Alvina Stewart is the former wife of actor Anthony Anderson, who starred in ABC’s Black-ish. They met at Howard University in 1989 and married in September 1999. She filed for divorce in 2015, asked the court to dismiss the petition, and filed again in March 2022. The divorce settled in September 2023, and neither has publicly explained why the marriage ended.
Table of Contents
Who is Alvina Stewart?
Stewart is in her fifties. She and Anderson have two adult children, Kyra and Nathan. Coverage also calls her Alvina Anderson and, in People’s reporting, Alvina Stewart Anderson.
In an interview quoted by Essence, Anderson said Stewart gave up a career in NBC’s electronic publicity department to raise their children and support him, because he is “constantly on the go.” Her hometown and current work have not been reported.
How did Stewart and Anderson meet?
Anderson told Parade in December 2021 that he was a sophomore at Howard when he knocked on an apartment door to invite a woman named Stacey to a party. Stewart, then a freshman, answered. Stacey never made it to the party, he said, but Stewart did, and they were together from that night.
“She’s quiet, I’m loud.”
Anderson on Stewart, Parade, December 2021
Coverage of her 2022 filing, including People and E! News, called them high school sweethearts, but Anderson has said they met at Howard. They married in September 1999, which he has said was their 10-year anniversary as a couple.
Essence quoted Anderson telling Daily Actor in 2012, when asked how his wife had helped his career, that she lent him her car for his first audition. He totalled it on the way home, running into the back of a school bus on the 91 Freeway. In 2013 he told the Los Angeles Times that his wife had become “an avid gym rat” who inspired him.
Why did Stewart file for divorce twice?
Both of Stewart’s petitions cited irreconcilable differences. California is a no-fault state, so couples can use that standard ground without saying what went wrong.
| Detail | First petition | Second petition |
|---|---|---|
| Filed | Surfaced in September 2015 | 25 March 2022 |
| Date of separation | 1 April 2014 | “TBD” (to be determined); Anderson’s response gave 25 February 2022 |
| What she asked for | Spousal support, plus joint legal custody and primary physical custody of Nathan, then 15 | Spousal support, payment of her legal fees by Anderson, and property acquired during the marriage treated as community property |
| Outcome | Dismissed at her request; news broke on 4 January 2017 | Settled; papers filed 14 September 2023 |
What happened between the two filings?
Wonderwall reported that Stewart and Anderson walked the Screen Actors Guild Awards red carpet together on 29 January 2017, the first time since they called off the divorce. Stewart told Entertainment Tonight her husband stays grounded despite his success. Anderson joked that she was being diplomatic and not honest, and she replied that “if your momma were here, she’d put you on front street,” slang for calling someone out.
They continued to appear together at awards events, and People later ran a photo of them at a Critics Choice celebration of Black cinema and television on 6 December 2021. Five years after the first petition was dismissed, Stewart filed again, and Anderson responded shortly afterwards.
What did the divorce settlement include?
People reported that Stewart and Anderson filed a declaration of uncontested default on 14 September 2023 and had entered into a written agreement on the terms. The terms, which People and TMZ both reported from the documents, are:
- Spousal support of $20,000 a month from Anderson as a base.
- A higher payment if Anderson’s gross income exceeds $2 million a year. People said he would owe 20 percent of that gross amount, which would raise her payment to $400,000. TMZ described an additional 20 percent of his income.
- Anderson pays Stewart’s attorney fees.
- Anderson keeps the Encino property and a 2004 Land Rover. Stewart keeps a home in Houston and a 2022 Mazda.
People reported in 2022 that the couple had agreed to sell the Encino property and split the proceeds. The final terms leave it with Anderson. Beyond these terms, no reliable figure for Stewart’s net worth has been published.
Where do things stand now?
In January 2026, Anderson told People he was “no longer a bachelor,” then confirmed on The View and on Angie Martinez’s IRL podcast that he was dating the media host Rocsi Diaz. TheGrio reported that on the podcast he said he had learned to prioritise a better balance in his personal life. He did not want to be strictly about work and the next project, he said, and he “made those changes.”
More than three years after the settlement, Stewart has not publicly commented on the divorce or on Anderson’s relationship.
