– Brittney Griner, 35, filed for divorce from wife Cherelle on Thursday (July 31)
– Filed in Fulton County, Georgia
– Lists July 24 as date of separation
– Claims marriage is “irretrievably broken”
– They married in June 2019 (so about 7 years, though some sources say 8 years)
– They have one child together: son Bash, born July 2024
– This is ironic given that Cherelle stood by her during the Russia detention and they welcomed their son after her release
Brittney Griner has filed for divorce from wife Cherelle, the woman who stood by her during her Russian imprisonment, with the WNBA star filing the petition Thursday.
Griner, 35, and Cherelle Griner, who share one child together and tied the knot in June 2019, have seen their marriage end after roughly seven years.
The filing lists July 24 as the date of separation, with Griner stating in court documents that their marriage is “irretrievably broken.”
The papers were filed in Fulton County, Georgia.
The news marks a stunning reversal from just months earlier.
In January 2026, Griner and Cherelle appeared together at the premiere of their documentary.
The couple walked the red carpet in support of her documentary at Sundance Film Festival, discussing how they had resettled into life after the athlete’s 2022 detainment in Russia.
Cherelle told PEOPLE at the time that self-care for her meant being able to turn things off, adding “I had to be on for so long in a way that was not naturally my habitat because BG’s normally the one in front of cameras, not me.”
The couple’s split comes less than two years after they welcomed their son.
Cherelle and Brittney’s son Bash arrived in July 2024.
At the time, the pair had expressed joy about their growing family.
The couple announced on Instagram that they were expecting their baby in July, with the caption reading, “Can’t believe we’re less than three months away from meeting our favorite human being” with the hashtags #BabyGrinerComingSoon and #July2024.
The relationship had weathered extraordinary strain during Griner’s imprisonment.
In the viral moment that gripped the nation in February 2022, Russian customs agents at a Moscow airport arrested Griner after discovering vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage while she was traveling to play professional basketball overseas. She was convicted on drug charges and sentenced to nine years in prison. Throughout her ten-month detainment, Cherelle became the public face of efforts to secure her wife’s freedom, appearing on television and advocating for her release despite her discomfort with media attention. President Joe Biden ultimately negotiated a prisoner exchange in December 2022, trading Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for Griner’s freedom. Cherelle stood by her side after their tearful reunion, and they announced their pregnancy just months later, seemingly putting the ordeal behind them.
But in Griner’s 2024 memoir, she had revealed the emotional toll the separation took.
Griner recalled offering Cherelle a way out of the marriage, saying “I gave her an out,” but Cherelle responded with “What? Stop it. Don’t you ever say that.”
Griner told PEOPLE about her anguish during imprisonment: “I went through so many emotions being locked up, and just thinking about nine years. We planned on having kids, and doing all these amazing things together, and now I’m thinking, ‘Is that going to happen? How can I ask her to wait?'”
Griner credited Cherelle’s support and public advocacy, which was far outside her comfort zone, with saving her life, saying “She is not a spotlight person, she is not [comfortable with] the media. She tries to run from it. For her to do all she did, it showed me even more how much she really loves me.”
Griner and Cherelle had met as undergraduates at Baylor University.
The Griners’ love story runs deep, as they first met while attending Baylor University in the early 2010s.
They got engaged in August 2018, tying the knot the following June.
This is not Griner’s first divorce.
The WNBA star had been briefly married to fellow professional basketball player Glory Johnson, and although Brittney filed for an annulment after just 28 days of marriage, their divorce wasn’t finalized until 2016.
Neither Griner nor Cherelle has issued a public statement about the divorce filing.
Details about custody of their son and other divorce terms have not yet been disclosed.