In announcing their separation, Jason Momoa and Lisa Bonet described the “squeeze and changes” of the “transformational times” we’re living in, suggesting that their 17-year relationship and five-year marriage was challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Momoa, 42, and Bonet, 54, also said in their statement: “A revolution is unfolding and our family is of no exception … feeling and growing from the seismic shifts occurring. And so we share our Family news that we are parting ways in marriage.”
It’s not entirely clear what the couple, who share two teenage children, mean by “a revolution is unfolding,” but the “seismic shifts” could refer to the continuing societal changes caused by the global pandemic, when a number of other celebrities saw their relationships end in high-profile breakups.
“The pandemic represented a substantial shock to many aspects of American life,” according to the 2020 American Family Survey, the first major survey of family dynamics since the pandemic began. It’s also well-documented that the pandemic put pressures on personal relationships when couples and families were forced to live for months in lockdown.
Consider the other notable breakups in 2020 and 2021: Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis; Aaron Rodgers and Danica Patrick; Bill and Melinda Gates; Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik; Elon Musk and Grimes; Kanye West and Kim Kardashian; John Mulaney and Annamarie Tendler; Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas; Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez; and Dell and Sonya Curry.
Some of those couples, such as Affleck and de Armas, got together during the pandemic and quarantined together before breaking up. Others, like Lopez and Rodriguez, documented their lives together in quarantine on social media.
And, of course, some quickly moved on after their breakups and found new love elsewhere, adding to that sense that we are living in an era of “seismic shifts.” Affleck and Lopez famously rekindled their love affair from the early 2000s, and comedian Mulaney bounced out of his second stint in rehab in early 2021 and into a new romance with Olivia Munn, with whom he just had a baby boy.
A year since her split from West, Kardashian is dating “Saturday Night Live” star Pete Davidson, while her rapper ex-husband has been linked to several different women over the past year. Rodgers, the controversial Green Bay Packers quarterback, began to secretly date Shailene Woodley during 2020 lockdown, around the same time that he abruptly called things off with Patrick.
For Bonet and Momoa, the “seismic shifts” hit close to home in other ways. Zoë Kravitz, Bonet’s 33-year-old daughter with ex-husband Lenny Kravitz, also ended her 18-month marriage to actor Karl Glusman at the end of 2020, and she’s now reportedly dating actor Channing Tatum.
Even with so much upheaval in celebrity couples, it’s not clear how much turbulence the pandemic has caused to regular people’s relationships.
The New York Times reported that 2020 was known as “the year of breakups” and cited a Dating.com survey from September 2020, which reported nearly twice as many breakups between January and September of 2020 when compared with data from 2019.
But other data challenges the narrative that COVID was necessarily bad for relationships. Instead, it suggests that locking down brought many couples closer together and strengthened their bonds, according to a 2021 report from the Cleveland Clinic.
It’s true that the pandemic put stress on relationships because of to financial struggles, unemployment and worries about serious illness due to the coronavirus, said Susan Albers, a psychologist in the clinic’s department of psychiatry and psychology.
The 2020 summary report from the American Family Survey found that the pandemic mostly put stress on marriages when couples were dealing with financial struggles. Out of 3,000 Americans who participated, 37% of married men and women reported that the pandemic increased stress in their marriage when there was economic hardship.
But, a much larger percentage of people in relationships — 56% — reported that the pandemic made them appreciate their partners more, while 47% said it had deepened their commitment to their relationships.
Clearly, Momoa and Bonet felt no need to deepen their commitment to their marriage. That’s why they are calling it quits. Still, the statement from the estranged spouses described a different kind of love and commitment to each other — no doubt involving their children.
Momoa, famous for “Game of Thrones” and “Aquaman,” and Bonet, the one-time “Cosby Show” star, started dating in 2005 after being introduced by mutual friends at a jazz club. They had their first child, Lola, in July 2007, and welcomed their second child, Nakoa-Wolf, in December 2008. They finally tied the knot in October 2017.
“The love between us carries on, evolving in ways it wishes to be known and lived,” the statement said. “We free each other to be who we are learning to become …”
The statement concluded, “Our devotion unwavering to this sacred life and our children. Teaching our children what’s possible. Living the Prayer. May Love Prevail✨ J & L.”
