Vanessa Morgan Breaks Silence on Michael Kopech Divorce: 'I Went Through Two Years of Pain'
Nearly four years after calling it quits, actress Vanessa Morgan is opening up about her 2020 divorce from baseball star Michael Kopech.
The 31-year-old Riverdale actress recently sat down with Rachel Bilson for a new episode of her podcast, Broad Ideas, and got candid about the divorce -- which happened when she was pregnant with her and Kopech's son, River.
"In the moment, it's so painful," Morgan reflected. "It’s almost like we idolize what our dream reality [was] from when we were a kid... [then] you mourn the future that never happened. You mourn the fantasy that you created, and that wasn’t the reality that was the best alignment for me."
News first broke in July 2020 that Kopech had filed for divorce the previous month. News of the divorce surfaced just days after Morgan revealed she was expecting her first child, a baby boy.
In the pregnancy announcement, Morgan made no mention of Kopech, who was earlier confirmed to be taking time off from playing for the White Sox this season due to "personal reasons."
Morgan and Kopech got engaged at the Grand Canyon in July 2019 and tied the knot at the Historic Walton House near Miami in early January 2020 -- their divorce coming around six months later.
Looking back at their split, Morgan explained, "I went through two years of pain."
For the actress, one of the biggest sources of pain came from "embarrassment" and "not wanting to face that you have a broken family."
"You get married, and you want to kind of have that fantasy," she shared. "I think it's almost like you feel disappointed to tell people that it didn't work out."
However, Morgan said that she ultimately realized things unfolded in a way that allowed her to grow and find the right person and be the best mom to her son.
"The beauty of life is that it doesn't always go as planned," Morgan said. "I don’t want to be a victim. Otherwise, I’m just going to feel bad for myself all the time and I didn’t want to feel bad for myself. I have a beautiful son, and that was my blessing."
In the years since her divorce, Morgan struck up a relationship with basketballer James Karnik, whom she's been dating since 2022.
As Morgan explained, Karnik has been a big part of her son's life -- although Kopech hasn't been gone entirely.
"His father is in his life," Morgan said, adding, "He doesn’t get to see him very often."
After their divorce, Kopech subsequently got married to Morgan Eudy, and the pair welcomed their son, Vander, in 2022.
"At least [River] will always know that my partner now has been there from what he will remember, as the beginning," Morgan said of Karnik. "They’re together every single day... he looks at him like a father figure."
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