‘All These Years’: Lauryn Hill Drops Bombshell About Rohan Marley Cheating Rumor Mid-Birthday Tribute and Fans Are Stunned
Rohan Marley recently turned 54 years old on May 19, and the son of reggae legend Bob Marley received a special appreciation post from the mother of five of his children, hip-hop performer Ms. Lauryn Hill.
The relationship story of Marley and Hill, 50, dates back to the 1990s when the Jamaican and American first met. Hill was reaching superstardom as a member of the Fugees rap trio along with Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel.
In August 1997, Lauryn gave birth to Rohan’s son, Zion Marley, who inspired the emotional song “To Zion” on Hill’s 1998 Grammy Award-winning debut solo album “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.”
Hill and Marley also share four other children – Selah Louise Marley (born November 1998), Joshua Marley (born December 2001), John Marley (born June 2003), and Sara Marley (born January 2008).
Though they never officially married, Hill referred to Marley as her husband. Their unwed union mostly remained out of the headlines, but rumors that Rohan cheated on the “Sister Act 2” actress have persisted for years. Even after they reportedly separated around 2009.
Lauryn decided to shout out her ex-boyfriend on Instagram with a heartfelt statement that also serves as a response to the decades-long whispers that infidelity played a role in her eventual split from Rohan.
“Happy Birthday @romarley! We have been through a lot, but I will always be grateful to you and for you as my protector, my defender, and Father to our beautiful children,” Hill wrote as the caption for a 20-slide carousel of family photos.
She continued, “I hope you’re being celebrated and appreciated today and every day. For those who didn’t know better, @romarley never cheated on me! I remember the beginning when we were young, majestic, and uniting our worlds. Have a blessed one, King. Love you, Lulu.”
Hill’s fans flooded her Instagram comment section with their own messages about the ex-lovers apparently still having a friendly bond as co-parents. For instance, one person wrote, “Thank you for clearing that up. For years, they spread that rumor! Happy Birthday, sir!”
“She said he been my man always gon be my man,” added a second supportive commenter in reaction to Lauryn’s shout-out. A third individual on the platform posted, “I love the ‘he never cheated on me’ part.”
Yet another person expressed, “This is how it should be when we share children.” An even more exhilarated Hill-Marley backer stated, “Period, let them know Ms.Hill, you the one, not two. Happy b-day, Ro.”
“Get back together!!” someone else demanded. One commenter admitted, “All these years, I hated this man, thinking he cheated on my idol. I guess this gives us closure [as] fans. Happy birthday, King.”
However, not all the responses were positive. One Lauryn hater pushed unproven speculation about the “Killing Me Softly” singer, posting, “Well, word on the street is that you cheated on him. I’m wondering why this is mentioned in a b-day post, but okay.”
Questions about the status of Hill and Marley’s relationship hit a fever pitch in 2011 when the songstress had her sixth child, Micah Hill, with an undisclosed man. In June of that year, Rohan made it clear he was not the then-unborn baby’s father.
For her part, Lauryn shot down any negativity directed at Rohan over talk that he stepped out on her while she was pregnant. The New Jersey native shared a lengthy message on X (then known as Twitter) to rebut the supposedly untrue claims.
“Mr. Marley and I have a long and complex history about which MANY inaccuracies have been reported since the beginning. To speculate without the facts can only cause people to form WRONG conclusions,” she proclaimed,
The statement resumed, “We both value privacy and for that reason defend and preserve our right to it. Contrary to numerous reports, Mr. Marley did not abandon me while pregnant with his child.”
“We have had long periods of separation over the years, but our 5 children together remain a joy to both of us. Thank you for your concern, and I appreciate all the well wishes regarding the birth of my new son,” Hill concluded.
Rohan Marley calls Ms. Lauryn Hill the female Bob Marley and says The Fugees are the greatest rap band in history.
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@revolttv ) pic.twitter.com/5TaKZWbg4b
— The Art Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) February 24, 2024
The following year, Rohan added fuel to the rumor mill fire when he opened up in a 2012 interview with The Voice website about why he broke up with Hill. He was dating Brazilian supermodel Isabeli Fontana at the time.
“As a man, there are certain things I don’t accept, and it just so happened that I didn’t accept certain things,” Marley is quoted as saying about ending their relationship, per Madam Noire. “It doesn’t mean she’s a bad person or I’m a bad person. It just didn’t work out.”
While outsiders are still itching to learn more about the behind-the-scenes details of Hill and Marley’s past romance and why it ultimately failed, the former teenage star and the former college football player have kept cordial in public.
Rohan even gave Hill a huge compliment when he compared the future Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee to his late father, affectionately calling her “the female Bob Marley” on a 2024 episode of N.O.R.E.’s “Drink Champs” podcast.