Jesse Williams, 35, and Aryn Drake-Lee are in the midst of a nasty divorce after five years of marriage, but in JAY-Z‘s latest 4:44 visual, Jesse slams the rumors that they split because he cheated with a coworker. “I was in a relationship 13 years, 13 real years, not 5 years, not 7 years, 13 years,” he says in the Footnotes video, which dropped July 10 via TIDAL. “And all of a sudden mother f-ckers are writing think-pieces that I somehow threw a 13-year relationship — like the most painful experience I’ve had in my life like 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,” he adds.
It’s unclear as to whether Jesse is talking about Minka Kelly, whom with he starred in The Butler in 2013 and reportedly started seeing after he and Aryn filed for divorce on April 24, but you can watch the full video above and see for yourself. Jesse also denied rumors that he was moving on with Minka after the divorce news broke. Heartbreaking either way, no?
Meanwhile, Jesse is fighting for joint custody of his and Aryn’s children — their son Maceo Williams and daughter Sadie Williams — claiming that Aryn is restricting his time with the kids to an unreasonable extent, according to legal docs. He also claims in legal papers that he’d like to continue taking care of the kids as the “hands-on dad” that he’s always strived to be, but Aryn is still limiting the time, as multiple outlets report.
HollywoodLifers, what do you think of Jesse’s side of things? Watch and let us know!