Ashlyn Harris and Sophia Bush Make Their Red Carpet Debut: See The Sweet Pics
Sophia Bush and Ashlyn Harris are bringing their romance to the nation's capitol.
On April 27, the couple made their red carpet debut at the 2024 White House Correspondents' Dinner in Washington, D.C. They both wore Harbison outfits: Sophia donned a strapless black dress with gold details, while Ashlyn sported a sparkly black suit with gold buttons.
Just two days earlier, the One Tree Hill star came out as queer in a Glamour personal essay, encouraging others to "do the brave thing." And, along the way, she opened up about her relationship with the former USWNT player.
The longtime pals ended up getting closer last year as both were going through divorce, Sophia wrote. Their friendship blossomed into something more, with Sophia writing that their first date felt like "a sparkly moment [that] maybe the universe had been conspiring for me."
"I am absolutely in awe of her relentless integrity," Sophia wrote of Ashlyn. "Seeing Ashlyn choose to not simply survive, but thrive, for her babies has been the most beautiful thing I’ve ever witnessed a friend do. And now I get to love her. How lucky am I?"
On April 26, Ashlyn shared the piece to her IG Stories, writing, "Proud of you babe." The soccer star added crying and melting emojis to her caption, per People.
Here's everything you need to know about Sophia and Ashlyn's relationship.
They bonded over their respective divorces.
In the essay, Sophia explained while she was separating from her former husband in the summer of 2023, she relied on the support of the women in her life, including Ashlyn. The pair met at a Cannes conference in 2019, Sophia shared, and quickly became part of the same friend group, who were all navigating divorce. (Ashlyn filed for divorce from ex Ali Krieger in 2023.)
"I didn’t expect to find love in this support system," she said. "I don’t know how else to say it other than: I didn’t see it until I saw it. And I think it’s very easy not to see something that’s been in front of your face for a long time when you’d never looked at it as an option and you had never been looked at as an option. What I saw was a friend with her big, happy life. And now I know she thought the same thing about me."
Sophia asked Ashlyn out to dinner.
Sophia said it only became clear to her that she and Ashlyn could become romantic when their other friends began pointing it out. "It really took other people in our safe support bubble pointing out to me how we’d finish each other’s sentences or be deeply affected by the same things," she said. "When you’re so in the trenches of hardship—plus you have the added weight of having to go through it on a public stage—it can be hard to see anything but what’s right in front of you."
After "countless sessions of therapy" and "some prodding from loved ones," Sophia took a leap of faith and asked Ashlyn out to dinner.
“That meal was four and a half hours long and truly one of the most surreal experiences of my life thus far. In hindsight, maybe it all had to happen slowly and then suddenly all at once,” Sophia wrote. “Maybe it was all fated. Maybe it really is a version of invisible string theory. I don’t really know. But I do know that for a sparkly moment, I felt like maybe the universe had been conspiring for me. And that feeling that I have in my bones is one I’ll hold on to no matter where things go from here.”
Since their first date, the two have been spotted out on numerous occasions, including a Mariah Carey concert in November, Art Basel in December, and Elton John's Oscars party in March.
Sophia admires Ashlyn’s parenting.
Ashlyn shares two children her ex-wife, a daughter named Sloane and a son named Ocean. And the way Ashlyn dotes on her babies has made Sophia fall in love with her even more.
The relationship has even brought Sophia closer to her own mother, she wrote.
"The way she prioritizes and centers her kids, not only in her life but in the core of her being, is breathtaking to behold," she said. "Falling in love with her has sutured some of my own childhood wounds, and made me so much closer to my own mother."
Sophia has defended the relationship from online haters.
In the essay, Sophia directly calls out fans who have accused her of leaving her marriage because of "some hysterical rendezvous," rather than "having taken over a year to do the most soul-crushing work of my life."
She also defended the relationship from "blatant lies" and "accusations of being a homewrecker." (Shortly after Ashlyn and Ali's divorce went public in September 2023, it was reported that Sophia and Ashlyn were dating.)
"People looking in from the outside weren’t privy to just how much time it took, how many painful conversations were had," she wrote. "A lot of effort was made to be graceful with other people’s processing, their time and obligations, and their feelings. What felt like seconds after I started to see what was in front of me, the online rumor mill began to spit in the ugliest ways."
“It’s painful to be doing deep work and have it picked apart by clueless strangers," she continued. "Everyone that matters to me knows what’s true and what isn’t. But even still, there’s a part of me that’s a ferocious defender who wants to correct the record piece by piece. But my better self, with her earned patience, has to sit back and ask, What’s the f*cking point? For who? For internet trolls? No, thank you. I’ll spend my precious time doing things I love instead."
They made their red carpet debut at the 2024 White House Correspondents' Dinner.
After the two attended the WHCD, the couple headed to an afterparty hosted by Amazon MGM Studios, which was held at the home of Swiss Ambassador Jacques Pitteloud. While posing for photos, Ashlyn appeared to whisper something into Sophia's ear that made her laugh.
Sophia's parents are big fans of Ashlyn.
Ashlyn and Sophia now stronger than ever, with Sophia writing that it took her "41 years" to experience this kind of "real joy."
Sophia’s parents love the pairing, too. “I really love who I am, at this age and in this moment," she said. "I’m so lucky that my parents, having spent time with Ash over the holidays, said, ‘Well, this finally looks right.’”
So happy for these two!
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