Lupita Nyong’o Opens Up About What’s Helping Her Through ‘Heartbreak’

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Lupita Nyong’o is turning to friend Palmer Hefferan for support in the wake of her split from Selema Masekela.

“Recently, when my life was turned upside-down from heartbreak, Palmer flew in swiftly to be by my side and help me through the hardest days as I adjusted to my new reality,” Nyong’o, 40, wrote via Instagram on Thursday, November 2. “She made me delicious meals, she found me therapeutic activities to get my mind off things, she cried with me and made me laugh until I cried a more joyful kind of tear.”

Nyong’o noted that her longtime pal “did not tire of being of service to me” and even helped her get her first pet, a cat named Yoyo. “Now every time I look at him and cuddle with him, I am reminded of the selfless love my sister from another mister showed me,” she added.

The pair met at drama school and found “kindred spirits” in one another after connecting over their love for being in the kitchen, Nyong’o continued, sharing that while “the beauty of the friendship is that it is never about evening the score” she has “every intention to try.”

Nyong’o announced last month that she and Masekela, 52, had called it quits after less than one year of dating. “At this moment, it is necessary for me to share a personal truth and publicly dissociate myself from someone I can no longer trust,” the actress wrote via Instagram at the time. “I find myself in a season of heartbreak because of a love suddenly and devastatingly extinguished by deception.”

Nyong’o shared that she was “tempted to run into the shadows and hide” and return once she “regained” her strength but ultimately decided to be honest about her feelings.

“I am choosing to face the pain, cultivating the courage to meet my life exactly as it is, and trusting that this too shall pass,” she continued. “The promise, they say, is that a tender heart is what gives birth to fearlessness. I hope it’s true … I share this to keep it , and hoping that the knowledge of my experience might be useful to someone else out there experiencing the grip of heartbreak who is poised to try and escape from the pain and miss out on the wisdom that comes from it. #Breakup.”

Lupita Nyong’o and Selema Masekela. Courtesy of Lupita Nyong’o/Instagram

She later thanked fans for showing her support as she heads into the next chapter. “Thank you for all the kindness I have received from sharing my heartbreak news,” she gushed in a since-expired Instagram Story. “The words of encouragement mean more to me than I anticipated. They are a balm. … And it feels comforting to have a little corner online for the romantically heartbroken to gather.”

In the last month, Nyong’o has been spotted out and about multiple times as she recovers from the emotional turmoil. One day before announcing her breakup, she was spotted spending time at a Janelle Monáe concert with Joshua Jackson. The Dawson’s Creek alum, 45, recently called it quits with estranged wife Jodie Turner-Smith, whom he wed in 2019.

Turner-Smith, 37, filed for divorce in October, citing “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the split. She is also seeking joint custody of their 3-year-old daughter.

While the pair have yet to publicly address their breakup, a source exclusively told Us Weekly last month that Jackson was “caught off guard” when the Queen & Slim star filed the divorce paperwork.

“They had their issues, as many couples do — especially two busy actors who are also juggling a child. Joshua obviously didn’t realize it was this bad, that Jodie was this unhappy,” the insider explained. “Their friends are baffled and trying to understand how this came about.”

Meanwhile, another source told Us that Turner-Smith decided to end the relationship because “she refused to settle for something that didn’t feel right.”