They say art imitates life, but never has that saying been as true as it is now that reports have revealed that “Orange Is the New Black” writer Lauren Morelli has divorced her husband to strike up a relationship with series star, Samira Wiley.
According to TMZ, Morelli and her husband of two years, Steve Basilone, recently filed a joint petition for divorce.
Back in May, Morelli wrote a piece for Mic, explaining that she realized five months after she married Basilone that she’s really gay. Morelli says she finally accepted it after she began writing for “Orange Is the New Black” and related to the show’s lead character, Piper, who was in a lesbian relationship with fellow inmate, Alex, before she married her husband. Alex and Piper’s steamy romance helped Morelli to discover her own true sexuality.
“I realized I was gay in fall 2012, one of my first days on the set. It wasn’t so much one thing, but the sum of many small details: how uncomfortable I felt around groups of lesbians or how I considered myself [shrug] a ‘not very sexual person.’ When considered alone, these seemed like little quirks that made me me. Wanting to read a book instead of have sex is a perfectly reasonable preference to have, right?
“But on set, these small moments came into sharp relief, and I found myself answering to an endless stream of cast members who peppered me with questions like a gaggle of kindergartners curious about their new teacher. ‘Are you dating anyone?’ ‘You’re married?’ ‘To a man?’ ‘But you used to kiss girls?’ ‘Do you miss it?’
“I was finally forced to consider a question that had never, ever occurred to me before: Holy s—, am I gay?” writes Morelli.
As Morelli hinted in the story, she not only found her sexuality on set, she found her new love, actress Samira Wiley, who plays the character Poussey on the show.
Thankfully, Morelli’s split from her husband has been amicable. Morelli will get to keep her Lexus, her apartment and her sapphire engagement ring. He gets the Mazda hatchback.
Clearly, life can make for some very made-for-TV moments and vice versa, but it’s pretty great that Morelli has found herself and someone to love in her roller-coaster journey of self-discovery. –nicholas robinson
