Ricky Martin, Jwan Yosef announce divorce after 6 years of marriage
Jwan Yosef and Ricky Martin arrive at the 2017 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Graydon Carter at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 26, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images)
Ricky Martin and Jwan Yosef are divorcing after nearly six years of marriage, the couple announced Thursday.
"For some time, we have considered transforming our relationship, and it is after careful consideration that we have decided to end our marriage with love, respect and dignity for our children," the couple wrote in an Instagram post, shared in Spanish on Martin’s profile and in English on Yosef’s.
Martin’s publicity team confirmed the accuracy of the post to The Associated Press. No other details were provided. People magazine first reported the news.
Martin, singer of such Spanish-language and English-language hits like "Livin’ la Vida Loca," "She Bangs," "La copa de la vida" and "Vente pa’ ca," has won two Grammys and four Latin Grammys and also acted. Yosef is a Swedish artist of Syrian origin.
"Our greatest desire now is to continue having a healthy family dynamic and a relationship centered on our genuine friendship as we continue the joint upbringing of our children," Martin and Yosef wrote in the statement. "We are united in nurturing this new chapter of our lives."
Martin, 51, and Yosef, 38, were married at the end of 2017. By then, the Puerto Rican singer was already the father of twins Matteo and Valentino, who will turn 15 in August and born via surrogate. Yosef and Martin had two other children together: Lucía, now 4, and Renn, now 3.
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Last September, Martin sued his nephew over the fallout of sex abuse allegations the nephew recanted. Arguing that the claims cost him millions of dollars in lost income, Martin said he had been "persecuted, besieged, harassed, stalked and extorted" by his "troubled" nephew for economic reasons. The AP confirmed that, days later, the nephew filed a sexual assault complaint. Martin declined to comment at the time.