After five years of marriage, Grey's Anatomy star Jesse Williams and Aryn Drake-Lee filed for divorce, People confirms after the Jasmine Brand first reported the news. The couple, who had been dating for five years before getting married in September 2012, also share two children, Maceo and Sadie.
Throughout their relationship, Williams has been vocal about the bond they share as partners.
“She is her own person," he said of the LA-based real estate broker back in 2009. “Being intelligent and self-made is a big deal for me.”
If you don't know Jesse Williams as Jackson on Grey's Anatomy, where he's currently winning hearts as one half of #Japril (Jackson and April, played by Sarah Drew) then you might have heard about him after his powerful acceptance speech at the BET Awards last summer. While accepting the Humanitarian Award, Williams reflected on Black life in America and dropped the mic on racial injustice.
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"A system built to divide and impoverish and destroy us cannot stand if we do," he said, giving a special shout out to Black women in particular "who have spent their lifetimes dedicated to nurturing everyone before themselves. We can and will do better for you."
"The burden of the brutalized is not to comfort the bystander," he continued. "That's not our job, alright? Stop with all that...If you have no have interest in equal rights for Black people, then do not make suggestions to people who do."
This speech actually caused some people to petition for him to be fired from the Shonda Rhimes show, to which he responded "Not a single sane sentence in their claim. Not one." Clearly, his role as Jackson is still going strong.
The Jasmine Brand confirms that Williams filed for the divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. However the split is amicable. We wish them both the best during this big life change.