Source: Corbis Images
For several months, it has been speculated that “Orange Is The New Black” star Samira Wiley has been dating writer for the show, Lauren Morelli. From the looks of it, the couple decided to go public with their relationship the night of the Emmys. The pair were photographed holding hands as they made their way out of Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles.
Fans first began questioning the nature of the relationship between the two after they kept popping up in photos on one another’s Instagram pages.
“Weekend #turnup w/ @lomorelli!! #success #iloveyougirl,” Samira captioned a photo of Lauren back in April
Interestingly, Lauren was previously married to a man, but revealed in an open letter published to Mic.com that after writing for the show, she realized that she’s gay.
“Five months after my wedding, I flew to New York to start production on my first episode of Orange, and from that moment on my life fell into a parallel rhythm with Piper’s story in a way that went from interesting to terrifying in a matter of months,” she wrote.
“Despite being 31 years old,” she continued “Having lived in extremely liberal cities for 13 years of my life and considering myself an educated individual, over the last year I:
1. Googled “How do you know if you’re a lesbian?” There had to be, like, a quiz or something, right?
2. Wondered if it was my birth control. I’d just switched to an IUD, could it be affecting whom I was attracted to? Really. That was a thing I thought and even went as far as mentioning it to my therapist, who has a doctorate in sexual identity and did a very good job patiently explaining that, no, birth control couldn’t change essential sexual preference.
3. Wanted to die. If being gay meant losing the person I loved most in the world, if it meant coming out to my parents and tearing open the most vulnerable, soft parts of myself and showing them to everyone I knew, I would rather be dead. I was suicidal in a way that I hadn’t been since eighth grade, when I took a bunch of Tylenol and went to sleep. The next morning I woke up feeling refreshed from the great sleep and excited that I could tell my friends about how depressed I was.”
“I went through it all on set: I fell in love with a woman, and I watched my life play out on screen. And now, as we are gearing up for the release of season 2, it feels liberating and appropriate to live my life in front of you.”
In the event that you missed the news, you can read it in its entirety here.
