Lela Rochon is a celebrated actress who has appeared in many television shows and films, including The Division and Waiting to Exhale. The Haitian-American star has had a successful career in the entertainment industry, but it’s her love life that has made headlines in recent years — in particular, her marriage to Training Day director Antoine Fuqua.
Here’s the truth about Lela Rochon and Antoine Fuqua’s marriage.
‘Breakin’ & love
Lela met dancer Adolfo “Shabba Doo” Quinones (a.k.a. Ozone) in 1982 while filming Breakin’ and Breakin’ 2 Electric Boogaloo. They got married in 1984, but by 1986, they decided to go their separate ways.
Looking back on their marriage, Adolfo told The Black Hollywood File that he wasn’t capable of having a meaningful relationship at that time. He said, “I wish I could have been better,” and he made sure the publication knew that their breakup was entirely his fault.
She moved on and reportedly dated Jackie Jackson and former NBA player Harold Miner, but those relationships didn’t last either. Little did she know, a new love was right around the corner…
Meeting Antoine
In 1998, Lela flew out to Hong Kong to promote the film, Knock Off starring Jean Claude Van Damme. Director Antoine Fuqua was also in Hong Kong working on a separate project.
During the night of handover, when Britain was returning Hong Kong to China, there was a huge celebration in the city. Lela told Jet magazine she and Antoine met at one of the parties, and she said, “It was pretty much love at first sight.”
They went on a very long first date that lasted all day and all night. And from that point on, she knew they would be together.
A sad turn of events
In April 1999, she and Antoine got married and began their lives as husband and wife. Lela also became a step-mom to Antoine’s son Zachary Fuqua from a previous relationship.
And two years after tying the knot, she got pregnant. She told Jet magazine that she continued to work sometimes 16 to 20 hours per day. She said the schedule was horrible and she was very stressed out.
She revealed to Mocha Manual that when she was five months pregnant, her water broke while she was on set, and she was rushed to the hospital to deliver her baby boy. Sadly, her child was too young to survive.
She called the loss one of the “saddest moments” of her life, but she was determined to do things differently with her second pregnancy.
She was put on bed rest for the last four to five months, which wasn’t easy. She didn’t have a lot of support from her husband at the time, because he was filming on location in Hawaii.
Lela told Jet magazine Antoine was only able to fly back every so often to check up on her, and it was so hard for them to be apart. But she added, “You have to be strong and you have to have a lot of trust.”
Happiness followed by crazy allegations
In July 2002, she gave birth to their daughter, and they named her Asia in honor of where they first met. But the happiness of being a new mom wouldn’t last long. In 2003, Antoine was accused of having an affair with a personal trainer named Tanya Evans, whom he met in a San Fernando Valley Mall.
In court documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times, Tanya claimed that months after she began seeing the director, she started receiving mysterious hang-up calls.
She received a page on her beeper, and after tracing the number back, she determined it belonged to another woman who was also having an affair with Antoine.
Tanya and the other woman began chatting, and they determined that Lela was allegedly trying to pit them against one another to cause drama. After her alleged romance with Antoine ended, the director allegedly threatened her to prevent her from revealing the affair to Lela.
So Lela knew about the two women but Antoine was busy ALLEGEDLY making threats to keep his affair under wraps? Chile…I guess…
His secret children
In 2004 she gave birth to their son Brando Fuqua, and there was a period of time where we believed things had calmed down in their household.
But in 2010, we were convinced that their marriage was over when Antoine admitted to fathering a son, named Roman Jimenez with a woman named Ruth Jimenez.
According to documents obtained by Hollywood Street King, Antoine was ordered to pay $10,000 per month in child support and he was $86,000 past due in payments. He requested for his payments to be lowered to $3,134 a month, but his troubles weren’t over.
Two years after that bombshell, Hollywood Street King revealed he allegedly fathered a second child outside of his marriage with a UK model and actress.
The REAL Antoine
They choose to remain private about their personal life, but Antoine did give some insight into his character during an interview with the Washington Post.
He admitted he’s a “darker person.” He also said he connected with the film Training Day, the film he directed, because he likes to spend a lot of time in the hood, even though Lela isn’t okay with it. He called his friends his “grimy crew” and said he knew they would always have his back. Alrighty then…
What’s going on with Nicole?
In April 2019, Lela and Antoine celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary. Three months later, he was spotted locking lips with Nicole Murphy in Italy (check out the salacious pictures here).
Nicole insisted they’re just friends who happened to run into each other at the resort, and she said they engaged in a friendly kiss. But she later issued a public apology.
She told TMZ:
“Without going into the entire situation, I want to apologize to my family, and to Lela and the Fuqua family for what transpired […] It was not my intention to be in this situation. I do not condone women kissing or interacting in any way inappropriately with a married man. I too was once married and I would never intentionally undermine another woman, despite what has been written.”
Considering Antoine’s alleged history with women, we expect things are about to get even messier…
What’s next for Lela?
Lela was once dubbed one of People magazine’s 50 most beautiful people in the world. And not only is she beautiful, she’s full of talent as well.
Regardless of which direction she chooses to take with her marriage to Antoine, we wish her and her children, Asia (pictured, right) and Brando nothing but the best.
What do you think about Lela and Antoine’s relationship? Let us know!
YOUR ARE BEAUTIFUL LELA, PLEASE LEAVE HIS INFIDELITY CHEATING AZZZZ…YOU CAN DO MUCH BETTER !!!