K. Michelle Says She’s ‘So Sick’ of Hurtful Jokes About Her 2013 Relationship with Idris Elba: ‘People Thought That I Was Not Good Enough’
The couple’s eight-month relationship was the subject of jokes that targeted the R&B singer
K. Michelle and actor Idris Elba dated for eight months in 2013
The pair ultimately went their separate ways, but the relationship was a major inspiration for songs on the R&B singer’s 2014 album, Anybody Wanna Buy a Heart?
K. Michelle appeared on Club Shay Shay this week, where she opened up about commentary about the relationship when it became public knowledge
K. Michelle is opening up about some painful memories from the past.
In a Club Shay Shay interview released on May 21, the singer, 44, spoke about her 2013 relationship with Idris Elba. The two dated for just under a year in 2013 before parting ways.
But many didn’t realize they were an item at the time because the “Can’t Raise a Man” singer didn’t publicly disclose the relationship.
“I never exposed that. We did everything together, but people thought that I was not good enough,” she continued, noting that people would assume they were friends or working together.
When people have found out about it in the years that followed, the commentary hasn’t always been complimentary.
“To hear Charlamagne tha God say, when y’all found out that Idris loved K. Michelle, it was like turning wine into Arbor Mist… that’s hilarious. Go ahead, laugh. No, it was hilarious, but you gotta understand for a young Black girl, for y’all to do this… that man has never denied me. My biggest selling album, to this day, that still charts, is about me and him,” she shared.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta star continued, “He doesn’t, we don’t, play them games about each other. Idris was amazing. He was an amazing man.”
K. Michelle explained that people’s perception of Elba is different from knowing him in person, noting, “I am so sick of y’all… You talking about a DJ that was in the streets and in Hackney…I don’t care how fine, how Denzel y’all want him to be.”
K. Michelle in 2013.Credit: Johnny Nunez/WireImage
She emphasized that while people have strong feelings about the one-time pairing, “I have nothing bad to say about Idris,” adding “We went through what we went through. I sent my album to him first. And he said, ‘This is a masterpiece. I hate that we’ve gone through this.’ ”
Today, K. Michelle is married to Dr. Kastan Sims, a Memphis-area dentist whom she’s been friends with since junior high school. The two tied the knot in Sept. 2025. As for the Luther actor, 53, he recently celebrated seven years of marriage to his wife, Sabrina Elba.
