Nicole Murphy has issued an apology for kissing the director Antoine Fuqua, who’s been married to the actress Lela Rochon for 19 years.
They were spotted at a hotel in Ischia, Italy on July 20 having a full-on kiss in at least two photos. One pic shows the pair standing up and locking lips, and another shows them doing the same while sitting.
At first Murphy — who used to be married to Eddie Murphy — said the kiss didn’t mean anything, and she’s just friends with the “Training Day” director.
“I ran into him in Italy and we exchanged a friendly hello and that was it,” she said about Antoine Fuqua.
Now, however, Murphy suggested there’s more to the story and wanted to say sorry.
“Without going into the entire situation, I want to apologize to my family, and to Lela and the Fuqua family for what transpired,” she said in a statement sent to TMZ.
“It was not my intention to be in this situation. I do not condone women kissing or interacting in anyway inappropriately with a married man,” added Murphy. “I too was once married and I would never intentionally undermine another woman, despite what has been written.”
According to a TMZ insider, Murphy thought Fuqua and Rochon’s marriage was over, which is why she kissed him. There’s no word if Fuqua led her to believe that, but she reportedly feels horrible regardless.
Fuqua is also rumored to have outside kids, meaning that he fathered children with two other women during his marriage to Rochon. One of the alleged baby’s mothers is named Ruth Jimenez, who is said to have a son by the director named Roman.
It’s also been said that Fuqua has a child with another woman, a British model and actress, who showed up to his door one day and threatened to tell his wife about their alleged child.
Lela Rochon’s children with Fuqua are ages 15 and 16, while Murphy has five children with Eddie Murphy with ages that range from 17 to 26.
The “Harlem Nights” actress deleted her Instagram page when the scandal first broke. Neither Fuqua or Rochon has commented on the kissing photo.
