Anthony Anderson and wife Alvina Anderson (née Stewart) seem to be going their separate ways after two children and 22 years of marriage.
According to TMZ, Alvina recently filed for divorce on Friday in Los Angeles. She is seeking spousal support and for the actor to pay her attorney’s fees. As mentioned, the couple have two children in daughter Kyra, 26, and son Nathan, 22, an actor himself, who appeared in the Netflix sitcom Richie Rich.
This isn’t the first time Alvina has filed for divorce. She attempted to end their marriage in 2015 after the couple was separated for a period of time. However, the couple decided to work things out and maintained a united front from that time on.
The Andersons have been red carpet mainstays for years, with Alvina standing out stunningly next to her husband. Click through for photos of them over the years and to see a timeline of their relationship.
Anthony met Alvina at Howard University in 1989
“My sophomore year, her freshman year, I knew a girl who lived in the apartment, so I went to knock on the door to invite her to this party that me and my buddies were having. My wife answered the door. I was like, ‘I was coming to invite Stacey to this party we’re having.’ Stacey didn’t show up, but my wife did – and we have been together ever since that night,” he told Parade. “And I was just me: I got there early, she didn’t see nobody else, she was, ‘All right, I’m gonna rock out with this dude!’
They Wed in 1999
After being together for a decade and welcoming their first child, daughter Kyra, the couple decided to say I do in 1999. “We got married on our 10-year anniversary.”
She Helped Him Get His Career Started
When asked by the Daily Actor in 2012 how his wife has helped him with his career, he went into full detail about her support. “From – I’ll go back to the beginning – her letting me use her car to go to my first audition…And me coming home from that first audition and running into the back of the school bus and totaling the car on the 91 Freeway. So, that’s how it all begins. She’s always been a constant pillar for me.”
She Became a Stay-at-Home Mom to Be Present for Their Kids
“My wife is a homemaker who decided to give up her career working in the electronic publicity department at NBC for 10 years to sit at home and raise the children and to support me because I’m constantly on the go,” he said, according to Black and Married With Kids. “And that’s what she does. You know, what she does as a stay-at-home mom, just like all the other stay-at-home moms and dads across the country is invaluable and unquantifiable. And I applaud her for putting her career and her life on hold to help out with our life. It’s an ultimate sacrifice, what these stay-at-home mothers and fathers do.”
He Says She Helped Him Get Through Tumultuous Times in His Career
After being accused of sexual assault by an extra on the set of “Hustle and Flow” in 2004, a case thrown out due to a lack of evidence, the actor said in 2005 that his wife helped him get through it. “More oftentimes than not, you’re automatically [assumed to be] guilty before innocent,” he said at the time. “Everyone realized I was the innocent victim of a shakedown. My wife and I have always trusted each other, and I have to thank her strength.”
She Motivated Him to Live a Healthier Lifestyle
After being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure, the star knew he needed to make a change. He got inspiration to do so, losing more than 47 pounds, from Alvina and his children. “My wife’s become an avid gym rat, and she inspires me,” he told the Los Angeles Times in 2013. “My children are fit too and also help me keep going.”
The Couple Split in 2015
After being separated since 2014, Alvina reportedly filed for divorce from Anthony in 2015, citing irreconcilable differences at that time.
They Reconciled in 2017
In 2017, Alvina reportedly asked a Los Angeles judge to dismiss her divorce petition from 2015. From there, the couple walked their first red carpet together after reconciling at the 2017 SAG Awards, all smiles. Around this time, Anderson had become a household name for his hit sitcom,Black-ish.
They Split Again
As mentioned, Alvina filed for divorce in late March 2022. She is requesting spousal support from the star and wants him to pay her legal fees. While the divorce was filed in Los Angeles, where his family resides, Anderson has recently been living in New York where he films the reboot of NBC’s Law and Order. He most recently shared that he got help from some colorful good samaritans who gave him a ride to drop off three TVs for his apartment in the city.
Source: Essence
