During her appearance on 'Dinner's on Me' podcast, the 'Frozen' star opens up about the complicated reasons that prompted her to end things with the veteran actor after 10 years of marriage.
- Oct 19, 2023
AceShowbiz - Idina Menzel shared what she thought drove her marriage to Taye Diggs to divorce. During her appearance on "Dinner's on Me" podcast, the "Frozen (2013)" star opened up about the complicated reasons that prompted her to end things with Taye after 10 years of marriage.
"The thing that came into play more, I would say - and Taye has talked about it too - is the interracial aspect of it," Idina told host Jesse Tyler Ferguson. According to the Tony Award-winning Broadway icon, the multifaceted racial challenges gave a bigger impact on their marriage compared to their respective career successes.
The singer explained, "[Taye] was on the cover of Essence, and Ebony, and being interviewed by all of these black journalists, and I think he had his own stuff to deal with, with that." She went on explaining, "And it seemed like there was some disappointment in the community with him, because he was married to a little white Jewish girl."
"So, I took that on too. That was stuff we had to deal with. It was less about being successful and more about that stuff," Idina continued. During the podcast interview, she also noted that the stage veteran was supportive of her when she got cast as Elphaba in "Wicked", adding, "He didn't have to feel like he was overshadowing me in some way or taking up too much space."
Taye and Idina started dating after they met in the original Broadway run of "Rent" in 1996. The two tied the knot in 2003 and welcomed their son, Walker Nathaniel Diggs, in 2009. They split after a decade of being together, with them finalizing their divorce in 2014.
Taye himself discussed their separation in a 2014 interview with Redbook. "I'd be lying if I said there weren't times when I thought, 'Oh, man, people are going to trip out [if we split].' Maybe they thought it was cute that we met in 'Rent'," he said at the time. "There weren't a lot of couples like us in the theater community - and I know there aren't a lot of performers as talented as she is … and then you have the whole mixed [race] thing. It was easy for people to root for us."
