Nicole Murphy, the ex-wife of comedian Eddie Murphy, was seen for the first time since she apologized for kissing married filmmaker Antoine Fuqua. Murphy was seen in Los Angeles on Wednesday, July 24 in Los Angeles, just hours after making a statement on the July 20 photo that got her in hot water with the Fuqua family.
Videos by PopCulture.com
On July 25, The Daily Mail published photos of the 51-year-old Murphy walking to her car after a visit to her Los Angeles gym. Five days earlier, Murphy was on vacation in Italy when she saw Fuqua. A photo of the two kissing leaked, leading to speculation that the two were romantically involved, despite Fuqua’s relationship status.
Murphy first told TMZ the two are “just friends” and exchanged a “friendly hello.” However, she later issued a longer statement, apologizing for what happened.
“Antoine and I [are] friends. We ran into each other while we both were in Europe. Without going into the entire situation, I want to apologize to my family, and to Lela and the Fuqua family for what transpired,” Murphy’s statement read. “It was not my intention to be in this situation. I do not condone women kissing or interacting in anyway (sic) inappropriately with a married man.”
She later added, “I too was once married and I would never intentionally undermine another woman, despite what has been written… I ran into him in Italy and we exchanged a friendly hello and that was it.”
Murphy and Eddie Murphy, 58, were married from 1993 to 2006, and she is the mother of five of Murphy’s 10 children, Bria, Myles, Shayne, Zola and Bella.
Fuqua, 53, is married to Waiting to Exhale actress Lela Rochon, 55, married in 1999 and are parents to daughter Sia, 16, and son Brando, 15. Fuqua also has a son from a previous relationship.
Fuqua is best known for directing Denzel Washington’s Oscar-winning crime drama Training Day in 2001. He also worked with Washington on The Equalizer, The Equalizer 2 and The Magnificent Seven. His other credits include Shooter, Olympus Has Fallen, Southpaw and King Arthur. His next film, Infinite with Mark Wahlberg, opens on Aug. 7, 2020.
Fuqua has not commented on the situation, but Rochon has turned her Instagram page to private since the photos leaked.
Meanwhile, Players Club actress LisaRay McCoy told TMZ Murphy had a relationship with her husband, Michael Misick.
“It’s not true. She’s [LisaRaye’s] been saying that for years,” a source close to Murphy told TMZ. “There’s no truth to that.”
Photo credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for HBO/Getty Images
