Tia Mowry and Cory Hardrict are calling it quits.
According to documents obtained by TMZ, she filed papers on Tuesday (Oct. 4) in Los Angeles, citing the reason for their split as “irreconcilable differences.”
The actress is asking for joint physical and legal custody of the couple’s two children, Cree and Cairo. She’s also asking that any attempts at the court granting spousal support to either party be shut down, as they had a prenup in place.
She hinted that a big change was coming in her Instagram Stories on Tuesday morning, sharing the Vex King quote, “Letting go can be painful. But, it won’t hurt as much as holding on to an illusion.”
She would go on to speak directly with fans about their split, doing so in an Instagram post of the two together after news broke.
We’re quite sad to see these two call it quits after 14 years. Take a look back at their story and how they found themselves at this point through a timeline below.
01
How They Met
So there are a couple of different stories when it comes to how Cory and Tia first met. One is that they met on the set of an independent horror movie they were working on together in 1999 called “Hollywood Horror.” But you’ve likely heard his account of encountering the famous twin while waiting for the bus. “I was waiting [at] a bus stop … Her sister and her drove by, they saw me waiting and asked to give me a ride,” he said. “They gave me a ride, and we were friends ever since.”
02
Their Engagement
The couple dated for a while (six years!) before he asked for her hand in marriage in 2006, on Christmas Day. It happened during Christmas dinner. “He had handed me this card and in the card it said to ask my brothers to hit the play button, and the song that started to play was ‘meet me at the altar in your white dress.’” He got down on one knee in front of her entire family and proposed while Jagged Edge played. She happily showed off her rock at the premiere of ‘Stomp the Yard’ in 2007.
03
Their Wedding
The couple wed on April 20 2008, doing so in Santa Barbara, Calif. in front of 170 guests. “It was so much fun,” Mowry told PEOPLE of her wedding day. “When it was over I said, ‘Let’s do it again!'”
04
The Start of Their Family
In early 2011, after reports surfaced that she was pregnant, Tia broke the news herself that she and Cory were expecting their first child. Her pregnancy was a big part of her reality show “Tia & Tamera” with her twin sister, and in June of that same year, she gave birth to son Cree.
05
Her First and Last Boyfriend
As they enjoyed the early years of married life, Mowry shared that Hardrict was the first boyfriend she ever had. “I’ve only had one boyfriend and that’s my husband. I haven’t dated a lot,” she told MadameNoire in 2013. She also told OK Magazine that when they became an item, they kept their hands and lips to themselves. “I think the one thing I did do was I just held out,” she said. “We weren’t physical, we didn’t do anything for a while to make sure this was something special and this was something real. That’s what we did…we courted each other for about a year. We didn’t go on dates with just him and I, there were other people around. We waited a year to kiss. That’s basically what I did.”
06
Vow Renewal
The couple renewed their vows just five years into marriage in April 2013. They were inspired to do so after welcoming son Cree. “Cory and I have been together for 13 years and married for five. However, we now have this new miracle in our lives and I wanted to celebrate our love, and what our love together created — Cree!” She told Us Weekly that year.
07
They Expand Their Family
In 2017, the star, with help and a kiss from Cory (and son Cree) announced that she was expecting their second child, later sharing that it wasn’t easy to get to that point due to her struggles with endometriosis. The couple welcomed their daughter, Cairo, in the spring of 2018. Cory named her!
08
20 Years
In March 2019, the beauty celebrated 20 years of knowing Cory. She took to Instagram, writing, “Man, I’ve known this soul for 20 years! Just wanted to give you love @coryhardrict! You are such an incredible father to our two kids!”
09
How They Made It Work
According to Tia, work and family responsibilities made it important for the couple to make sure they were setting aside time for one another — namely in the bedroom. She shared this during a chat on the ‘What to Expect’ podcast, after host Heidi Murkoff said she too has scheduled sex dates with her husband. “When I was younger and when I would hear that, I’d be like, ‘Why do you have to do that? But like you said, you do — especially with kids and with work and all that. You have to make sure that it’s not neglected in any kind of way.”
10
Doing Marriage As a Team
Tia spoke in 2021 about being able to keep the peace in her union by working together and not having expectations of one another based on gender. “A lot of people, they ask Cory and I, like, ‘What makes your marriage, you know, a great marriage?’ And if I’m being really honest with you — and we’ve been doing this for years — we don’t focus on specific gender roles.” She added, “Meaning the women should just do one thing and then the men should just do one thing. It’s a team effort at our house.”
11
Calling It Quits
Despite their best efforts, and celebrating 14 years of marriage in April of 2022 (where he posted “Love you for eternity”) Mowry filed for divorce on October 4, citing irreconcilable differences. Interestingly, the same photo that Hardrict used to celebrate their anniversary on Instagram, is the same image Mowry used to announce their divorce on the platform.
