Nationwide — After nearly two decades of marriage, Chris Rock and his wife Malaak Compton-Rock are breaking up. The two married in 1996, and have two daughters, Lola Simone, 12, and Zahra Savannah, 10. Rock acknowledges they had a prenup when they first married, but says it has already expired because they’ve been together for just over 18 years.
His wife, 45, also issued a statement saying: “After much contemplation and 19 years of marriage, Chris and I have decided to go our separate ways … While recognizing that this is a significant change, my children remain at the center of my life and their well-being is my top priority. It is in this spirit that I sincerely ask that their privacy and the privacy of our family be respected during this transition in our lives.”
Chris Rock got his start as a stand-up comedian, went on to star on Saturday Night Live in the early 1990s, and eventually had several HBO specials and his own show on Comedy Central. He often made jokes about love and marriage. In one joke, he said: “The problem with relationships is that people want too much, everybody is looking for a soulmate … You are never going to get a soulmate, you are never going to find the perfect person, you’ll never find someone who likes Seinfeld and the Wu-Tang Clan – it ain’t happening.”
His wife, Malaak, is the founder of the nonprofit Style Works, which helps women leaving welfare find work.