Lesbian "Orange is The New Black" Writer Files for Divorce; Dating Actress From Series

By Staff Reporter - 15 Sep '14 07:24AM

Lauren Morelli, one of the writers for the popular Netflix show "Orange is the New Black", has filed for divorce from "The Goldbergs" producer Steve Basilone, after she realized that she is a lesbian.

Morelli is now dating actress Samira Wiley, who plays the role of gay inmate "Poussey" on the show, NY Daily News reports. The two came out officially as a couple in August when they attended the Emmy's hand in hand, Hollywood Reporter states.

TMZ reports that the writer and her husband of two years, jointly filed for divorce.

The divorce papers show that the couple separated amicably. Post the divorce, Morelli will get the Lexus, her apartment and her sapphire engagement ring; while Basilone will get the Mazda hatchback.

Morelli revealed that she is a lesbian in an essay on Identities.Mic in May, Design & Trend reports. She opened up about her sexual orientation in the piece and said that writing love scenes for lesbian characters helped her to come to terms with who she is. She said that through the love scenes between Piper Chapman, played by Taylor Schilling, and Alex Vause, played by Laura Prepon, she explored her own sexuality. "In Piper (the lead character) and Alex, I'd found a mouthpiece for my own desires and a glimmer of what my future could look like," Morelli wrote in the essay.

She added that she realized she was gay "in fall 2012, one of my first days on the set". Morelli had got the job only months after tying the knot with Basilone.

"I was nervous about the first love scene I'd written for Alex and Piper. I'd loved writing it, loved watching a tenderness emerge in their relationship where passion always seemed to be the ruling principle, but by that time, I was so deep in my own self-doubt that I constantly felt like a fraud. I was sure it was bleeding into my writing. How could it not? I was married to a man, but I wasn't straight," she wrote, Ace Showbiz reports.
Morelli further wrote: "I am now out to my family, my friends, and most of my co-workers on 'Orange.'"