‘Black-ish’ Creator Kenya Barris Files For Divorce From Wife Rainbow

“Black-ish” creator Kenya Barris has filed for divorce from his wife of over 20 years, Dr. Rania “Rainbow” Barris, his inspiration behind Tracee Ellis Ross’s character in the series.

According to court documents filed by Kenya in the Los Angeles Superior Court and obtained by People, he cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the divorce. 

The document also reveals that the couple had been separated since September 2020.

Kenya is requesting joint and legal custody of their kids and would provide his ex with spousal support payment.  

This isn’t the first time the couple has moved to sever their marriage legally. In 2014, Raina filed for divorce but withdrew her request a year later following their reconciliation. 

Associated Press also reports that in 2019, Kenya went on to file for divorce again before calling it off.

The couple got married in 1999. Their love story inspired the principal romance on the ABC comedy, winning Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross Emmy nods for their roles as Andre “Dre” Johnson and Rainbow “Bow” Johnson, respectively.

Notably, the season 4 finale of Black-ish looked to be inspired by the real-life couple’s troubles, as it depicted Dre and Bow’s marital woes.

“I think you owe it to your viewers to show this,” Rania stated in an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2018.

She added, “Because so many of the stories are situations very exact to our life, Kenya cannot help as a writer but to make the character of Bow more prominent [and] important.”

Kenya has also remarked on the marital issues that his characters encounter, claiming that he intended to depict real-life circumstances on TV.

“When I was growing up, I never saw couples fight on the family sitcoms I loved to watch,” he told EW in 2018.

“Subsequently, when tough times arose in my own relationship, I wasn’t prepared and felt so isolated and alone,” he continued. “Marital issues weren’t a part of the narrative that television told me was a ‘working relationship.'”