‘He Love-Bombed Her’ (Exclusive Source)

On Aug. 21, PEOPLE confirmed that Cope filed for divorce from Lawrence after two years of marriage

Infidelity was a think about and ‘s choice to finish their marriage, based on an unique supply.

A supply near the previous couple, whose broke on Aug. 21, completely tells PEOPLE that the pair went their separate methods after Lawrence, 48, struck up a relationship with Melina Alves, a author and costar on his upcoming movie, Socked In For Christmas.

“Joey met Melina Alves on the set of their film, the place she was a producer,” the supply claims. “He then love-bombed her identical to he love-bombed Samantha. He continued up to now Melina even after Samantha discovered about it and confronted him.”

When Cope, 37, “wished to go to counseling,” the supply claims, Lawrence “fooled their counselor” and would “prepare for dates with Melina whereas Sam watched, bawling her eyes out.”

Associated:

On Aug. 22, reportedly obtained divorce filings by Alves’ estranged husband Edward Rider, which alleged he found in late March that Alves was having an affair with Lawrence. Rider’s divorce paperwork was filed in July, just some weeks earlier than Cope filed for divorce, per TMZ.

Rider alleged within the court docket submitting that Alves and Lawrence have been having the affair in California — the place they have been presumably positioned for the filming of Socked In For Christmas — and went on to interact in infidelity “at varied different instances and locations,” based on TMZ.

PEOPLE has reached out to reps for Lawrence, Cope, Alves and Rider for remark, however they haven’t returned a number of requests for remark.

On Wednesday, Aug. 20, PEOPLE confirmed that Lawrence and Cope — who met whereas filming Lifetime’s My Husband’s Secret Brother in 2021 earlier than tying the knot in Could 2022 — have been

In accordance with the divorce submitting obtained by PEOPLE, Cope cited irreconcilable variations as the explanation for his or her cut up and submitted the paperwork on Aug. 13 — two months after their date of separation, which was listed as June 7, 2024. She requested to dam the court docket’s means to award both facet spousal assist and is in search of full bodily custody of their daughter Dylan, 19 months, whereas allowing Lawrence visitation at her discretion.

Per the submitting, Cope has requested that Lawrence “not take [Dylan] for lengthy, prolonged durations of time till she is sufficiently old to particularly ask for the visitation time” and that Dylan not “be within the presence of any non-family members whereas with Joe until agreed upon by Samantha.”

Associated:

Hypothesis in regards to the former couple’s separation was first sparked when Lawrence was noticed with no marriage ceremony ring in PEOPLE’s of his household trip to Jamaica in August. Cope was additionally noticeably absent from the images.

Lawrence and his brothers Matthew, 44, and Andrew, 36, described the journey as a “trip of a lifetime.” The three siblings have been joined by , the Melissa & Joey alum’s , Charleston, 18, and Liberty, 14, in addition to Andrew’s girlfriend, Brittany McGowan, on the Caribbean getaway.

“Nothing issues extra on this life than the attractive reminiscences you share with family members,” the brothers instructed PEOPLE on the time. “It was a trip of a lifetime and we are able to’t wait to return!”

By no means miss a narrative — join to remain up-to-date on the very best of what PEOPLE has to supply​​, from celeb information to forcing human curiosity tales.

Eight months earlier than Cope filed for divorce from Lawrence, he in December 2023 about how they met and into a wedding.

“I by no means dated someone that I’d labored with earlier than. That was simply very, very a lot out of the unusual for me,” he instructed PEOPLE on the time. “I’ve by no means really gotten right into a severe relationship with someone that I really labored with, by no means.”

“It was very surprising,” he continued. “These wild twists and turns that you just get to be our age. You simply sort of go, ‘All proper, effectively, I assume that’s what it’s.’ You study to just accept the unorthodox method some issues simply kind of roll out and also you’re grateful for — you’re grateful for it, regardless that it’s not what you anticipated.”

For extra Individuals information, be sure to

Learn the unique article on .