Actress Lela Rochon and her husband, Antoine Fuqua clean up nicely.
The couple who have been married for 26 years recently stepped out together for the American Film Institute Honoring Francis Ford Coppola on Saturday, April 26. The next day, the “Waiting to Exhale” star shared photos of the pair from the Los Angeles event, looking all spruced up in their formal and sophisticated outfits.
Fuqua wore a classic black suit and black bowtie with a white dress shirt underneath. Rochon wore an all black dress, paired with a black fur coat and a black clutch bag. For her second picture, she shared a photo of their table which held a bottle of white wine from the Coppola brand.
(Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images for ESSENCE; Olivia Wong/WireImage)
Most of the comments under Rochon’s posts were from fans ignoring her husband and complimenting her beauty, along with a handful of comments showing love to them both but some comments sprinkled in were from fans making sure to announce their disdain for Fuqua.
One person bluntly stated, “Beautiful but get rid of his a–! #funkyfuqua.”
In the Lipstick Alley comments, one fan wrote, “Oh, I thought they divorced but Lela looks pretty.”
Someone else said, “She’s beautiful regardless but I would have left his a–s. He doesn’t deserve her.”
Another with similar sentiments wrote, “Nah, she should’ve left him.”
One observer chose to focus more on the big smile on Rochon’s face, writing, “I’m glad she didn’t listen to the sister girls who were telling her to leave her marriage. She looks happy and content.”
The comments are the repercussions stemming from Fuqua’s actions, specifically when he was caught cheating on Rochon with Nicole Murphy in 2019.
Photos surfaced of the “Training Day” director and Eddie Murphy’s ex-wife in a hotel and sharing kisses, while vacationing in Ischia, Italy.
The widely publicized cheating scandal is still talked about today, but it seems to not be their only moment of infidelity.
Fuqua’s 2019 affair led to his other transgressions in the marriage being unearthed. According to court documents, he fathered a son with another woman while married to Rochon. The child’s name is Roman Jimenez and 2010 court documents revealed he was ordered to pay $10,000 a month in child support to his son’s mother Ruth Jimenez. He was already $86,000 behind in unpaid child support. There were also details that he asked the court to lower payments to $3,134.
In 2012, Hollywood Street King alleged that Fuqua had fathered a second outside child with a London model. Apparently, she had a daughter by him and showed up to his home in California threatening to tell Rochon the truth.
Through all the cheating, it appears Rochon has been able to forgive her husband. Shortly after the scandal went public, she shared photos with him and their daughter Asia, who is now 22, celebrating her performance in a play. Over the years, Rochon would post him every once in a blue moon, mainly during family events and outings.
She even speaks positively about him in public. In an April 2024 interview with Studio Q, she was asked what it was like having a director husband. She said, “Well, sometimes you know too much. Sometimes knowing so much is not good. But I’m so proud of him as well, you know. He’s fantastic. I did pretty good.”
She last posted a picture with him back in March when their daughter performed her original music in Los Angeles. Their son, Bando Fuqua, 20 and Rochon’s parents were in attendance as well.
Fuqua has an older son named Zachary Fuqua from a previous relationship, one Rochon embraces in her photos on Instagram. The film director, on the other hand, has scrubbed all posts from his Instagram.
