Ms. Lauryn Hill is usually very selective about what she shares regarding her personal life, but she apparently had time to clear up the Internet’s version of her relationship with Rohan Marley.
As spotted on Complex, social media creator Mayowa recently posted a video dissecting Hill’s longtime relationship with Marley, the son of reggae legend Bob Marley and father of five of her children. Mayowa argued that Marley had essentially “destroyed” the Fugees singer, pointing to the sadness she hears in Hill’s music, the couple never legally marrying despite building a family together and Marley eventually marrying another woman after their relationship ended. She also characterized some of Hill’s music from that period as almost self-punishing.
Considering Hill is famously private, what happened next was unexpected. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill artist appeared in Mayowa’s comment section herself and pushed back on the idea that Marley had simply done her wrong.
“I might agree with some of the self-deprecation part,” Hill wrote before making one thing very clear: “I was NOT being done dirty.” Instead, she explained that her “upset had layers” and said much of the tension between the two came from Marley’s unwillingness to confront his own trauma in a way that could help their family stay together. Hill also acknowledged that both entered the relationship carrying their own past hurts and were attempting to uplift one another while working through them.
Hill ultimately approached the subject with far more grace than Mayowa’s original assessment, noting that imperfect people can still struggle, grow and create work that helps others through their own battles. That response also tracks with how Hill has recently spoken about Marley publicly. In May, while wishing him a happy birthday, she called him her protector, defender and the father of their children before directly addressing years of gossip surrounding their relationship by stating that Marley “never cheated on me.” Marley responded warmly to the birthday tribute, thanking Hill and noting that while they no longer live together, the love remains.
Hill and Marley began their relationship in the mid-1990s and went on to have five children together: Zion, Selah, Joshua—better known today as YG Marley—John and Sara. Although Hill sometimes referred to Marley as her husband, the two were never legally married. Their relationship was also reportedly on-and-off for years, with Hill herself acknowledging in 2011 that the pair had experienced “long periods of separation.”
That complicated history has fueled speculation for decades. One particularly salacious rumor claimed Marley had been unfaithful with a woman described as both Hill’s assistant and cousin. The allegation has circulated in retrospective coverage of Hill’s career but has never been substantiated, and Hill’s own recent declaration that Marley never cheated directly contradicts that version of events.
There were, however, very real complications between them that both parties have acknowledged. When Hill gave birth to her sixth child in 2011, reports suggested Marley had abandoned her while she was pregnant and become involved with Brazilian model Isabeli Fontana. Hill publicly rejected the abandonment narrative, describing her history with Marley as “long and complex” and stressing that they had already gone through extended separations. Marley later became engaged to Fontana, though the two never married.
Marley has also admitted he carries regrets about how things ended. In a 2013 interview, he said he had loved Hill deeply but “faltered” when it came to properly expressing those feelings, adding that he was heartbroken after their romantic relationship failed. Marley later married Brazilian model Barbara Fialho in 2019, with their marriage ending the following year.
More than 15 years after Hill and Marley stopped being a couple, however, it appears the two have found a healthy place as co-parents—and Hill clearly isn’t interested in letting outsiders rewrite their history as a simple villain-and-victim story. There may have been pain, separation and plenty of complicated moments, but according to the woman who actually lived it, the popular narrative that Rohan Marley simply “destroyed” Lauryn Hill isn’t accurate.
As of this writing, Marley has not publicly responded to Mayowa’s latest criticism of their relationship. You can read Lauryn Hill’s entire comment below.