Joey Lawrence has finally addressed the rumors surrounding his recent divorce from Samantha COPE in the alleged Affair that has captured headlines breaking his silence on Thursday via Instagram the actor expressed a deep sense of responsibility to set the record straight about accusations that he cheated on cope with his socked in for Christmas co-star Molina Alves Lawrence 48 echoed Al's earlier statement emphasizing that their relationship was nothing more than a close friendship he revealed that when he met Alves he was already navigating a deeply troubled marriage that in his words was beyond saving the Melissa Joey star explained that his marriage had been fraught with difficulties from the start making it impossible to salvage delving deeper into the reasons behind the breakdown of his marriage Lawrence highlighted the insurmountable issues related to his two teenage daughters from his previous marriage to Chandy yon Nelson Charleston 18 and Liberty 14 have always been his top priority and he realized that his estranged wife could never fully accept them as part of their family this he claimed was was a major factor in the unraveling of their relationship Lawrence stated that he could not and would not compromise on the love and care that his daughters deserve stressing that their well-being remains of the utmost importance to him as he wrapped up his message Lawrence reaffirmed his commitment to his children emphasizing that their happiness and security come before anything else meanwhile Samantha cope who recently filed for divorce has remained mostly silent on the matter aside from sharing an emotional Instagram video about processing her pain and finding strength in vulnerability in her divorce filing cope requested sole physical custody of their one-year-old daughter Dylan whom they welcomed in January 2023 just months after their wedding in Tula California page six has reached out to cope for comment on Lawrence's recent statements but as of now she is not publicly responded