Ali Wong Joked About Cheating On Husband Justin Hakuta Before Their Divorce
Ali Wong is everyone's favorite funny girl, but the comedian has experienced things in her life that are anything but hilarious — one of them being the sad news of her divorce from Justin Hakuta.
In April 2022, news of their separation broke, with a source close to the former couple confirming that while they were indeed calling it quits, there was no bad blood between the two stars. "It's amicable and they will continue to co-parent lovingly," the insider told People. To many of Wong's fans, the divorce was unwelcome, considering how Hakuta is a regular subject of the comedian's jokes. In a recent Netflix special, she quipped that before marriage, she "too, was once free," but "like an idiot, I asked this dude to ask me to go to prison. And now I'm in monogamy jail — and I don't know how to get out."
Wong's comedic style often involves reality checks, but there are times when fans can't determine whether a statement is true or something from her pre-written spiel. Prior to her divorce from Hakuta, the "Always Be My Maybe" star joked about cheating on her husband, but did she really?
Ali Wong said she fantasized about committing adultery
When news of Ali Wong and Justin Hakuta's divorce got out, fans couldn't help but wonder if it had something to do with the comedian's quips about adultery. In her "Don Wong" special, Wong, who was still married to Hakuta at the time, joked that she was thinking about cheating on him "every five minutes" but hadn't done so because "no worthy opportunity has presented itself" to her. "I want to have a family, a career, and a side piece," she said nonchalantly. The comedian added that her mother would never understand the concept of fantasizing about other people because her circle was incredibly small, while she, on the other hand, "has met the entire cast of the Avengers."
But it looks like Wong only said it in the name of comedy as she once shared that Hakuta possesses "all these wonderful qualities," including telling her what psychedelic mushrooms were, so cheating is out of the question. "So, in addition to being my husband, he's also my drug dealer," she joked.
However, the reason why Wong was able to tell such risqué jokes was that her husband gave her the go-ahead. "He's an Asian unicorn; there's nobody like him," she told The New York Times in 2018. "I have to run jokes by him or I lose my marriage. That's not worth a cool joke."
Ali Wong and Justin Hakuta remain friends
Despite parting ways, Ali Wong and Justin Hakuta have managed to remain good friends, and it's something they take seriously. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Wong revealed that she still considers Hakuta one of her confidantes. "We're really, really close; we're best friends. We've been through so much together. It's a very unconventional divorce," she said, noting that they still hang out and have plans to travel with their kids.
Speaking with The Cut, Wong also made it clear that their statement about staying amicable wasn't just for show. "When we said that we were lovingly co-parenting and focusing on the kids, we really meant it," she shared. "That wasn't just a statement. To me, that's kind of boring." She even said that moving forward, she will continue to consult Hakuta about her jokes because she owes him the courtesy. "The whole time we were married I would try stuff out at open mics and I would tell him, 'I like it, I think it has legs, it's getting laughs, but I won't do it in front of a club audience if you don't like it,'" she recalled. "And he still to this day has ultimate veto power, because my relationship with him even post-divorce is more important than a two-minute bit." And besides, she knows when she's gone overboard, anyway. "How I decide for myself is all instinct," she added. "I can always feel if it's too much."