Former Lakers player Rick Fox and his ex-wife Vanessa Williams were among the hottest couples in the early 2000s. The former couple’s wedding pictures still get thousands of likes on social media.
On December 14, 2024, a random X user shared a couple of pictures of Rick and Vanessa from their wedding day.
The pictures received 2.1 million views and 58k likes, and one user commented that the universe had to tear them apart to find balance as they were too beautiful.
Jokes aside, the two went their separate ways in 2004 and shared that negative experiences in their previous relationships caused them to drift apart.
Despite their divorce, the couple shares an amicable relationship and support their daughter, Sasha Fox‘s music/acting career.
Even before he retired from the NBA, Rick had already starred in several acting projects. He continued to do so after his retirement, with his last role coming in 2023.
The former NBA player is also an entrepreneur and co-founder of a technology company focusing on carbon-removal solutions.
In his 13-year-long career, Fox played his first seven years for the Celtics and the rest with the Lakers.
It was with the Lakers that the small forward won three championship rings.
The Bahamian-Canadian national occasionally posts on his social media, with his posts ranging from his business deals to his movie careers to his NBA days.
Rick Fox And His Former Vanessa Williams Have Tried Moving On
Rick Fox’s former wife, Vanessa Williams, was the first black woman to win the Miss America title in 1984.
But had to give up her title a few weeks later due to controversial pictures published in Penthouse magazine.
Despite the initial backlash, Williams was able to carve out a successful career in the acting/music industry.
Williams has received multiple Grammy nominations and a Tony nomination for her role as The Witch in the movie Into the Woods.
Vanessa met Rick in 1998. In an interview with The New York Times, the actress said she was attracted to Rick because he was mature for his age, and the NBA player wanted her from the beginning.
— vanessa williams & rick fox wedding (1999). pic.twitter.com/UNw8UaxF9h
— ❦ (@aldaphrodite) December 13, 2024
Before their marriage, Rick Fox told his former wife, Williams, that if he didn’t marry her, he wouldn’t marry anyone else.
Less than a year later, the couple tied the knot at St. Regis Hotel, New York City.
Though it looked like the two would last for a lifetime, the couple divorced in 2004.
After their divorce, Vanessa found love with Jim Skrip, a former businessman from Buffalo, New York.
The two exchanged their vows in 2015 and had an Egyptian-themed wedding as they met for the first time while on vacation in Egypt.
Skrip and Williams divorced in 2021, but Williams only shared the information in 2024 during an interview with PEOPLE.
Rick Dated Another Actress After The Divorce
Fox dated Buffy the Vampire Slayer actress Eliza Dushku for five years between 2009 and 2014.
Born in Boston and raised in Massachusetts, Eliza Dushku began her acting career at age 10.
She played the lead role of Alice in the movie That Night and a year later landed the role of Pearl in the film This Boy’s Life.
Eliza gained recognition with the hit supernatural drama TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the ’90s and followed it up with the comedy movie Bring It On.
Eliza Dushku and Rick Fox as vampire Bonnie and Clyde (Halloween, 2009) pic.twitter.com/Tk2NNs8Rlm
— retrocvnt (@retrocvnty) October 31, 2024
Dushku’s last work as an actress was in the TV Movie The Saint in 2017.
In an interview with Boston Magazine in 2024, Dushky revealed that she had become a certified therapist, focusing on psychedelic therapy.
Rick and Eliza called it quits on their relationship in 2014 after the actress chose to leave Los Angeles and move back to her native Boston.
Speaking to the Boston Globe, Dushku said, “Rick’s an L.A. guy, and I’m a Boston girl.“
After his separation from Eliza Dushku, there were rumors that the retired NBA star was seeing actress AnnaLynne McCord.
The actress quickly debunked those rumors during an interview with Boston Herald Radio.
The Former Lakers Star Rick Fox Is The Father To Two Kids
The former Lakers star Rick Fox shares a daughter named Sasha Gabriella Fox from his relationship with actress Vanessa Williams
Sasha, 24, graduated from Chapman University in 2022 with a Film degree.
Like her parents, Sasha has pursued a career in the music/acting field.
She previously wrote and directed the short film Superdate, for which she won the Best Youth Film award at the San Francisco Black Film Festival.
She was last seen in the movie Tripped Up in 2023 and is currently focused on her music career.
In November 2024, Sasha shared an Instagram video of her working on a new track titled Haircut.
Rick Fox also has a son named Kyle Fox, born in 1994 during his relationship with Kari Hillmans.
Unlike his father and half-sister, Kyle remains out of the entertainment scene.
He graduated from Loyola Marymount University and works as a System Designer for HiDet Inc.
Though not too active on Instagram, the former NBA player has previously shared birthday and congratulatory posts for his two kids.
In Case You Didn’t Know
- Rick Fox and his former wife, Vanessa Williams, didn’t let their divorce stop them from working together in the TV series Ugly Betty. The show ran between 2006 and 2010, with Williams starring as Wilhelmina Slater.
- In 2023 alone, Fox starred in four acting projects, including two TV series, Harlem and Extended Family, and two movies, The Retirement Plan and Some Other Woman.
