Lupita Nyong’o Says She ‘Safeguards’ Relationships From the Public Eye Amid Joshua Jackson Romance

Lupita Nyong’o wants to keep her relationships out of the public eye.

"There's so much of my life that is public, to also make my personal life a part of the public conversation, it's a liability," the A Quiet Place: Day One actress, 41, told People in an interview published on Saturday, June 29. "What I learned is when things go south, then recovering from that moment takes longer because everybody knows."

She continued, "In the name of just being allowed to have relationships that mean a lot to me, and grow from them on my own terms, I want to keep things to myself.” Nyong’o added that she has “tried” taking her romantic relationships public, but she “didn’t like it, so I’m going back in.”

In October 2023, Nyong’o revealed her split from ex-boyfriend Selema Masekela, whom she went public with the previous year. Us Weekly confirmed in December 2023 that Nyong’o was dating actor Joshua Jackson, just two months after his estranged wife, actress Jodie Turner-Smith, filed for divorce. (Turner-Smith and Jackson share a daughter who was born in April 2020.)

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Turner-Smith was even asked about her ex-husband’s relationship with Nyong’o in a June interview with The Cut, to which she replied with a measured, “Good for them.”

She added, “We need happiness in order to peacefully coparent. I’m trying to get us to the Gwyneth [Paltrow] and Chris Martin level. I truly hope they’re happy and that it benefits us as a family.”

As for Nyong’o, the Oscar winner told People that there’s a “lack of control” when it comes to the public’s knowledge of her relationships.

“I'll say this: What's wonderful about social media is I get a say in what people know about me,” she explained. “But, there are parts of my life that I have no control over what people know. And it is unnerving. It's saddening at times — I'd say even disappointing and frustrating. But then I can't do anything about that. So what I can do is safeguard what I share as much as possible, and then leave the rest to God."

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This is not the first time Nyong’o has addressed keeping her private life quiet. Earlier this year, she spoke briefly about her decision to keep her romance with Jackson under wraps.

“That was very, very sage of me. I’m going back to those days, by the way,” she said to Net-a-Porter in February. “Our purpose in life is to love. And so you have to get back in it.”