Comedian Ali Wong and her husband, Justin Hakuta, are getting divorced.
Wong’s representative confirmed the news to NBC News on Wednesday. The couple, who have been married for nearly eight years, have two children: Mari, born in 2015, and Nikki, born in 2017.
Wong has spoken extensively about her relationship with Hakuta, a Harvard Business School graduate and Fulbright scholar, in her Netflix stand-up specials. She revealed that they met at a wedding.
While Wong has joked that she hoped to “lie down,” rather than “lean in,” and live a comfortable lifestyle supported by her husband, she’s earned praise for uplifting strong women, discussing her role as the main provider for her family.
In her latest comedy special, “Don Wong,” released in February, the comedian acknowledged how “being the breadwinner of my family has turned me into a 50-year-old man” and joked about how much she wants to cheat on her husband after a decade together. But Wong emphasized that the couple’s relationship has thrived, based on many of Hakuta’s qualities, saying he saw something in her far before she reached the level of fame she has today.
“He was smart enough to choose me, to invest in me when I was 20 pounds heavier, had chronic acne and no money,” Wong said. “He bought low, and if we get divorced, he gonna sell high.”
Wong concluded her special by praising Hakuta’s ability to simultaneously hold his own while embracing her.
“You put me in my place, and then you give me permission to be myself. And then you tell me what to do. And then you celebrate me,” Wong said. “And that, single people, is what healthy marriage looks like.”
