Joey Lawrence has been accused of having an affair with actress Melina Alves amid his shock split from wife Samantha Cope.
Lawrence, 48, whose wife of two years Cope filed for divorce on Wednesday and listed their separation date as June 7, 2024 – has been accused of adultery in new court divorce documents filed by Alves’ estranged husband Edward Rider in New Jersey.
Per TMZ Rider claims in the documents – filed in late July – that he found out about Joey and Melina allegedly sleeping together in late March.
Joey and Melina are accused of conducting the alleged affair in California – after starring together in upcoming film, Socked In For Christmas. Melina is also a writer on the film.
Joey Lawrence has been accused of having an affair with actress Melina Alves amid his shock split from wife Samantha Cope
Joey and Melina (pictured) are accused of conducting the alleged affair in California – after starring together in upcoming film, Socked In For Christmas . Melina is also a writer on the film
Rider claims the affair went on ‘at various other times and places.’
Melina previously posed up with Joey on her Instagram page – but the snap has since been deleted.
DailyMail.com has contacted representatives for Joey Lawrence and Melina Alves for comment.
Per her IMDB page, Melina is a Brazilian born producer, actress, and writer working in Los Angeles, California.
She previously worked as a Flight Attendant and speaks fluent Portuguese, English, and Spanish.
This comes after Samantha posted a cryptic message about loss just days after the couple quietly split.
On June 11, she took to Instagram to share an emotional quote with a series of snaps of the couple’s 19-month-old daughter Dylan.
‘Not everything you lose is a loss. Some things are freedom. Some things are a second chance. Some things are a miracle in disguise. Some things are a detachment long-needed, a clarity brought to blurry eyes,’ read the quote from writer Brianna Wiest.
The quote also mentioned an ‘intervention’ and an ‘unexpected answer to a long-chanted prayer.’
‘Some things are a healing. Some things are a becoming,’ the quote continued. ‘Some things are a devastation, but others are a kind of vital guidance, the kind of course-correction you did not even know you needed. The kind you did not even realize you were asking for all along.’
The pair are pictured together in a now-deleted snap from set
On June 11, Cope took to Instagram to share an emotional quote with a series of snaps of the couple’s 19-month-old daughter Dylan
On June 11, she took to Instagram to share an emotional quote with a series of snaps of the couple’s 19-month-old daughter Dylan
In the court documents, per TMZ, Cope asked for full custody of Dylan , noting that she would allow her daughter to spend two nights a week at her father’s house when she turns three-years-old in January of 2026.
Cope said that neither she or the Melissa & Joey actor should be awarded spousal support, according to the outlet.
Cope told the court that she does not want to allow Lawrence to have extended visits with the child, the outlet reported, until Dylan is ‘older and can consent to such visits.’
Cope in her filing asked that she have approval over any non-relatives that her daughter is around while with Lawrence, according to the outlet.
Lawrence was previously wed to Chandie Yawn-Nelson from 2005 thru their 2020 divorce filing, with their split finalized in 2021; and Michelle Vella from 2002 until 2005.
Lawrence is also father to daughters Charleston, 18, and Liberty, 14, with Yawn-Nelson.
Lawrence and Cope first met in 2020 working on the Lifetime film My Husband’s Secret Brother.
Lawrence and Cope in August of 2021 revealed their engagement to Us Weekly, as he told the publication, ‘It’s a lot of great stuff, a lot of really great stuff. She’s the best person ever.
‘So we met there and out of nowhere, you know, it was a crazy year and a half for everybody, obviously the whole world,’ he said, referring to the coronavirus pandemic. ‘Then when you least expect [it,] amazing things happen and meeting her has just been really the greatest thing ever.
He added: ‘When you least expect it, you know, you literally meet the perfect person for you, and all those intangibles come into play … and then you meet [the] right person.’
Lawrence and Cope wed in May of 2022 at the Temecula Creek Inn in Temecula, California. Among those in attendance included the actor’s brothers, Matthew Lawrence, 44, and Andrew Lawrence, 36.
At the time, Cope told People that her courtship with Lawrence was a rapid one: ‘From day one, it was such a safe place to be myself … two weeks in, I was like, “I will be with you forever.”‘
In the court documents, per TMZ , Cope asked for full custody of Dylan , noting that she would allow her daughter to spend two nights a week at her father’s house when she turns three-years-old in January of 2026
Cope added, ‘When you meet the right person, if you’re lucky enough, it cuts to the chase so quick. I have somebody who is like-minded and has the same love language, and we communicate the same way. That’s super important. And I am so thankful.’
Cope alluded to potential issues in the relationship with a June 11 post she posted to Instagram that read, ‘Not everything you lose is a loss,’ attached to a slideshow that included no pics of Lawrence.
Lawrence has worked in Hollywood for decades, beginning as a child star appearing on shows such as Gimme a Break! from 1983-1987; Blossom from 1990-1995; Brotherly Love from 1995-1997; and Melissa & Joey from 2010-2015.
Cope’s credits include TV shows such as HBO’s Insecure, NCIS: Los Angeles and Rizzoli & Isles; and in films such as 2020’s Revenge for Daddy, 2021’s An Organized Killer and 2022’s Love at the Christmas Contest.
