It was just over a week ago that actress and comedienne Niecy Nash shocked the world by announcing a slight update to her name. "Mrs. Carol Denise Betts," she wrote in a post she uploaded to both Twitter and Instagram. Carol Denise is Nash's given name. And Betts? Well, that's her new last name by marriage.
Nash's announcement of her marriage to Jessica Betts marked the first time she had been publicly linked to a woman as a romantic partner. It was called (by us) a coming out but the Claws star doesn't see it as such.
"I don’t feel like my marriage is my coming out of anywhere, but rather a going into myself and being honest about who I love," she told People Magazine in this week's issue. "And I’m not limiting myself on what that love is supposed to look like.” We love to hear it.
[My marriage] has absolutely nothing to do with gender and it has everything to do with her soul," she said, "She is the most beautiful soul I have ever met in my life." Betts is a singer who notably won Missy Elliot's Road to Stardom in 2005, and also appeared on Claws.
"I was not suppressing my sexuality my whole life," Nash said. "I love who I love. At one point in my life, I married twice and I love those people. And today I love this person. I've done everything I wanted to do on my own terms and my own way. So my choice now in a partner has nothing to do with who I've always been. It's a matter of who I am in this moment."
According to the magazine, Nash and Betts met first on social media in 2015 while Nash was married. They had been simply friends and Nash didn't see it any different until she announced her split from her then-husband Jay Tucker.
"We began to see each other in a way we never had before," Nash said. Click on to see photos and details of the wedding. All photos by Robert Ector and Reymarkable.
Though the internet found out about the union on August 31, the two got married in California on August 29.
Only 24 of the "closest friends and family" made it to the event. That included Ava Duvernay, Sherrie Shepherd, Lala Milan, Yvonne Orji, and more. Everyone was tested for the virus at the center of the ongoing global pandemic and there were custom masks available.
William P. Miller organized the "rustic chic" event with food by Chef Will Jones.
We aren't sure what song but from photos and videos, it's clear that Jessica sang live at the ceremony.
Whether or not she wore them for the entire time, for some of the photos (and the wedding video) Niecy Nash was sporting a pair of Converse with a rainbow sole on the bottom, that is from the company's Pride products. Her dress was from Lili Brides.
