Cole Sprouse confirms that he and Lili Reinhart 'permanently split' earlier this year
- Cole Sprouse posted a new photo of "Riverdale" costar Lili Reinhart on Instagram on Tuesday.
- In the post's caption, he confirmed that the couple "initially separated in January of this year, deciding to more permanently split in March."
- Sprouse's statement follows a recent interview with Refinery29 in which Reinhart alluded to their breakup — though the actress later said her quotes were misconstrued.
- Sprouse and Reinhart met on the set of "Riverdale" and reportedly started dating in 2017.
Cole Sprouse set the record straight on his relationship with "Riverdale" costar Lili Reinhart.
"Lili and I initially separated in January of this year, deciding to more permanently split in March," the 28-year-old actor captioned a photo of Reinhart that he shared on Instagram on Wednesday.
He continued: "What an incredible experience I had, I'll always feel lucky and cherish that I had the chance to fall in love. I wish her nothing but the utmost love and happiness moving forward. All I'll say about it, anything else you hear doesn't matter."
Sprouse went on to show support for Reinhart, who's executive producing and starring in a film called "Chemical Hearts," set for release on Friday on Amazon Prime Video and based on a novel from Krystal Sutherland.
"I'm sure she's just as incredible in it as everything else she does," he said.
Sprouse's comment came after Reinhart spoke out on Tuesday and said that her quotes from an interview with Refinery29 were misconstrued, with people speculating that she was referring to her split.
"Quotes taken from my most recent interview are not about a 'breakup.' They are about the depression I've felt over these last few months. Tired of people taking my words out of context and piecing together their own story for clickbait," the actress, who's been outspoken about her mental health challenges, wrote.
She added: "I would never speak so candidly about something as personal as a breakup. That's incredibly private. I was addressing my depression."
The two stars reportedly started dating in 2017, which was the same year that they made their debuts as love interests Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones (also known as "Bughead"), on The CW's "Riverdale."
In July 2019, Us Weekly reported that they broke up. An unnamed source also told E! News that the actors split "earlier this summer." Reinhart went on to slam reports and "vile" sources commenting on her relationship.
The "Hustlers" star and Sprouse also appeared in a joint cover story for W magazine to promote their hit show, and both declined to be interviewed together for the issue. But in September 2019, Reinhart low-key confirmed that she and Sprouse were together while discussing her plans for Halloween in an interview with Coveteur.
In more recent months, their relationship status was unclear.
In April 2020, Sprouse reacted to speculation that he cheated on his costar with model Kaia Gerber. Meanwhile, Reinhart shared a message on her Instagram and slammed people on social media for being toxic.
At the time, E! News reported that they were still together, despite fans thinking otherwise. Weeks later, Reinhart seemingly reacted to fans on social media trying to cancel Sprouse with the hashtag #ColeSprouseIsOverParty in a series of tweets that have since been deleted.
In May 2020, "Riverdale" costar Skeet Ulrich (who plays FP Jones, Sprouse's on-screen father) seemingly confirmed that Reinhart and Sprouse broke up, by referring to the couple in the past tense, saying: "I think they were a very cute couple."