Nia Long slams Boston Celtics for making ex-fiance Ime Udoka’s infidelity public last year
Nia Long channeled activist Yaba Blay‘s words to criticize the Boston Celtics a year after she split with the team’s former coach, Ime Udoka.
On Tuesday the “Best Man” and “You People” actor shared a snippet from Blay’s 2022 appearance on the “We Can Do Hard Things” podcast. In the clip Blay tells hosts Glennon Doyle and Abby Wambach why she thinks white women’s concerns often take precedence over those of Black women.
“We have been socialized to see [white women] as more human and of more value,” said Blay, who is Black. “So whatever it is you think and whatever it is you feel, we are supposed to respond to it.”
Nia Long has filed for full custody of her 11-year-old son with Ime Udoka, nearly one year after it was made public that the NBA coach was having an affair.
Blay continued: “The minute a white woman cries, the world has to stop. ... Black women cry, we could be rolling around on the ground screaming, and you are unmoved because you’ve been socialized not to see us as human beings.”
The author and activist’s comments about how Black women’s feelings receive less attention and sensitivity seemingly struck a chord with Long, who captioned her post, “Where was this level of awareness a year ago @celtics???”
The actor called out the basketball team a year after it publicized her ex-fiancé Udoka’s infidelity. In September 2022, the Celtics announced that Udoka — who had been engaged to Long since 2015 — had been suspended for having an improper relationship with a staff member.
‘The outpouring of love and support from family, friends and the community during this difficult time means so much to me,’ actor Nia Long said in a statement.
In December, the couple called it quits, and Long told the Hollywood Reporter that the “Boston Celtics organization decided to make a very private situation public.”
She added: “If you’re in the business of protecting women — I’m sorry, no one from the Celtics organization has even called to see if I’m OK, to see if my children are OK. It’s very disappointing.”
In her Instagram caption, Long also named the woman who engaged in an affair with Udoka last year. The Times has chosen to withhold that name.
“Thank you @yabablay for your fearlessness and speaking facts for all of us. This is such an important conversation that needs to be heard and understood,” Long said in a comment on her own video. Elsewhere in the comments, comedian Luenell, rapper Snoop Dogg and TV personality Shaunie Handerson voiced support for Long.
Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka has been suspended for the upcoming season for having an improper relationship with a member of the organization.
“Accountability to my sis and nefews [sic] retribution is in order I stands with u @iamnialong I. got ya bac [sic],” Snoop Dogg wrote.
Long, 52, and Udoka, 46, share a 11-year-old son, Kez. Last month the actor filed a petition seeking full custody, claiming that her ex-fiancé had “failed to support” their child. Long also shares 22-year-old son Massai Zhivago Dorsey II with actor Massai Z. Dorsey.
“My biggest accomplishment in life will never be money, it will be who I raised,” Long said Wednesday on Instagram.
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