After weeks of speculation, Joshua Jackson and Lupita Nyong’o confirmed their relationship after being spotted holding hands. The actors were seen on a stroll through Joshua Tree Park in California on December 6, smiling and enjoying the sunshine, according to photos published by TMZ.
For their day out, Lupita, 40, wore a white graphic tee that read, “It’s Okay to Cry,” along with bright yellow pants and a matching sweatshirt that she tied around her waits. The Marvel Cinematic Universe star also wore sunglasses and a bright green beanie. For his part, Joshua, 45, donned a gray sweatshirt with black pants and a blue beanie, along with a pair of sunglasses for the bright afternoon.
That day, Us Weekly reported that they’ve “been dating for a short while now” and are “focusing on keeping their relationship under the radar as much as possible.”
Lupita and Joshua’s outing comes over a month after they were first spotted hanging out together at a Janelle Monáe concert following the Oscar winner’s breakup from ex-boyfriend Selema Masekela and the Fatal Attraction actor’s separation from estranged wife Jodie Turner-Smith. However, at the time, multiple outlets reported that Lupita and Joshua were just friends.
The newfound couple seemingly bonded after their former relationships ended in October. That month, Lupita announced via Instagram that she wanted to “share a personal truth” to “publicly disassociate myself from someone I can no longer trust.” Although she did not mention Selema by name, the two had been in a relationship up until recently.
“I find myself in a season of heartbreak because of a love suddenly and devastatingly extinguished by deception,” the Black Panther actress captioned her post. “I am tempted to run into the shadows and hide, only to return to the light when I have regained my strength enough for me to say, ‘Whatever, my life is better this way.’ But I am reminded that the magnitude of the pain I am feeling is equal to the measure of my capacity for love. And so, I am choosing to face the pain, cultivating the courage to meet my life exactly as it is, and trusting that this too shall pass.”
Lupita concluded her caption by included the hashtag “breakup” and encouraging her followers to “face our pain so we don’t spread it.”
Meanwhile, Joshua and Jodie, 37, filed for divorce from her husband following nearly four years of marriage. In her divorce filing, the Queen & Slim actress cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for their separation, and she filed for joint custody of her and Joshua’s daughter, Janie.