The 40-year-old screen star has been taking comfort from all the kind messages from her online followers. Picture: REUTERS/Danny Moloshok
Lupita Nyong'o has found a corner of the Internet where the "romantically heartbroken gather" after her split from Selema Masekela.
The 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' actress went public with news of the breakdown of her relationship over the weekend, revealing she is in a "season of heartbreak" because her love was "extinguished by deception".
However, the 40-year-old screen star has been taking comfort from all the kind messages from her online followers.
In a post on Instagram, she wrote: "Thank you for all the kindness I have received from sharing my heartbreak news.
"The words of encouragement mean more to me than I anticipated. They are a balm. And it feels comforting to have a little corner online for the romantically heartbroken to gather."
She explained that followers have "shared resources" to help her "move through the pain" as well as "songs, poems, books, quotes".
Nyong'o and Masekela first went Instagram official with their relationship in December 2022, though it is unclear how long they had been together before then.
She shared news of the split on Saturday, writing in a lengthy post on Instagram: "It is necessary for me to share a personal truth and publicly dissociate myself from someone I can no longer trust. "I find myself in a season of heartbreak because of a love suddenly and devastatingly extinguished by deception."
Nyong'o admitted she wanted to "run into the shadows and hide" but felt it was important to "face the pain" and hoped she could help others in a similar situation.
She continued: "I am tempted to run into the shadows and hide, only to return to the light when I have regained my strength enough for me to say, 'Whatever, my life is better this way.'
"But I am reminded that the magnitude of the pain I am feeling is equal to the measure of my capacity for love. And so, I am choosing to face the pain, cultivating the courage to meet my life exactly as it is, and trusting that this too shall pass.
"The promise, they say, is that a tender heart is what gives birth to fearlessness. I hope it’s true… I share this to keep it [100%], and hoping that the knowledge of my experience might be useful to someone else out there experiencing the grip of heartbreak who is poised to try and escape from the pain and miss out on the wisdom that comes from it. #Breakup (sic)"