Gabourey Sidibe’s Hollywood journey is certainly one worth marveling at. After making a splash with her breakout role in the movie Precious, she’s gone on to snag roles in major movies and TV shows like Empire, American Horror Story and the buzzy on-demand horror film Antebellum.
If you’ve been following her on social media, you may have also noticed that she’s spending quarantine with a special somebody—her boyfriend Brandon Frankel. News of their relationship began to circulate late last year, but Sidibe has become more open in the past few months about her relationship and how it came to be.
During an interview with The Daily Beast, Sidibe talks about how rejecting patriarchal standards helped her become more confident as a woman. Before filming Antebellum, Sidibe says she made a decision to be less accommodating to men.
“I was not going to care what they wanted from me,” she said. “I was never going to offer them anything. I would not cook for men or take care of men.” Soon after making this decision, love found her. “It’s like a dumb thing I did for myself,” she said. “And then very quickly after that I had a boyfriend.”
According to the article, Sidibe has been dating Frankel, a branding and marketing expert, since 2019. The couple had been spending the first half of the pandemic in Chicago as Sidibe finished filming Empire. They then drove cross-country back to Los Angeles with their cat Aaron.
So far, things seem to be going great between Sidibe and Frankel. Recently, the lovebirds ventured out for their first dinner date since before the quarantine began. They also welcomed another kitten into the family.
Thanks for the love gems, sis!