Ricky Martin and his husband, artist Jwan Yosef, announced in a joint statement that they would divorce after six years of marriage.
“We have decided to end our marriage with love, respect, and dignity for our children and honoring what we have experienced as a couple all these wonderful years,” they said in the statement they posted in Spanish and English on Instagram.
The pair have two young children together, Lucia (born in 2018, sharing Martin’s Christmas Eve birthday in a sweet coincidence) and Renn (born in 2019), in addition to Martin’s 14-year-old twin boys Matteo and Valentino, whom he welcomed via surrogate and will continue to raise as a single parent.
“Our greatest desire now is to continue having a healthy family dynamic and a relationship centered on peace and friendship to continue the joint upbringing of our children, preserving the respect and love we have for each other,” the statement continued.
Yosef is an accomplished artist who has won awards for his work. Earlier this year, he opened a new studio in L.A.
Martin got his start in Menudo, a Spanish-language boy band, in the late ‘70s. He eventually branched out into a successful solo career and English-language pop music, as well as acting on-screen and onstage, notably in a Broadway revival of the musical Evita. Martin came out as gay in 2010, posting a message on his website that he was “a fortunate homosexual man.”
Martin, who is a global pop icon, will begin a tour in North America with co-headliners Pitbull and Enrique Iglesias later this year. He will also appear as a main cast member on Apple TV+’s upcoming comedy Palm Royale. Allison Janney, Laura Dern, Kristen Wiig, and Carol Burnett are also set to start in the series.
Martin and Yosef announced their engagement in 2016 and married in 2018.
