Ricky Martin announces divorce from Jwan Yosef
Ricky Martin and Jwan Yosef are divorcing after nearly six years of marriage, the couple announced on Thursday.
“We have been thinking about transforming our relationship for some time, and after careful consideration, we have decided to end our marriage with love, respect and dignity for our children,” the couple wrote in an Instagram post, shared in the Spanish on Martin’s profile and in English on Yosef’s.
Martin’s publicity team confirmed the accuracy of the post to The Associated Press. No other details were provided. People magazine first broke the news.
Martin, singer of Spanish and English-language hits such as “Livin’ la Vida Loca,” “She Bangs,” “La copa de la vida,” and “Vente pa’ ca,” has won two Grammys and four Latin Grammys, and has also acted. Yosef is a Swedish artist of Syrian descent.
“Our greatest desire now is to have healthy family dynamics and a relationship built on our sincere friendship as we continue to raise our children together,” Martin and Yosef wrote in the statement. “We are united in cherishing this new chapter of our lives.”
Martin, 51, and Yosef, 38, got married in late 2017. By then, the Puerto Rican singer was already father to twins Matteo and Valentino, who will be 15 in August and will be born via surrogate. Josef and Martin had two more children together: Lucia, now 4, and Renn, now 3.
Last September, Martin sued his cousin over the fallout from allegations of sexual abuse that the cousin had recanted. Arguing that the claims have cost him millions of dollars in lost earnings, Martin said he was “persecuted, besieged, harassed, stalked and extorted” by his “troubled” cousin for economic reasons. The AP confirmed that the cousin filed a sexual assault complaint days later. Martin declined to comment at the time.
