Who Is Lena Waithe’s Wife, Alana Mayo?
Congrats are in order for The Chi creator, Lena Waithe. The writer and producer recently announced that she and her longtime love, Alana Mayo, ties the knot. The couple have been engaged for two years and fans were waiting to see photos from their wedding but it doesn’t appear they’ll get their wish.
Waithe is normally private with her personal life but has spent years gushing about her affinity for Mayo. They’ve remained side by side as Waithe rose to success. Interestingly enough, Mayo has her own impressive resume.
Lena Waithe reveals she and her fiancee married in a secret ceremony
Waithe and Mayo reportedly dated for three years before they became engaged on Thanksgiving day in 2017. Waithe revealed that they married in a secret ceremony during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
“We snuck and did it, you know,” the Emmy Award winner gushed to John Legend Who was filling in for DeGeneres. “We didn’t make any announcements.”
Waithe revealed that they married in a San Francisco courthouse. The spur of the moment nuptials was Mayo’s idea. “And she was just driving and she saw the courthouse and she said, ‘We should get married there.’ And I said, ‘Cool, I’m down.’”
Waithe told People in March 2018 that she didn’t know when they would tie the knot, but when they did it would be “super small, crazy small” with just close friends and family. It looks like their wedding was smaller than expected!
Who is Lena Waithe’s wife, Alana Mayo?
Mayo isn’t just the wife of one of Hollywood’s top content creators, she’s successful in the industry as well. While working as the Vice President of Production at Paramount Pictures, Mayo has written on projects starring some of the top talent in the industry, including Fences starring Viola Davis and Denzel Washington.
In her previous role as Production Executive at Paramount, she worked on the Academy Award-winning film, The Big Short. Prior to joining Paramount, Mayo was a Creative Executive at Twentieth Century Fox.
According to Produced by Conference, In 2019, she was also named Head of Production and Development of Outlier Society, a multi-platform production and media company led by actor Michael B. Jordan. She oversees the company’s slate of films and television shows.
In a 2018 interview with Glamour, she spoke about the impact she has being black, female and queer. “People who are looked at as ‘other’ are kicking ass in the industry right now.”
Mayo also spoke with Glamour about her primary mission as a content creator: reaching people. “I often think back on what I remember from my childhood and how that shaped the image of myself,” she said. “I think content has a really profound effect on kids.”
The New York native was raised in Chicago, Illinois just as her future wife. Mayo graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor’s Degree in English and a Bachelor’s Degree in Film Studies. After interning with Lee Daniels, Tribeca Films and Warrington Hudlin, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue her dreams of working in film.
Cheers to Lena and Alana!
