
Due to their mixed-race relationship, Idina Menzel and her ex-husband Taye Diggs were forced to deal with difficulties in public.
It’s incredibly difficult. In other words, we constantly support one another. I’m extremely happy for him. During the Tuesday, October 17, episode of Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s “Dinner’s on Me” podcast, Menzel, 52, claimed that the interracial aspect of it “came into play more, and he’s talked about it too. We all love each other, have affairs with each other, and are best friends with whoever wants to be when we’re in the theater, so it’s just not a deal.
Currently 52 years old, Menzel and Diggs first became friends when starred in the Broadway production of Rent in 1996. Diggs played Benjamin “Benny” Coffin III, while Menzel made her Broadway debut as Maureen Johnson. His acting career took off once Menzel and Diggs left the hit show Rent.
On Tuesday’s podcast edition, Menzel added, “When you leave that cocoon, and now, in his case, he’s on the cover of Essence and Ebony and being interviewed by all these Black journalists, and I think he had his own stuff to deal with that.” “And it appeared that the neighborhood was disappointed in him since he was wed to [a] white, Jewish girl from some program we can’t even recall, so I also took it on. We have to cope with that stuff. Success was less of a focus and more of that sort of thing.
As she continued, “You know, it’s the ‘Can we get a picture of him by himself?’ [when we were on the red carpet together].”
Walker, who is now 13 years old, was born almost six years after Menzel and Diggs’ 2003 wedding.
Menzel struggled to break out of Diggs’ shadow, but in 2003 she was given the opportunity when she was cast as Elphaba in the Broadway production of Wicked. Diggs thereafter became her top supporter.
She told Ferguson, 47, that “he was probably relieved [when I received notice for Wicked], thrilled, and proud of me. He never had to worry about feeling like he was taking up too much room or overshadowing me since he was always so supportive.
In the end, Menzel and Diggs divorced in 2013 after a decade of marriage. Two years later, in January 2015, their divorce was formalized, and they have since established a cordial relationship as co-parents.
As for their “easy” co-parenting dynamic, Diggs exclusively told Us Weekly in July 2020, “We never make a wrong step because we’re always thinking of Walker first.” “Walker is loved by us both, and we want the best for him. I believe that once you accomplish that, things become a little bit simpler.
Menzel wed the “love of my life” Aaron Lohr in September 2017.
She said on Tuesday, “Sometimes I take him with me when we walk the red carpet together because it’s wonderful to have someone with you and he looks amazing in suits, but sometimes he speaks too much about me. “He boasts about me so much that I feel like a parent, like, ‘Mom, enough!'” Although he is so proud, I find it incredibly embarrassing.