In a recent interview with PEOPLE magazine, Taye Diggs’ ex-wife and Broadway star, Idina Menzel, opened up about the dissolution of her marriage to the actor and that the major reason for the split was over “interracial stuff.”
While she mentioned some specifics, much of what she said forced the person to read between the lines. Menzel expressed that her ex-husband would often be featured on high-profile red carpets (probably for Black-ass movies) and would be asked to step out of the picture (something which people who are married to celebrities of the same race also experience). She also stated that she felt overshadowed by his success because of it. Menzel mentioned his frequency on the covers of high-profile Black publications, like Ebony and Essence, for instance, and his being frequently interviewed by Black journalists as part of it.
The Gworls aren’t here for #TayeDiggs ex wife #IdinazMezel blaming black journalist for the demise of their marriage. pic.twitter.com/drSGmM3Qrm
— The Gworls Are Fighting (@baddietvv) October 20, 2023
Maybe her heritage kept her in the dark about the nuances of Black stardom, that it absolutely can breed an extremely successful career without being in the white limelight, but that also comes with a concentrated focus from Black media—Black media that is targeted to Black people. When a person is famous in the Black community, that won’t immediately translate to a huge success outside of that bubble and while Diggs did have that, the impetus of his career and the bulk of his success as a lead, while they were together, came from Black cinema. While she never mentioned hate from Black women in particular, it is hard not to feel like that is where she was going, especially because of the comments from her ex-husband.
I can’t imagine that Black women were the only ones who gave the couple grief about their union.
In 2023, people are allowed to and should date whom they please, but it is not just about dating someone who is not Black. Taye is not my cup of tea, as I am sure I am not his but I do think it is important to validate the hypocrisy of Taye Diggs going out of his way to ingratiate himself to Black women for his career but then disparaging them at multiple turns. Black women are good enough to receive love from but not good enough to give love to. Back in 2018, four years after his divorce from Menzel, Taye went on Van Lathan’s podcast to discuss his resentment of Black women and how the reactions from Black women made it so that he would not ever date another white woman.
He has since dated two biracial women, including Apryl Jones, who shares two children with singer Omarion. However, in a 2014 interview with Redbook, Diggs comments contradict that notion. He mentions that people would be disappointed in their separation, “There weren’t a lot of couples like us in the theater community – and I know there aren’t a lot of performers as talented as she is…and then you have the whole mixed [race] thing. It was easy for people to root for us.”
Last time I checked, rooting for someone was being excited for them.
This is not the first, second or third time interracial dating and Diggs and Menzel’s marriage have been trending headlines.
In a previous interview, Diggs mentioned his mother stated in his childhood that he would marry a white woman instead of a Black woman and how that crushed his spirits. While I don’t disagree that what she said to him had the potential to harm him emotionally, I can’t imagine that a comment made in his childhood about what his mother perceived as his dating preferences could do so much irrevocable harm. Parents make comments about their children’s dating lives all the time, and it hardly ever stops people from dating whom they please. Boys were mean to me when I was growing up but that surely didn’t stop me from liking them. That’s not to oversimplify what he is saying in regards to race, but I partially grew up in a predominately white community and how Black boys, in particular, treated me could easily still be fuel for me swearing them off to this day.
It has not.
But that’s the thing about preferences—sometimes they have nothing to do with the group you do prefer and everything to do with the group you don’t. Menzel never mentions Black women, in particular, but Taye does and no other group and I cannot imagine that Black women were the only ones who disproved of their relationship.
We're always just minding our business. Newsflash honey! No one cared who Taye Diggs was married to. https://t.co/zJpT23JbQS
— Rev. Mrs. Mommy (@revlaurelj) October 19, 2023
I hope Taye Diggs finds happiness—a happiness so great that it keeps the same Black women who are not worthy of his lips—off of his tongue. I truly hope he resolves his issues so that he can learn to not just be a better man, but The Best Man.
