Nicole Murphy issues apology to Antoine Fuqua’s wife, family after saying kiss was only ‘a friendly hello’
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Nicole Murphy said she and Antoine Fuqua are "just family friends" after she was spotted kissing the married director.
Murphy, 51, addressed photographs of her and Fuqua, 53, that made the rounds in the tabloids earlier this week of the pair sharing a kiss on the lips.
But the model is setting the record straight, claiming it was simply a "friendly hello."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
MAN ADMITS TO SWINDLING EDDIE MURPHY'S EX OUT OF $10M
"I ran into him in Italy and we exchanged a friendly hello and that was it," she told Lovebscott.com.
However, shortly after downplaying her "friendly" exchange with the "Equalizer 2" director, Murphy issued an apology for her actions saying she does not "condone" women kissing married men.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
“Without going into the entire situation, I want to apologize to my family, and to [Fuqua’s wife] Lela [Rochon] and the Fuqua family for what transpired,” Murphy said Wednesday in a statement to TMZ. “It was not my intention to be in this situation. I do not condone women kissing or interacting in anyway inappropriately with a married man. I too was once married and I would never intentionally undermine another woman, despite what has been written.”
The photographs showed bathing suit-clad Murphy and Fuqua kissing next to a pool in Ischia where it was reported the pair were in town for the Ischia Global Festival as Fuqua is set to receive the director of the year award.
According to People, Fuqua's wife, Lela Rochon, deleted her Twitter and Instagram accounts around the same time as the photos of Murphy and Fuqua were published.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
However, a source told the outlet that Rochon and Fuqua "were both together a few weeks ago at their son’s basketball game and looked like a happily married couple."
EDDIE MURPHY, NETFLIX NEARING $70M DEAL FOR STAND-UP RETURN: REPORT
Another source added: "It's known that [Murphy and Fuqua have] been close friends for a long time and travel in the same circles."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Fuqua is married to actress Lela Rochon and they share two children, a daughter, Asia, 16, and a son, Brando, 15. He also has a son, Zachary, from a previous relationship. Murphy shares five children with ex-husband, Eddie Murphy, and also previously dated Michael Strahan.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Both held coffee cups as they shared a kiss, with Fuqua wearing a navy towel around his waist, while Murphy wore a bikini and a white sheer robe.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Reps for Murphy, Rochon and Fuqua did not immediately return Fox News' requests for comment.