Eve has had a decades-long career that has seen her go from rapper to media mogul. The Philly native has worked her way through the industry and done many amazing things, from star in her own sitcom to launch a clothing line. She’s been a daytime talk show host via The Talk and now making her way back to prime time via the new television series Queens co-starring Brandy and Naturi Naughton. Eve has also been in a relationship for the last ten years with now-husband Maximillion Cooper; on opened up to People Magazine about how the two fell in love and how she almost thought it would not work.
Eve, born Eve Jihan Jeffers, is now 42 years old. Her first very public relationship was with producer and reality TV star Stevie J between 1997 and 2000. She described their union as the most toxic relationship of her life and claimed he was jealous, competitive, and unsupportive. “At that time, I was also in a relationship that was very toxic. That wasn’t working,” she recalled during a Ruff Ryders documentary she filmed last year. “It wasn’t good because here is this person that I thought was the love of my life, is just so unsupportive. It was just so much competition.”
Following Stevie, she was rumored to have dated Nelly, T.I, Michael Ealy, and Shane Powers before falling in love with British Entrepreneur Maximillion Cooper. Eve and Max were an odd paring and caught a lot of unnecessary attention for being in an interracial relationship. It was the first time either of them had dated outside of their race.
“In the beginning, it was very hard because obviously, I come from hip hop, there was no other person at that time especially from that world dating outside the race, outside of Black guys. It was not met very well by people I knew for sure.”
She goes on to say that over the years, she feels it was their confidence in loving one another that won people over. It reinforced the people around them as well, only attracting people who truly loved and supported them.
Eve admits she was not sure at first either, especially when it came to Max having four kids and her not having any.
Now ten years later, she is opening up about how happy she is that she stuck it out. She and Max are currently celebrating their 7th year anniversary, and she has become very close with the kids.
I’ve been in their lives, and they’ve been in my life. They’ve grounded me. In the beginning, when I first met my husband, then-boyfriend, I was like, ‘This is never gonna last because you got four kids! How’s this gonna work?’ “she remembers. “But then I met the kids and honestly was like ‘Wow, kids are amazing.'” While she loves her “bonus kids,” she eventually decided to leave her job on The Talk to move to London full time in hopes of her and husband Max having some of their own. “You gotta be on the same continent with your partner to have a kid! So hopefully, this will help!”
