The year is less than a week old and 2025 has already brought a notable celebrity split.
Tennis star Naomi Osaka announced Monday via her Instagram story that she had split with rapper Cordae, her longtime partner. The brief heartfelt message did not reveal when the breakup occurred but confirmed it was amicable.
“Hi everyone, just wanted to say that Cordae and I are no longer in a relationship,” the four-time Grand Slam winner wrote in a statement punctuated by a red heart emoji. “No bad blood at all, he’s a great person and an awesome dad.”
USA TODAY has reached out to Cordae and Osaka’s reps for additional comment.
The pair first began dating in 2019 and share a daughter, 1-year-old Shai. Often seen on the sidelines at Osaka’s competitions cheering her on, Cordae is a North Carolina-born hip-hop artist who kicked off his career as part of the rap collective YBN.
Osaka is one of the biggest stars in her sport, claiming seven singles titles. She is expected to rack up more wins after returning from maternity leave last year.
Her relationship with Cordae fit into a long tradition of unions between sports and entertainment stars, including Gabriel Union and Dwyane Wade, for example, or Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.
“Honestly really glad our paths crossed because my daughter is my biggest blessing and I was able to grow a lot from our experience together,” Osaka wrote in the post announcing their split.
Osaka revealed co-parenting with Cordae was going well in a 2023 interview with InStyle.
“We built a really good foundation,” she told the outlet. “I don’t know if it’s because he’s just an easygoing guy, but I think we just respect each other’s opinions. And if we disagree on something, we talk it out. At the end of the day, we both want what’s best for Shai.”
