Joey Lawrence and actress Samantha Cope are divorcing.
The Salt Lake City-born actress, 37, filed for divorce Wednesday after more than two years of marriage to the 48-year-old Abington, Pennsylvania, native. US weekly magazine reported after reviewing legal documents.
Cope has requested full custody of their 19-month-old daughter Dylan, the outlet reported, noting that she would allow her daughter to spend two nights a week at her father’s house when she turns 3 in January 2026.
Cope said “irreconcilable differences” were the cause of their separation, TMZ reported after reviewing court documents, adding that she and the Blossom alum split last June.
In court documents, Cope claimed that neither she nor the Melissa & Joey actor should receive spousal support, the outlet reported.
Joey Lawrence and actress Samantha Cope are divorcing, as the Salt Lake City-born actress, 37, filed for divorce on Wednesday after more than two years of marriage to the Abington, Pennsylvania native, 48. Pictured in June 2023
Cope has asked for full custody of their 19-month-old daughter Dylan.
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.”
The couple were photographed hugging each other in 2022, the year they exchanged vows.
Lawrence and Cope met in 2020 while working on the Lifetime movie My Husband’s Secret Brother.
The veteran actor was photographed on The Celebrity Dating Game in 2021
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.'”
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.
