After their cheating scandal became public, veteran actress Nia Long took to social media for the first time to address the suspected mistress of his ex-fiance Ime Udoka. Udoka’s alleged affair with Kathleen Lynch took place while he was coaching the Boston Celtics.
Udoka, 46, resigned as coach after their romance was revealed. Lynch, a married mother, was also the basketball team’s team service manager. Long eventually called Lynch and the Boston Celtics out for how they handled the cheating scandal in a caption for a video she reposted on Instagram, according to the Daily Mail.
The video in question was a conversation on the We Can Do Hard podcast between writer Dr. Yaba Blay and Glennon Doyle. Dr. Blay was discussing how the pain of Black women is pushed to the margins while that of White women is not.
“Where was this level of awareness a year ago @celtics ??? #kathleenlynch,” Long captioned in the post. A number of celebrities sent words of support to Long in the comments section.
“Accountability to my sis and nefews. retribution is in order I stands with u @iamnialong I. got ya bac,” rapper Snoop Dogg commented with a rose and praying hands emoji. “Love u,” the Boyz n the Hood star replied.
Long in the comments section also thanked Dr. Blay for her “fearlessness and speaking facts for all of us.” “This is such an important conversation that needs to be heard and understood,” she added.
Following the scandal’s public exposure, Long chastised the Celtics’ actions in reaction. She informed The Hollywood Reporter that the basketball team had not called to see if she or her two sons were okay. Long and Udoka have a son in common.
“If you’re in the business of protecting women — I’m sorry, no one from the Celtics organization has even called to see if I’m OK, to see if my children are OK,” she said. “I think the most heartbreaking thing about all of this was seeing my son’s face when the Boston Celtics organization decided to make a very private situation public.”
The 52-year-old said she was relocating to Los Angeles with her son. “I went home to be with my son, and that was what was most important to me, because he was not having an easy time,” Long said, adding that she had to withdraw her son from school as a result of the affair.
“It was devastating, and it still is,” Long said. The actress also revealed her 11-year-old son “still has moments where it’s not easy for him.”