Chelsea Handler and Jo Koy Split
Chelsea Handler and Jo Koy have split after almost a year of dating.
Handler, 47, announced in an Instagram post on Monday that she and the 51-year-old comedian broke up ahead of their one-year anniversary.
“In anticipation of celebrating our first year together, Jo and I recorded this video early, but as many of you have noticed, it is with a heavy heart to announce that we have decided together that it is best for us to take a break from our relationship right now,” Handler wrote next to a video of the two being silly while sharing what they have learned about being in a relationship over the last year.
Handler continued, writing that she knew many people were “invested in our love, and I wanted to express to you how much that meant to both of us. How much it still means. And how much I now believe in love for each one of us.”
“This man blew my heart open with love and because of him, my life experience has changed forever. To be loved and adored by @jokoy has been one of the greatest gifts of my life,” she continued. “He renewed my faith in men, in love, in being 100% who I am, and I’ve never been more optimistic for the future.”
She then directed a message to her now-ex-boyfriend.
“Jo- you blew my creativity open, my lust for working hard again, being on the road again, and you reminded me who I was and always have been, and my feet have never been more firmly planted in the ground,” she expressed. “This is not an ending. It’s another beginning, and it’s a comfort to know that I am still loved and love this man the way the sun loves the moon and the moon loves the sun. YOUR PERSON IS COMING.”
Handler encouraged people to “please continue to root for both of us, because you never know what life will bring.” She also took a moment to promote Koy’s new movie “Easter.”
Handler and Koy have been decades-long friends. The two were introduced by comedian Jon Lovitiz before either of them were famous.
A month after going Instagram official, they explained during an episode of “Dear Chelsea” in October how they became more than friends after rekindling their friendship and spending a “romantic comedy” week together in Los Angeles.
Handler has also spoken about how Koy “redeemed (her) faith in men.”
“I said to him, ‘You have redeemed my faith in men. Meeting you has made me understand that there has to be more men like you out there.’ And we all need to know that,” she told the audience during a surprise appearance at a secret Los Angeles show in April.
She also noted that he encouraged her to be herself.
“(He loves my) confidence and my unwillingness to take shit from anybody,” she said. “Instead of having to shrink my personality, I can be completely myself.”
During an October appearance on TODAY with Hoda & Jenna, the comedian noted that therapy also helped her be open to love.
“I think it was therapy,” she said. “I went to therapy, and I was able to see things with a different lens, and then I had this great guy in my life who just kind of wore me down, and then I capitulated.
“And I was like, ‘You know what, you’re my boyfriend, I love you.’ So it’s kind of the best kind of thing. He’s my best bud.”
Koy has not yet publicly commented on the split, though he was posting on his Instagram story with friends and family at Universal Studios in Hollywood on Monday night.
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