Ali Wong and Her Ex-Husband Remain "Best Friends" Despite Divorce
Updated April 6 2023, 4:38 p.m. ET
When most people think of Ali Wong, they may think of the comedienne as being perpetually pregnant. That’s because both of the 37-year-old’s highly acclaimed Netflix specials were filmed when she was expecting her daughters, Mari and Nikki, in 2015 and 2017 respectively.
The BEEF star has since given fans an even more intimate look into her life via her autobiography Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets & Advice for Living Your Best Life, which includes stories about her supportive then-husband, Justin Hakuta.
Naturally, fans of Ali were shocked when she announced that after eight years of marriage, she and Justin were getting a divorce. What's their relationship like now?
Who is Ali Wong’s ex-husband?
The actress married Justin Hakuta in 2014 after meeting him at a wedding four years prior. The Fulbright Scholar and Harvard Business School grad was working as the product lead for financial services company Avacara at the time, which he co-founded in 2010.
Justin is no stranger to the spotlight. His father, Ken Hakuta, is best known for inventing the Wacky Wall Walker, a sticky toy in the shape of an octopus that would, you guessed it, walk down walls. It became one of the best-selling toys of the 1980s and led to a hosting gig for Ken on the kids program The Dr. Fad Show, which aired from 1988 to 1994.
Over the past decade, Justin — who’s half-Filipino and half-Japanese, though Ali described him as "Asian with Aztec undertones" — has worked for DIRECTV, Cargomatic, Inc., and GoodRx, but appears to be a stay-at-home dad these days to support his ex-wife’s busy career.
Ali Wong and Justin Hakuta announced their divorce in April 2022.
In April 2022, People announced Ali and Justin were calling it quits -- and she's the one who filed for divorce. A source also sold People the couple would "continue to co-parent lovingly."
In March 2023, Ali opened up to The Hollywood Reporter about her and Justin's relationship now, a year after their divorce announcement. She describes them as "very close" and "best friends," also adding that she knows their closeness despite divorce is "unconventional."
Ali also noted that Justin and her two daughters would be attending her comedy tour over the summer, where Ali would joke about the divorce.
She says, "I'm still workshopping it, but the bones are there and it came to me very fast. This is the first hour I'm doing since I started where I'm single. I think we're going to call it the Single Lady tour."
It sounds like Ali and Justin are navigating divorce extremely well! Ali's tour begins April 23, 2023.