LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 27: Actors Idina Menzel (L) and Taye Diggs attend the 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on January 27, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/WireImage) 23116_014_0891.JPG
Idina Menzel has opened up about how race played a factor in her marriage to Taye Diggs. The pair wed in 2003 and divorced a decade later in 2013.
In a Tuesday episode of the Dinner’s On Me podcast, Menzel explained that the Black community didn’t seem accepting of her interracial marriage. She described an energy shift after their romance left the theatre world they met back in the 90s. Idina said “the interracial aspect” of their relationship “came into play more.”
“When you’re in the theater, it’s just not a thing. We all love each other, and sleep with each other, and [are] best friends with whoever…But when you leave that cocoon, that bubble, now in his case he [in] People’s 50′ most beautiful people…he’s on the cover of Essence and Ebony and being interviewed by all these Black journalists, and I think he had his own stuff to deal with that. And it seemed like there was disappointment in the community with him because he was married to white Jewish girl from some show we don’t even remember, and so, I took that on too.”
Idina made the distinction between the fame and race factors, saying the latter became more prevalent.
“That’s the stuff we had to deal with. It was less about being successful and more about that kind of stuff,” she added.
The pair starred in the Broadway run of “Rent” in 1996. They welcomed their only child, Walker Nathanial Diggs, in 2009. Their divorce was finalized in 2014, per the Los Angeles Times.
As the podcast convo continued, Idina added that during Taye’s early red carpet appearances, photographers would ask for pictures of Taye alone. After she booked “Wicked,” the actress revealed Taye likely felt relieved.
“He was relieved, probably, and happy and proud of me,” she said. “He was always so supportive and probably relieved, so he didn’t have to feel like he was overshadowing me in some way or taking up too much space,” Idina noted.
The actress didn’t go into detail about how their individual families felt about their relationship. However, in 2014, Taye shared that he thought people would “trip out” if they split. He cited their one-in-a-few status in the theater community — from her talents to “the whole mixed [race] thing.” Taye Diggs reportedly told Redbook that “it was easy for people to root for [them.]”
Most recently, in 2022, he told PEOPLE on the “Every Day” podcast that Idina makes sure their 14-year-old “is where he needs to be when he needs.
“He’s got the best coaches and the best teachers, and we’re at the best schools, and it’s all because of her,” Diggs said in the October 2022 interview.
Idina remarried in 2017 to Aaron Lohr, whom she also met on the set of “Rent” during its Broadway run. She debuted that relationship in 2015 during a White House Correspondent’s Association dinner. She told Access Hollywood last month that Aaron is “an amazing stepdad” and a “great listener” who is “very soulful.”
Meanwhile, her ex-husband Taye Diggs has been in a public relationship with Apryl Jones. The two first sparked dating rumors in December 2021 and made their red carpet debut in February 2022. The pair stole innanet hearts with their frequent, hilarious skits, dancing, and storytime uploads — though they haven’t shared footage of each in the last few weeks.
