Brittney Griner Divorcing Wife Who Helped Free Her From Russian Prison

Brittney Griner and her wife Cherelle Watson are calling it quits. 

The WNBA star is getting divorced after eight years of marriage, with court documents revealing she filed the paperwork on Thursday in Fulton County, Georgia. 

According to TMZ, she says their union is “irretrievably broken” but didn’t have much else to say on the development of their relationship.

“This is a matter we hope the parties can resolve privately,” a lawyer for Brittney Griner told NBC News. “There is no further comment at this time.”

The Griners have been married since 2019, though they met about a decade earlier while both students at Baylor, where Griner won the 2012 national championship. 

However, they didn’t date in college, and only got close when they reconnected after Griner divorced her first wife, fellow WNBA player Glory Johnson, following a brief marriage.

Their marriage faced hardship just a handful of years in when the three-time Olympic gold medalist was caught with a weed vape in Russia’s Sheremetyevo International Airport. Since marijuana is illegal there, she was subject to a high-profile trial where she eventually pled guilty and was sentenced to nine years.

Back in the States, Cherelle became a figurehead in advocating for Griner’s release.

She appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America and ESPN among others to bring awareness to her wife’s imprisonment and implored then-President Biden to intervene. 

“There is one person that can go get her, and that’s our president,” Cherelle told ESPN in 2022. “He has that power. You know, I’m just like, ‘Why are we not using it? Like, urgently, use it.’ We’re expecting him to use his power to get it done.”

She later spoke to Biden and Kamala Harris and even met with them at the White House.

Griner was eventually freed in a prisoner swap for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, and Cherelle was right by her side at the press conference. 

Griner wants joint legal custody and an agreed-upon amount for child support. Griner also already shares twins with her ex, which she also supports.

See social media reaction to the divorce below.