Idina Menzel has spoken out about her painful 2013 divorce from Taye Diggs.
The “Let It Go” singer, 53, made the rare comments Thursday during a New York Comic Con panel, where she described the split as “really hard” and admitted the timing collided disastrously with her skyrocketing career. Menzel and Diggs, 54, had spent a decade married after meeting in the mid-1990s during the original Broadway run of “Rent,” Jonathan Larson’s rock musical that also spawned their 2005 film co-starring roles.
“We were separating and it was really hard,” she shared at the panel. “And then ‘Frozen’ was coming up just as Taye — we were breaking up.”
The 2014 Disney blockbuster made Menzel inescapable, with “Let It Go” blasting from every speaker and screen. She joked about the awkwardness her ex faced in public spaces during that period.
“The poor guy,” Menzel quipped. “It was ‘Let It Go.’ He’s in a mall and he’s like, ‘F–k this! It’s everywhere, ‘Let It Go, Let It Go.’ Like, ‘I can’t let it go!'”
The couple had wed in 2003 and welcomed son Walker, now 17, in 2009. Their representatives announced the separation that December with a joint statement emphasizing their child’s wellbeing: “Idina Menzel and Taye Diggs have jointly decided to separate at this time. Their primary focus and concern is for their son. We ask that you respect their privacy during this time.”
Despite the professional triumph, Menzel painted the era as emotionally wrenching. “It was very complicated, that whole time,” she added at Thursday’s panel. She credited the “Frozen” phenomenon with carrying her through the wreckage of her marriage.
“It was filling my heart with joy and love and forgiveness and all of that stuff,” Menzel shared. “And also being able to show my son this wonderful film.”
This wasn’t the first time Menzel addressed the collision of her personal collapse and professional explosion. In 2016, she described facing “a very, I guess, turbulent, dynamic couple of years.” She explained how the juxtaposition fueled her creatively: “While having the success of ‘Frozen’ and having my career sort of catapulted in a new place, I had the juxtaposition of my personal life being, kind of, going through a divorce and all of the sadness and guilt and regret that comes with all of that. So I had these sort of two dueling sides in my life and it just gave me a great place to go in the studio and work from.”
Menzel found love again with another “Rent” alum, marrying Aaron Lohr in 2017. Diggs moved on as well, dating star and singer Apryl Jones from 2021 until 2023.
The exes have built a functional co-parenting arrangement that Diggs has publicly praised. In a 2022 interview, he credited Menzel with keeping their son’s life running smoothly despite her demanding schedule.
“She has a career and she has her own relationships and she still makes sure that Walker is where he needs to be when he needs,” Diggs said. “He’s got the best coaches and the best teachers, and we’re at the best schools, and it’s all because of her.”
Menzel’s Thursday remarks emphasized that same parental priority, noting she is “really proud” that she and Diggs consistently put Walker first throughout their separation and its aftermath.
The original “Rent” production that launched their romance opened Off-Broadway in 1996 before transferring to Broadway, with Menzel originating the role of Maureen Johnson and Diggs playing Benjamin Coffin III. The musical’s raw portrayal of young artists struggling with love, loss and the AIDS crisis in New York’s East Village became a generational touchstone and launched multiple careers before its creator Larson’s sudden death the night before the first preview.
Menzel is scheduled to continue her current concert tour with a performance in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.