Joey Lawrence has been accused of having an affair with actress Melina Alves amid his shock split from wife Samantha Cope.
Lawrence, 48, whose wife of two years, Cope, filed for divorce on Wednesday and set their separation date as June 7, 2024, has been accused of adultery in new divorce court documents filed by Alves’ ex-husband, Edward Rider, in New Jersey.
By TMZ Rider claims in the documents, filed in late July, that she learned Joey and Melina were allegedly sleeping together in late March.
Joey and Melina are accused of carrying out the alleged affair in California, after starring together in the upcoming film, Socked In For Christmas. Melina is also a screenwriter on the film.
Joey Lawrence has been accused of having an affair with actress Melina Alves amid his shock split from wife Samantha Cope
Joey and Melina (pictured) are accused of carrying out the alleged affair in California, after starring together in the upcoming film, Socked In For Christmas. Melina is also a screenwriter on the film.
Rider claims the romance continued…at various other times and places.
Melina previously posed with Joey on her Instagram page, but the photo has since been deleted.
DailyMail.com has contacted representatives for Joey Lawrence and Melina Alves for comment.
According to her IMDB page, Melina is a Brazilian-born producer, actress, and writer working in Los Angeles, California.
She previously worked as a flight attendant and is fluent in Portuguese, English and Spanish.
This comes after Samantha posted a cryptic message about the loss just days after the couple quietly split.
On June 11, he addressed Instagram to share an emotional quote with a series of snapshots of the couple’s 19-month-old daughter, Dylan.
“Not everything lost is a loss. Some things are freedom. Some things are a second chance. Some things are a miracle in disguise. Some things are a long-needed detachment, a clarity brought to clouded eyes,” said the quote by writer Brianna Wiest.
The quote also mentions an “intervention” and an “unexpected response to a long-sung prayer.”
“Some things are healing. Some things are a becoming,” the quote continues. “Some things are devastating, but others are a kind of life-giving guidance, the kind of course correction you didn’t even know you needed. The kind of correction you didn’t even realize you were asking for all along.”
The couple appears together in a now-deleted snapshot from the set.
On June 11, Cope took to Instagram to share an emotional quote with a series of snapshots of the couple’s 19-month-old daughter, Dylan.
On June 11, she took to Instagram to share an emotional quote with a series of snapshots of the couple’s 19-month-old daughter, Dylan.
In court documents, for TMZCope asked for sole custody of Dylan, saying she would allow her daughter to spend two nights a week at her father’s house when she turns three in January 2026.
Cope said neither she nor the Melissa & Joey actor should receive spousal support, the outlet reported.
Cope told the court that he does not want to allow Lawrence to have extended visits with the boy, the outlet reported, until Dylan “is older and can consent to such visits.”
In her filing, Cope requested approval for anyone other than relatives to be around her daughter while she is with Lawrence, the outlet reported.
Lawrence was previously married to Chandie Yawn-Nelson from 2005 until their divorce filing in 2020, their separation being finalized in 2021; and to Michelle Vella from 2002 to 2005.
Lawrence is also father to daughters Charleston, 18, and Liberty, 14, with Yawn-Nelson.
Lawrence and Cope met in 2020 while working on the Lifetime movie My Husband’s Secret Brother.
Lawrence and Cope revealed their engagement in August 2021. We weeklyAs he told the publication, “It’s a lot of great things, a lot of really great things. She’s the best person ever.”
“We met there and all of a sudden it was a crazy year and a half for everyone, obviously the whole world,” he said, referring to the coronavirus pandemic. “So when you least expect it, amazing things happen and meeting her has really been the best thing in the world.”
She added: “When you least expect it, you know, you literally meet the perfect person for you, and all those intangibles come into play… and then you meet the right person.”
Lawrence and Cope tied the knot in May 2022 at the Temecula Creek Inn in Temecula, California. Among those in attendance were the actor’s brothers, Matthew Lawrence, 44, and Andrew Lawrence, 36.
At that time, Cope said People that her courtship with Lawrence was quick: ‘From day one, it was such a safe place to be myself… two weeks later, I thought: ‘I’ll be with you forever.'”
In court documents, according to TMZ, Cope requested full custody of Dylan, noting that he would allow his daughter to spend two nights a week at her father’s house when she turns three in January 2026.
Cope added: “When you meet the right person, if you’re lucky, it all comes right down to it. I have someone who thinks like me and has the same love language, and we communicate in the same way. That’s very important. And I’m very grateful.”
Cope alluded to potential problems in the relationship with a June 11 post she published on Instagram that read, “Not everything you lose is a loss,” attached to a slideshow that did not include photos of Lawrence.
Lawrence has worked in Hollywood for decades, starting out as a child star appearing on shows such as Gimme a Break! from 1983 to 1987; Blossom from 1990 to 1995; Brotherly Love from 1995 to 1997; and Melissa & Joey from 2010 to 2015.
Cope’s credits include television shows such as HBO’s Insecure, NCIS: Los Angeles, and Rizzoli & Isles; and films such as 2020’s Revenge for Daddy, 2021’s An Organized Killer, and 2022’s Love at the Christmas Contest.