Selema Masekela: 5 Things to Know About Lupita Nyong’o’s Now-Ex-Boyfriend

Lupita Nyong’o has ended her relationship with boyfriend Selema Masekela nearly a year after she went public with their former romance.

• Selema Masekela’s half-brother appears on ‘Survivor’.
• Selema Masekela is involved in many social initiatives.
• Selema Masekela has a musical background and he likely inherited it from his jazz musician father.

Lupita Nyong’o and now-ex-boyfriend Selema Masekela went Instagram official in December 2022, with the actress noting at that the time that they “just clicked.” However, less than a year later, the Black Panther star has announced their split in a heart wrenching statement she posted via Instagram.

“At this moment, it is necessary for me to share a personal truth and publicly dissociate myself from someone I can no longer trust,” Lupita wrote. “I find myself in a season of heartbreak because of a love suddenly and devastatingly extinguished by deception. I am tempted to run into the shadows and hide, only to return to the light when I have regained my strength enough for me to say, ‘Whatever, my life is better this way.’ But I am reminded that the magnitude of the pain I am feeling is equal to the measure of my capacity for love.”

At the end of her full statement, Lupita added “#breakup” and concluded, “I share this to keep it [real] and hoping that the knowledge of my experience might be useful to someone else out there experiencing the grip of heartbreak who is poised to try and escape from the pain and miss out on the wisdom that comes from it.”

So who exactly is Selema? Here’s everything you need to know.

Selema Masekela’s brother was a contestant on ‘Survivor’

Selema was born in Los Angeles, and he’s the son of a Haitian mother and South African jazz musician Hugh Masekela. He’s also older half-brother of Survivor: Cook Islands contestant Nathan Gonzalez. He was raised in Staten Island, but his upbringing eventually brought him back to Southern California, according to his biography.

Selema Masekela loves music

Selema travelled the world with his jazz musician dad when he was younger. Selema’s own band, Alekesam, shares the name of his first film, which chronicles his relationship with his father and their connection through music, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2012. Interestingly, Selema’s music has been featured on Entourage and House of Lies, with their newest single, “All Is Forgiven”, featured on the season four premiere of the Showtime hit.

Selema Masekela started his career as an intern, and it led to quite a few hosting gigs and amazing experiences

Selema started his career as an intern at Transworld Publications in 1992. He also served as an NBA sideline reporter for ESPN during the 2003-2004 season, and a co-host of The Daily 10, a countdown of the day’s “top 10” entertainment stories, on E! until it was cancelled on Sept 27, 2010. He was also host of both the X Games and Winter X Games on ESPN for 13 years. Following his work with ESPN, he appeared as the host and executive producer of VICELAND’s docu-series, VICE World of Sports.

Selema Masekela is involved in many social initiatives

Not only is he the co-founder of Stoked Mentoring, an organization dedicated to mentoring at risk youth through action sports, but he also serves on the advisory boards of The Lunchbox Fund, a non-profit organization which provides a daily meal to students of township schools in Soweto of South Africa, and The Skatepark Project, an organization dedicated to financing and building high-quality, legal skateboarding parks for kids. He’s also a passionate supporter of the Surfrider Foundation and Life Rolls On.

Selema Masekela is also an actor

He’s appeared in 2015’s Point Break, 2018’s Uncle Drew, a 2020 episode of Sneakerheads and more.