Ali Wong Says Divorce Has Opened Up ‘Many New Adventures,’ Including ‘Friendship with the Father of My Children’

Ali Wong is sharing her empowering outlook on divorce.

While appearing on Today with Hoda and Jenna on Oct. 9, the Ali Wong: Single Lady star, 42, shared how her decision to end her marriage to her ex-husband, Justin Hakuta, was the right move for her journey.

After she got pregnant with her daughter, Mari, Wong confessed she thought it would mean the end of her career. Despite this, her popularity reached new heights with her breakout special, Baby Cobra, which she performed while pregnant, and it became “this expansive beautiful beginning to a whole new chapter.”

“With divorce, it’s the same thing where people look at it like this sad ending and that’s just not been the case for me,” Wong explained. “It’s been this beautiful beginning to many new adventures, and one being — sincerely — the friendship with the father of my children.”

When co-host Hoda Kotb asked how the two were able to maintain a close relationship despite their divorce, the comedian revealed that she’s always been one to keep in touch with her exes.

“I’m friends with exes from my 20s in college,” she continued, noting that she still keeps in contact with one who lives in Vietnam. “I think because my siblings all went through multiple serious relationships before they got married, I kind of always knew to not take it too too seriously.”

Wong added, “There’s value in every relationship and you learn something new from every person about what you like and what you don’t like. And to be grateful to them for that. To be like, ‘We had some bad times towards the end but for the most part, it’s great.’”

The former couple finalized their divorce in May, more than two years after the pair announced their separation. Wong and Hakuta met at a friend’s wedding reception in 2010 and hit it off instantly. At the time, Hakuta was a Fulbright scholar and student at Harvard Business School. In 2014, they got married in San Francisco, and welcomed their daughters, Mari and Nikki, within the following three years.

When Wong accepted her 2024 Golden Globe award for her performance in Netflix’ Beef, she gave a sweet shout out to Hakuta for all of his support over the years.

“I really need to thank the father of my children and my best friend, Justin, for all of your love and support,” she said in the speech. “It’s because of you that I’m able to be a working mother.”

Since then, Wong has moved on with Bill Hader. The two confirmed their relationship in April 2023, one year after she separated from Hakuta. The couple briefly dated in 2022 but later reconnected and have remained together.