April 21 2026, 08:15 
Sports superstars Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird have announced they are separating after almost a decade together.
The former couple shared the news in a joint statement on social media, saying the decision wasn’t easy but was made with “so much love, respect, and care for each other.”
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“We’ve shared a whole life over the last decade,” they said, “through big moments and in quiet ones, and that is something we’ll always carry with us.”
They also thanked their “incredible community that has held us up, welcomed us in, and supported us exactly as we are.”
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“So many of you have reminded us, again and again, why loving out loud matters.”
Rapinoe and Bird, soccer and basketball legends respectively, also spoke about the separation on their podcast, A Touch More. They explained to listeners that they wanted to be open with them, especially since they have shared so much of their relationship with them already.
“These past 10 years have given us so much, and launching this podcast and sharing this space has been one of our favorite things that we’ve done together,” Bird said.
Rapinoe said it will “look a little bit different moving forward” because their relationship was a huge part of the podcast. “We aren’t going to be hosting this pod together every week. We are both really sad to be losing this space.”
“But we aren’t going anywhere,” Bird assured fans. “We are going to do a little trade-off, hosting six more special episodes… That’ll be our farewell to you all and to this space.”
Bird said her own podcast, Bird’s Eye View, will continue, and Rapinoe announced she’s doing a World Cup series for A Touch More and will then be launching her own podcast this summer.
“We’re still going to be there for all of you and for each other. It’s just gonna look and feel a little bit different. We truly are evolving into something new to each other, to ourselves, and to all of you, and we just wanted to say thank you for sharing this space with us,” Rapinoe said.
OutSports called Bird and Rapinoe “one of the most iconic LGBTQ couples in sports.”
“When the couple first got together in 2016, they represented the pinnacle of women’s sports,” the publication explained. “To have two of the very best athletes in the world dating each other gave hope and courage to LGBTQ youth all around the globe that they, too, could play at the highest level and love who they want to love.”
Both Bird and Rapinoe have long spoken out for LGBTQ+ rights, especially trans rights. As a 2022 Vogue column noted, “One of the coolest things about Rapinoe and Bird is their mutual passion for activism.”
Both women have been outspoken supporters of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement — appearing in PSAs, wearing supportive jerseys and (for Rapinoe) taking a knee on-field during the national anthem to protest anti-Black institutionalized racism.
During the 2020 election, Bird and her teammates spoke out against Republican Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler. At the time, Loeffler co-owned the women’s basketball team Atlanta Dream, a team that supported BLM. Loeffler had spoken out against BLM, and so to protest, Bird and teammates told fans to vote for Loeffler’s Democratic political opponent, pastor Raphael Warnock.
In January 2020, Loeffler lost to Warnock. By the following February, Loeffler was no longer the team’s co-owner.
Both Rapinoe and Bird also signed onto a September 2021 legal brief submitted to the Supreme Court supporting reproductive rights, arguing that reproductive freedom is integral to supporting women’s sports.
In 2023, Rapinoe dedicated her speech at the Time Women of the Year Gala to thanking the trans community.
“I am only here because of them,” Rapinoe declared, blasting the “erasure” of trans people currently taking place in state legislatures across the country.
The Olympic gold medalist and two-time World Cup champion was also part of the U.S. Women’s National Team’s historic (and successful) battle for equal pay. She was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Joe Biden.
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