Nicole Murphy apologizes for kissing married Antoine Fuqua: 'I wish it didn’t happen’
In July, pictures surfaced of model Nicole Murphy kissing director Antoine Fuqua, who has been married to actress Lela Rochon for 20 years. Murphy appeared on The Wendy Williams Show this week to express her regret.
“It was a frozen-in-time thing,” Murphy told Williams. “Trust me, I wish it didn’t happen. It was a moment where I should’ve thought more through the situation. Make better judgments. It’s something I apologized for.”
The incriminating photographs were taken by paparazzi in Italy, while Murphy and Fuqua were at a film festival. In a statement that was released following the scandal, Murphy, who has five kids with ex-husband Eddie Murphy, explained that Fuqua was a family friend and the kiss was a friendly greeting. On Tuesday, she denied releasing that statement.
“I did not put out that statement,” she claimed. “I did not release that statement, Wendy.”
Murphy also claimed that Fuqua gave her a “different impression” of his marriage to Rochon and urged women to do their research because “this could happen to you.” And though she denied that she broke up Fuqua and Rochon’s marriage, she issued an apology to Rochon at the urging of the talk show host.
“Darling, it was a mistake,” Nicole told Rochon, who was not present. “I apologize.”
Rochon returned to social media earlier this month after taking a hiatus following the scandal. In a Sept. 2 Instagram post, the Waiting to Exhale actress, who has had so much celebrity support from friends like Tina Lawson and Lena Waithe, posed in front of a beautiful backdrop overlooking La mer Méditerranée with the caption “God is Good.” According to Rolling Out, she has still been wearing her wedding ring.
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