is he actually referring to? It cannot be this 37 year old attentionseeker who’s only known in Hwood because of her dating more famous people right? Don’t make her into an innocent victim, it’s typical she’s the one staring at the camera of the paps, she’s got them on speed dial. Learn from this now Jesse.
Let’s hope Chris Evans doesn’t want to go for another round as she’ll dump Jesse’s weak ass in a second. Actually I want that to happen now, bring the drama please.
The evidence of his cheating is evident though. They worked together in January, he split from his wife end of April and she split from her boyfriend in March. People says they’ve been dating since May. Aryn’s sources says he just left her so it wasn’t that they were separated for a long time prior to the official break-up. Now Jesse trying to deny all of this saying ‘something might blossom’ but they’re ‘just friends’ for now Minka is a respectful person all of a sudden.. PR geniuses they are not.
The problem is that Jesse and Minka are two idiots who only saw the short-term advantages (their horny-ness) but neither have the career for this bad PR not to backfire or the personal life to offer their relationship to elevate them to higher stardom. Minka could teach him the ropes of generating PR but she can only generate PR due to her dating and she doesn’t have any game anyway so that’s a dud in this situation.
At least the summer is gearing up from some drama-filled PR. Ben Affleck, your turn again 🙂
See, to me, it is just like the Affleck situation with less fame. No pity for these guys from me, I’ll save that for their soon to be ex-wives and their children. Women really do get the short end of the stick in these situations and it isn’t fair. Both women seem to be instrumental to their husbands’ professional success and, assuredly, the stability of their families and this is the respect they get in return. You don’t have to stay married at all but you can do things with decency and respect.
Exactly. I do feel sorry for Aryn (of course). There’s cheating and then there’s cheating. If you don’t want people to talk, then don’t talk yourself. Jesse opened himself up for this drama so I don’t feel sorry for his or Minka’s ass. I do hope Aryn is having her summer fling though although with 2 young children, her focus will be the children.
I agree 100%, Tulip Garden.
Chris Evans and Minka Kelly’s drama is neverending. I wouldn’t be surprised if she dropped Jesse like a hot potato the minute Captain America looks her way. It would be like Sienna Miller-Balthazar Getty and Jude Law and I will be laughing my ass off.
They popped up in my head too. It’s all neverending same cycle though, just with different players. And they all get burned lol…
If he cheats with you he will cheat on you. Why do so many think they’re better than the last one? Smh
He was into her in the beginning the same way too sis but congrats you got your prize.
Isn’t Minka the perpetual side-chick? She has no self-respect.
I really don’t mind Jesse. And props to him for breaking it off with his wife early and not cheating on her for years and years. I get that it’s hard but I’ve said it before, you can’t help who you fall in love with.
Agreed. He’s not cancelled in my book.
But didn’t you see the Just Jared exclusive (a known PR mouthpiece)? They’re just friends! Just friends! JUST FRIENDS I tell you!! Some “love” affair this is, one of them doesn’t even want to admit to it. 🙄
@Mia4s – You’re killing me here! :))
How do you know he hasnt cheated for years?
I agree. Marriages fail, you are not an evil person because you want a divorce. So many marriages fail!
If he isnt in love with ARyn and doesnt want to be with her, why should he stay? Would people rather he do a Ben Affleck and stay – have more kids and perpetually cheat?
I would rather judge how he handles the divorce. If he is the wealthier party, he should pay her off and do whats right for the kids as far as custody goes. As for her, let him go and pick up the pieces and find someone who deserves your love!
“you can’t help who you fall in love with.”
So tired of this being used by cheaters and liars everywhere to justify terrible decisions. The simple fact is, there’s ALWAYS a moment when you can stop yourself before it gets too far. Where you can evaluate whether to blow up your entire marriage or keep it as a fleeting, unacted-upon infatuation that will pass in time (and it does).
Most people don’t want to stop themselves, so they pretend like it’s out of their control. It never, ever is. Jesse Williams doesn’t want to take the hit for leaving his wife for his co-star. I’d have way more respect for him if he just owned it, rather than the lying and whinging he’s doing right now. Not a good look, imo. Not someone I admire.
“’you can’t help who you fall in love with.’
So tired of this being used by cheaters and liars everywhere to justify terrible decisions.”
Right up there with “Boys will be Boys” as some sort of socially acceptable excuse for questionable behavior. I’m assuming he did also “love” his wife/mother of his young children at SOME point, so why not now show her basic, simple respect and handle this with more discretion and decorum?
That 4:44 was a preemptive strike. He knew the photos were about to drop so tried to get ahead of the story by saying he didn’t cheat.
He is over, cancelled. He will loose his fan base. I hope she is worth his career.
…and his family. if he does lose his career, she will do to him what he did to his wife, trade-in.
All of this for Lyla Garrity, the blandest girl in Texas?
I’ve never seen FNL, but she appeared in a recurring role on Jane the Virgin last season. She truly was the blandest actress.
These people love proclaiming that their marriage was in shambles prior to “dating again”. Oh please….
Jesse got caught in Paris months ago with this perpetual mistress (see: Donald Faison) & known social climber. He has a 2 year old child with his wife, & not long ago he was praising her all over the place for supporting him through everything.. & suddenly it was over?
He can say goodbye to his D list career, & Minka will keep trying to make it big on someone else’s D*ck. The only reason why this is getting more attention is because Minka is leaking info, otherwise no one would care or be checking for him or her.
So over celebrities who play the “You think you know, but you have no idea what the real story is.” line, when the punchline is still the same. It annoyed me with Brad and Angelina (“I have plenty of lovers, I don’t need Brad” okay but you’re still banging him so tomato potato, girl), and it annoys me here. Maybe he’s saying that he and Aryn were having problems before Minka sauntered in. I don’t think people are talking so much about this because of the minutia around how/why him and Minka got together, its that its so soon after/at the moment of his divorce announcement. Maybe nothing happened before he filed, but filing for divorce and texting Minka Kelly 3 minutes later to ask her out is just as bad in my book.
@JanedoesWork
I’m over the usual suspects unfairly ‘piling on’ their favorite punching bag Angelina Jolie (2nd only to Hillary Clinton as a same sex misogyny target) – almost 13 years later using out of context quotes.
I think everyone should at least be mature enough to recognize that no matter how much we identify with the average looking sitcom actress with the 90s shag (who we only loved because we knew we could get that haircut and look just as good aka not threatening) that doesn’t give us an excuse to irrationally attack her imagined rival for all time.
Now, reality check:
No relationship is ever instantaneous. So trying to impugn someone by using what they said before she ever thought they’d be together, is a d* move.
There are boring non-movie star types, a lot less interesting, compelling and famous than Angelina and Brad who face speculation and gossip (see the subjects of this thread). Sometimes the gossip is accurate, sometimes it’s not. For example:
Because you told co-workers at last years’ Christmas party that you’d never date Jack in IT, and now you’re engaged a year later – that doesn’t mean you need to be burned at the stake ad infinitum. Will there be people who thought you were lying and banging Jack when you said that, just because you’re together now? Sure, but their need to create their own fictitious universe with which to bash you, may mean they need psychological help, but it is irrelevant to the reality.
By the way, this is the accurate quote, when questioned about their growing intimacy in 2004, Jolie insisted: “I wouldn’t sleep with a married man. I have enough lovers. I don’t need Brad.”
Jolie subsequently said she knew nothing about his marriage, and assumed he was happily married – until he told her different, that he was separated, much later. We already know from Brad and Aniston they weren’t together, and Brad sealed the deal, when he told her about his growing feelings for Angelina.
But by all means, keep blaming the woman who was *next* in perpetuity.
THIS! I completely agree with you. It’s amazing how obsessed women are with Jennifer Aniston and hate on Angelina because…what you said. Jennifer is “relatable” and super bland (non-threatening). I personally don’t find her attractive- she is a dime a dozen blonde in Hollywood. She is also a master PR who knows who her target audience is and plays them like a fiddle.
Exactly. By championing one woman they are bashing another for what a man has chosen to do. I don’t know what happened but it looks bad. But it doesn’t mean there isn’t some truth in what he saying. We assume because his wife isn’t a celeb that it has anything to do with that. Maybe or maybe not.
Minka has been in some situations that are questionable but no woman can make a man leave someone unless he wants to.
That old theme of a Jezebel/Eve being the source of trouble is nonsense.
see I just can’t get to worked up about this. Men in the industry are dogs. I’d rather just not know what’s going on if I start liking them because it’s always a mess. And at least he’s actually divorcing and not staying married and chronically cheating like JayZ did for so long that the nerdy critics on my Slate podcast were talking about it. Serious question..If he cheated with a black woman would it all be ok???
“Would it all be OK?” No, of course not. Particularly if it played out as it has.
I’m going to tread carefully here as I’m not a woman of color but I believe there is a certain (and understandable) added upset for his Black female fans in particular when he gives a well-publicized speech at the BET awards that talks about how wonderful Black women are and that Black men need to appreciate and treat them better…and then he goes on to treat his own Black wife pretty poorly for a White side piece. Do I see how that would be seen as extra gross by his fan base? Oh yes.
I am a black woman and my point is there are many, many black male celebrities that dog around and either stay with their wives or stay dating black women and no one really reacts that harshly. To me the big issue here is the interracial relationship.
Oh absolutely, @Luca76 he’s far from the only one dogging around but most of those others didn’t get a big boost in fame from a rousing public speech with a passage about how much he loves and respects Black women and that Black men need to do better for them. I mean it’s pretty easy to see why there is a harsher reaction here than against say, Chris Rock. Rock gave an interview saying essentially: yes I suck, I’m awful, I’m a dog. Yes, yes he is. End of story. Hypocrisy tends to bring out a stronger reaction, not just in this case but to most things.
@ Luca76
Black women here , I have seen black women drag other black women all the time for not keeping their legs closed to married men and fans do some serious PI work to see if they can prove a black male celeb they like is cheating
FOr me it’s the callousness of leaving someone who you admitted had your back and supported you when you had nothing with two toddlers, his last child barely a yr old which mean he left them his wife with anew born and a toddler ,do you realize with baby blues etc how hard it is for a woman to cope with toddlers both under 2 and have to deal with your husband walking out on top of that ??
Also black male machismo makes many black male artist esp rappers wear thier doggin ways like a badge of honor JayZ famously said ” I will be forever macking ,give my heart to a woman never “. So people are disappointed but not surprised by some of these men affairs
HE on the other hand was on his Blackett y black soap box admitting that black women stand by and support black men all the time and black men need to do better by them and then treat his wife like this ? plus if any of his multiple lying timelines are to be believed he was out the door around fthe time of his famous Fiery BET speecch I guess black girls are so magic that Jesse made one disappear LOL
Marriages break up all the time and can be messy but the way one chooses to move on say a lot about you ,Also the way he has handled things thus far proves apparently he is not as smart as we and even he thought he was , plus his whole self righteous behavior is not doing him any favors
I don’t think the race of the side piece matters because he is biracial.
I think what makes this galling is 1) he wants to act faux indignant. Whatever happened in his marriage it’s definitely quite possible to get a divorce before starting up with someone else…possible and probably emotionally healthy. He’s saying on 4:44 that this relationship was real and important and its end was traumatizing yet…he’s already in another situation ship. 2) he’s such a fake feminist. He gave this big speech about how he loves WOC and then he’s like “oh wait but still support Nate Parker” and “I’m going to leave my wife now that I have access to more attractive women”
I’m just impressed at how bad his PR strategy has been. Like has the “our marriage was already over” argument EVER worked? Like seriously. Never. And while he isn’t obligated to heed anyone’s judgment as an only moderately famous actor I don’t get why he would try that approach that hasn’t even worked with more established stars like Ben Affleck or Brad Pitt. Total amateur hour.
Luca I think Gabrielle Williams is a good example. Her husbands ex wife lost custody and they’d been together since highschool (and there was cheating) but I guess because she’s talented and only did it once she never gets dragged. GW reminds me of Leanne because there are pics of her with stepkids on social media. Imagine Minka in pics with this dudes kids? I think people would go nuts.
That’s a great question, but also very condescending. Cheating behavior is never going to be “okay.” The very act is a symptom that something is wrong and means someone somewhere is probably being hurt. Honesty is always better.
So no. Had Jesse hooked up with a black or non-white woman, I’d have felt the same.
I will say, even though race outside of the construct isn’t real – inside the construct for many of us, it is. Sometimes it’s literally life and death. So when Jesse stood on a stage and exalted what had previously been oppressed, ignored, overlooked and abused (black womanhood) he gained a new passionate fandom. He was for us.
Hearing that he left his wife and very young children and knowing that his new gf is white (who coincidentally dated his doppelganger Jeter for years), ordinarily would be irrelevant, but unconfirmed speculation is that he’s hurt his ex and family and is just proving he’s one more instrument of pain. He comes across as hypocritical on a personal level and in general
I think that another example of what Jesse Williams is experiencing that happened in a non-interracial context is Alicia keys/Swizz Beats.
Her career and fan base suffered a lot after she got together with Swizz. I think it’s the fake woke thing with behaving cavalierly in your personal life that people can’t stand.
As long as he keeps discussing racism,police brutality,racial profiling…
Personally I can separate people’s public work or service,activism from the personal life.As a child I read about MLK Jr and his infidelity.I knew about Clinton and his cheating.Besides Obama,he is still my favorite president.I would be a hypocrite to dismiss the activism that Jesse or Harry Belafonte (also has white wife) has down while admiring MLK who was also a serial cheater.So was JFK,RFK and many other civil rights and human rights activists through the years.
And no I am not comparing Jesse Williams to MLK but the fact is MLK was a known cheater and Jesse is a rumored cheater.Both worked at trying to advocate for black community.
Done not down
I hear what you’re saying, but it’s about time we start expecting more out of men. Women are constantly crucified for the slightest imperfection. It’s OK to ask more of men and stop applauding them for basic human decency
What you are saying is one of the reasons people who could be very effective in government don’t run for office because their private life is messy. You don’t have to be perfect to be able to great in other areas. But if you use your personal life to create an image and people find it to be less than authentic then I think the person deserves backlash.
GMAFB with that sh*t about Minka not just being a “cute girl.” She is literally-and quite well known as-just a person with no career who dates various famous men looking for a trade up. It’s all she has ever done. Not to mention that she was with Derek Jeter for years so I’m sure she has a lovely strain of the herp…
Oh Jesse, Jesse, Jesse. You will end up getting played just like every other man who follows his dick and not his brain . Can’t wait till karma hits you back, f*ckboi.
I haven’t watched her movies or shows but know of them. She met JW doing a movie right? I think that’s her career, acting.
“I haven’t watched her movies or shows.”
Exactly my point. She may be “working”, but no one watches or cares, judging by the many comments here, including your own.
Lainey and co are obsessed with FNL her old show. I watched one episode but like many shows I didn’t care to watch more. I’d watch the one with her and Leighton if I were on a plane or something:) I get that she’s not à Jennifer Lawrence but most people aren’t. Sorry don’t mean to nit pick 🙂
I get what you mean though. She’s like Rita ora that way
Disgusting.
As far as I’m concerned, he’s canceled I hope to never see an article about him here again
Terrible timing with the Jay Z release LOL
Recent newlywed here and feel sick reading about this guy. I get it, sometimes marriage doesn’t last forever, sometimes the love changes I GET IT! But for the love of God, the woman you called wife for soo many years, don’t disrespect her by starting something new before officially ending it with your wife!!! I hated this so called woke douche when he defended a rapist but this proves even more what utter shit this person is. His ex wife deserves every happiness she and the kids get and then some….
Um isnt thatbwhat he is doing?! He obviously has something going on with Minka this year and he is divorcing his wife as soon as he realized whatever with Minka…
Most people dont leave unless they have somewhere to go…
I haven’t read all the comments. But is Minka being dragged the way that Lindsay woman is in the Ben/Jen situation? Just interesting out things are viewed
Nope. For once, the cheating man is the one being read for filth. Pleasant change. It’s hard to read the Affleck threads since it’s usually the women he is cheating with that get dragged. I remember Nanny-gate, one sentence about Affleck followed by paragraphs dragging the nanny and now his new side-chick.
I’m actually glad that Jesse is the main focus of people’s anger as he broke his vows.
I totally agree. The man is the issue. None of it happens without his decisions.
and how is Jesse different from Ben. How is Minka different than Lindsay? There is some obvious differences and I’m clear as to what they are. It happens a lot and it is not hard to see
Honey, please. Even if she wasn’t the catalyst that broke the marriage apart, dating her IMMEDIATELY after was straight up dumb. It looks bad to everyone, especially your wife and kids. Don’t play a victim when your own choices are part of the problem.
I know I am in the minority, but I don’t really care if he cheated on his wife with this chick or not. I think it’s gross anytime someone married with kids walks out into someone else’s arms. What’s the point of getting married? If you can just fall in love with someone else and leave them? This woman had his kids and probably thought he was going to be there. Probably took him at his word when they got married.
And no, I have never been married. Been with my guy 17 years and we raise our son together. But the day we found out we were having a baby, from then on, I expected him to stick by me. You don’t just get to change your mind when you have kids. Or at least you don’t just get to change your mind and then act hurt when people judge you for it. I look down on any man that does that to a woman… I don’t care how hot he is.
I care less about his personal life than his defense of Nate Parker.
He’s been the dollar store mcdreamy on greys for a while but it was his activism that propelled him. Interesting timing that as soon as he grains more notoriety that suddenly oh my marriage isn’t working so “I’m trading up”.
If the other woman was black it wouldn’t make any difference. She and him would still get dragged, besides he’s half white anyway. A hoe is a hoe in my eyes.
Trading up? I think the gossip about minka is that she has herpes. That’s the only thing I’ve ever heard about her tbh. Not really trading up unless the ex has several STDs.
She dated Derek Jeter, who is well know for something in that area.
You didnt have trouble making those babies! Sorry dude – you’re cancelled! Hmph!
I just find the whole thing comical but typical of a black man. Really don’t care if that makes me the stereotypical angry black woman either.
I knew there was a reason why his wife was unmoved by his BET speech about his great love for black women. It is the same reason I rolled my eyes. Black men love to go on about ‘black love’ but they have no pride in their women or their families. Yet the white supremacist media and black patriarchy will have you all think that it is the black woman who is to blame for their not being black love or for the ruin of the black family unit.
Really it is the black man who at the first chance he gets to move away from his blackness will take it.
I don’t really need anyone to say that it isn’t about race either because if you have grown up as a black woman in the black community you would see that it very much is race and how black women are treated by white supremacy and black males alike.
Seen it all my life. Currently, my two brothers are making their jump. Although I guess they never pretended to value black women in any way. Any other woman was always better than their own.
And yes Jesse is mixed but he went on choosing to use his black side for all the activism so my point still stands.
another site has reciepts of him deleting all comments on Instagram but leaving up one calling black women “salty bitches” — that’s what he thinks about black women. Cancelled.
Seriously now that One thinks about it where would Jesse learn to love black women ?? He had pic up of his father sometime ago and his father is the typical Kalinga ( from the movie I’m gonna a get you Sucka ) Pro black dashiki wearing , fro rocking fist in the air Black pantheesque militant. Who loves blackness so much but coincidentally always chooses whiteness, From an old interview I vaguely remember the Dad and Jesses white mom are no longer together and he went on to his next white woman , the Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
I just wish Black women would stop putting these men on a pedestal that is all
Millie, I agree with you all the way. When it comes to expressing this so-called love for black women but then your actions speak otherwise (wanting to police our behavior) you don’t deserve a chance. He supported Nate Parker and is lying about when his fling started just as stated above. And I had already canceled him.
Your post is one of the saddest things that I have ever read. I don’t even know what to say. I believe everything you wrote and I am beyond disgusted by it.
Disgusting.
Jesse Williams is a fraud. Always has been. He played himself.
Minka is very annoying on her instagram. One moment performance feminist and the next doing annoying selfies. She just has an annoying smug expression. This guy is not hot at all.
jeez so much backtracking and conflicting versions for two people that aren’t even that famous. Messy.
Not that I condone this, but I guess it’s preferrable that he divorces his wife to go on with his new relationship than having side women like Ben Affleck for years and only divorcing when the wife finds out.
I’m glad I stopped watching Greys years ago. He and that idiot April never did anything for me. Shame on him and shame on Minka Kelly.