Photo: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Brittney Griner and her wife of eight years, Cherelle Griner, are reportedly splitting. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Connecticut Sun player filed for divorce on Thursday, citing in the petition that the marriage was “irretrievably broken.” Griner noted in the paperwork that the couple has been separated since July 24.
Brittney and Cherelle met as students at Baylor University and got married in 2018. They have a 2-year-old son named Bash. In her filing, Griner asked for “joint legal and physical custody” of their son, as well as “an equitable division of all marital assets.” This is Griner’s second divorce, having previously been married to fellow WNBA player Glory Johnson for a little over a year from 2015 to 2016. They share twins.
If Cherelle looks familiar to you, it’s likely because she was a relentless advocate for Brittney in 2022, when Brittney was held in a Russian prison on narcotics charges after a vape containing hash oil was found in her bag. Cherelle, then a third-year law student, met with then-President Joe Biden multiple times and often spoke publicly about her efforts to bring Brittney home. Brittney was sentenced to nine years in prison but returned to the United States as part of a prisoner swap in December 2022.
When Brittney finally came home, Cherelle told People it was “the first time I was able to finally exhale” and that she was “overwhelmingly happy.” Speaking to Megan Rapinoe for The Cut in 2024, Brittney said that being away from Cherelle while in prison was “probably one of the hardest things ever.”
The Cut has reached out to representatives for both Brittney and Cherelle and will update this post if we hear back.
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