Teyana Taylor & Aaron Pierre Hard Launch Relationship With a Kiss

Are they or aren’t they? That’s the question the world had for Teyana Taylor and Aaron Pierre. Until this weekend. Taylor threw a surprise 31st birthday party for her alleged boo and after the two exchanged a kiss, it looks like we now have an answer.

Pierre, the U.K.-born star of Mufasa and the Netflix hit Rebel Ridge, has been hanging out with Taylor for months. Speculation increased after they took sultry pics at a post-Oscar party. Then there were further flirty messages on social media that had the internet talking, including Taylor addressing her divorce from ex-husband Iman Shumpert on IG Live, then ending it with “And let me go back to getting my back blown out in peace.”

Naturally, people wondered if Pierre was the person she was referring to.

Before the birthday video surfaced, Taylor first wished Pierre a Happy Birthday on social media.

“Cheers to Thirty-WON & many more wins around the sun. 🌹 H”AP”PY BIRTHDAY Woody,” she posted. He responded, “Now and always. Thank you Tey,” with a rose emoji.

And then the clip surfaced of Pierre, with Taylor behind him, entering a room where a group was gathered to surprise him for his birthday. After seeing the people there to celebrate, he and Taylor shared a sultry kiss.

Pierre has been rising on the celebrity heat map since his starring role in the 2024 Netflix film Rebel Ridge. In it, he plays a badass former Marine who goes to significant lengths to retrieve bail money stolen from him to secure his cousin’s release. He then played Mufasa in The Lion King prequel, going viral for his spirit tunnel walk while promoting the film on The Jennifer Hudson Show.

The couple was seen showing plenty of PDA while sitting next to Jamie Foxx’s daughters at the BET Awards on Monday night, so at this point, we can go ahead and make them not only Instagram official but also awards show official.

They’d been dropping hints for months. They were first photographed together at a table at the American Black Film Festival in February. Then in March, they were photographed at Beyoncé and Jay Z’s post-Oscars party. In June, Taylor received the Innovator Award at the Apollo spring benefit, thanking her ‘apple pie,’ along with her mom, dad and kids – hmmm, those initials do track. Just a day later, she released her video for “Long Time” from her upcoming album Escape Room where Pierre makes a cameo.

Taylor is divorced from former NBA star Iman Shumpert. The former couple share two daughters, Junie, 9 and Rue, 4. Their divorce took a messy turn over the children as each accused the other of various wrongdoing and their mutual filings continue to wind their way through the courts. Pierre, as far as anyone knows is single, with no kids.

Well, we’ll exit here and go ahead and let Taylor keep getting her back blown out in peace. We can now safely say we know by whom.

See social media’s reaction to the new couple below.