Teyana Taylor and Iman Shumpert are separated. The singer, dancer, director, actress and more shared the news with her followers and fans on Sunday, Sept. 17 amid rumors that her husband, the former NBA star, a current The Chi star and podcaster, and Dancing With the Stars champion, had been stepping out on her.
"AHT AHT! Not too much on my bestie! In all fairness, Iman and I are separated and have been for a while," she wrote on Instagram. "To be 1000% clear, 'infidelity' ain’t one of the reasons for our departure. We are still the best of friends, great business partners and are one hell of a team when it comes to co-parenting our 2 beautiful children. Most importantly we are FAMILY & in the 10yrs together, 7yrs married we ain’t ever played with or about THAT. We just keep y’all a--es out the group chat lol, which is the reason we’ve been able to successfully & peacefully separate without all of the outside noise."
"The only reason I’m even sharing THIS part of the chat is because the narratives are getting a little out of hand & it’s unfair to all parties involved," she added. "I hope this provided some clarity for y’all. Okay AunTey taking y’all back out the chat bye! 😘❤️🌹"
The couple have been married since 2016, and as mentioned, share two daughters in Junie, 7, and Rue, 3. The pair were also known for not just being romantic partners but for also seeming to be really great friends. Since this is a separation, and one that's been kept private until now, perhaps there's a chance that the two will work things out on their own time. In the mean time, scroll through for a timeline of their relationship up to this point, which we hope is not the end.
While they reportedly started dating prior to 2014, in June of that year, their coupledom was confirmed during a baecation to Maui where the two were photographed sharing a kiss and gong to a luau. They both had a type, dating other high-profile folks prior to getting together. Shumpert dated singer Elle Varner and Taylor was with former NBA star Brandon Jennings. She later said they’d met three years prior and joked around with one another before decided to take each other seriously.
By September of the next year, the two ended up starting a family together. They announced the good news on social media, sharing ultrasound scans. “When a man loves a woman how she was born to be loved…procreation is the best blessing you can receive!” he wrote. “I couldn’t be more happy than to share my first child with the woman I intended to have my family with.”
By November, they celebrated the impending arrival of their first child with a lavish baby shower in Ohio. During the event, Shumpert proposed to an emotional Taylor. She showed off her unique ring, which was a gorgeous ruby. “Thank You @imanshumpert for putting the color back in my life!” Taylor wrote when showing off the rock on Instagram. “I love you so much.”
Wrapping up a whirlwind 2015, the pair became parents a month after their baby shower. Their daughter made a headline-grabbing arrival into the world in their bathroom in December. Shumpert delivered baby girl, who they call Junie, with the help of paramedics over the phone. “On Dec 16th at 6:42am in our bathroom Junie decided she wanted to take her first breath into this world,” Taylor wrote. ”She came out as a wonderful surprise to everyone! Not knowing I was in labor until I felt her head…it took two ten count pushes with my fiancé playing Dr and she entered this world into his bare hands!”
In September of 2016, Taylor broke the news that she and Shumpert were actually husband and wife, calling him her “husband” on The Wendy Williams Show. By that point, the couple had become a red hot pair, appearing in Kanye West’s “Fade” video, which helped her fame skyrocket. A year later, they revealed that they got married in front of the bathroom where they delivered Junie, doing so the same month she spilled the beans to Williams.
In addition to premiering their super cute VH1 reality show Teyana & Iman, she divulged that they occasionally opened up their relationship to third parties. After it came up in her music, to the judgment of some, she doubled down on their bedroom behavior. “I’m not losing any sleep at night over UR opinion,” she told a critic on Twitter. “Just because I, ME I repeat ME enjoy bussing b—-hes down from time to time w/ MY HUSBAND, doesn’t mean I don’t respect ‘self.’ So, u should go and enjoy your wack a— sex life & stay out of mine.”
Despite past revelations that they engaged in threesomes, Shumpert was a bit upset with Taylor for sharing a publicly flirtatious moment with beauty Draya Michele. He took to social media to tell her that a cozy photo she took with Michele, pretending she had a crush on the entrepreneur and reality personality, was “corny af” before apologizing for his public comments. They also had to deal with rumors that he impregnated another woman, which Taylor deemed absolutely false. In positive news that year though, he proved that he knows her very well in GQ’s popular game of 30 Questions.
“We’ve faced some tough times, overcome some tough stretches. Marriage is a constant body of work,” he shared with MadameNoire.com in 2020. “You’re going to be proud of it. You’re going to step back and be like, ‘Wow. It makes you love somebody more because you can’t believe you got through certain things. You’re not glad it happened, but you are glad it happened type of thing because you feel closer.”
Taylor gave birth at home, in the tub, to the couple’s second child, daughter Rue, in September of 2020. She came the day after the star’s baby shower. “Now … when we buy homes, we always find a bathroom with great energy … but not in a million years would you be able to tell me we’d deliver both of our daughters in a bathroom without the assistance of a hospital!” Taylor shared on Instagram. A few months prior, in June of that same year, she announced she was pregnant again through her video for the song “Wake Up Love,” which Shumpert and daughter Junie were also a part of. She showcased her growing bump at the end.
In 2021, the couple took their reality show from VH1 and tried their hand at a show on E! “We Got Love” also followed their love, family and work, and once again, it only aired for one season.
In addition to covering EBONY and talking about Black love, the couple would celebrate their last anniversary, a happy one that is, prior to their split news. He gifted her a 1979 Corvette filled with roses and a very sweet message about why he chose that vehicle for her. “I could’ve gotten you a brand new car…but this car will symbolize a relationship that’s been thru it all,” he said. “The nostalgia of the corvette you wanted is heard but I want you to dress this one up little by little like we’ve done in this 6 years and make sure this muff–ka ride forever! I love you Mrs Shumpert. Year 6.”
The couple were seen less and less together ahead of rumors that he was seen getting close to a woman who was not the star. The woman claimed that she was his artist and nothing more, but rumors about other women ended up surfacing too, along with chatter about the couple being separated for some time. On Sept. 17, Taylor confirmed that the two are moving forward separately for now.
