The 28-Day Marriage: Inside Brittney Griner And Glory Johnson's Explosive Divorce And $2,500 Child Support Battle

The whirlwind romance between WNBA stars Brittney Griner and Glory Johnson remains one of the most explosive and short-lived celebrity marriages in recent memory, a saga that began with a high-profile engagement and ended in domestic violence arrests and a bitter legal battle. As of December 11, 2025, the dust has long settled on their contentious split, but the details of their 28-day union continue to define a tumultuous chapter in both athletes’ lives.

The relationship was fraught with drama from the very beginning, culminating in a shocking arrest just weeks before their wedding, followed by a marriage that lasted less than a month and an ensuing court fight over child support for their twin daughters. This is the definitive look at the relationship that captured the WNBA's attention and the long-term fallout that followed.

WNBA Stars: Brittney Griner and Glory Johnson Biography Profile

Brittney Griner and Glory Johnson were two of the WNBA’s most prominent young talents when their relationship began. Their professional careers, however, took very different paths following their public split.

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Brittney Yvette Griner

• Born: October 18, 1990 (Age 35)
• Birthplace: Houston, Texas, U.S.
• Height: 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
• College: Baylor University
• WNBA Draft: 2013, 1st round, 1st overall pick by the Phoenix Mercury
• WNBA Teams: Phoenix Mercury (2013–Present)
• Current Status: WNBA All-Star, Olympic Gold Medalist, currently married to Cherelle Griner.

Glory Bassey Johnson

• Born: July 27, 1990 (Age 35)
• Birthplace: Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S.
• Height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
• College: University of Tennessee
• WNBA Draft: 2012, 1st round, 4th overall pick by the Tulsa Shock
• WNBA Teams: Tulsa Shock (2012–2015), Dallas Wings (2016–2019), Atlanta Dream (2020), Connecticut Sun (2021)
• Current Status: Professional basketball player, mother of twins, has played internationally for clubs like Besiktas.

The Tumultuous Timeline: Arrest, Wedding, and 28 Days of Marriage

The relationship between the two WNBA All-Stars was a whirlwind of public highs and private lows. The most shocking event occurred just weeks before their planned wedding date, signaling a deeper instability within their union.

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The Domestic Violence Arrest (April 2015)

On April 22, 2015, police were called to the couple’s home in Phoenix, Arizona, where they found both Griner and Johnson with minor injuries following a physical altercation.

Both players were arrested on suspicion of assault and disorderly conduct. Griner later pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and agreed to enter counseling, while Johnson's case was dismissed. The WNBA subsequently suspended both players for seven games each for the incident.

The Wedding and Annulment Filing (May 2015)

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Despite the highly publicized domestic violence incident, the couple proceeded with their wedding on May 8, 2015, in Phoenix, Arizona. The marriage was extraordinarily brief. On June 5, 2015—just 28 days after the wedding—Griner filed for an annulment, citing fraud and duress.

Griner's filing came one day after Johnson publicly announced she was pregnant with twins through in vitro fertilization (IVF). Griner’s legal team argued that she had no biological connection to the children and that Johnson had pressured her into the IVF process and had been unfaithful.

The Judge’s Decision

An Arizona judge ultimately rejected Griner’s request for an annulment, ruling that the marriage did not meet the legal criteria for annulment and would instead proceed as a divorce. This decision forced Griner to deal with the financial and parental responsibilities of a divorce, rather than simply erasing the marriage.

The Bitter Legal Fallout: Child Support and Life as Co-Parents

The divorce proceedings, finalized in 2016, focused heavily on the financial obligations Griner would have toward the children conceived during the marriage, even though she was not the biological parent.

The Birth of the Twins

Glory Johnson gave birth to twin daughters, Ava Simone and Solei Diem, prematurely on October 12, 2015. Despite the ongoing legal battle, Johnson shared the news on social media, embracing her new role as a mother.

The Child Support Settlement

The most significant outcome of the divorce was the child support order. A Maricopa County, Arizona, judge ordered Brittney Griner to pay child support to Glory Johnson for the twins. The final settlement required Griner to pay Johnson $2,516.97 per month in child support. The court also denied Glory Johnson's request for spousal support (alimony) and car payments.

This ruling established a legal precedent for Griner’s financial responsibility toward the children, solidifying her role as a legal, though non-biological, parent following the breakdown of the marriage and the judge's rejection of the annulment.

Life After the Drama: Griner's New Chapter and Johnson's Reflection

Years after the messy divorce, both athletes have moved on, though the experience remains a permanent part of their public narrative. The fresh perspective today is one of distance and new beginnings.

Brittney Griner’s New Marriage

Brittney Griner found stability in her personal life with Cherelle Watson, who later took the name Cherelle Griner. Cherelle was a constant and vocal advocate for Brittney during her high-profile detention in Russia in 2022, bringing a different, more supportive dynamic to Griner's public relationships. Their marriage and public display of support provided a stark contrast to the drama of the past.

Glory Johnson’s Focus on Motherhood and Career

Glory Johnson has focused on raising her twin daughters, Ava and Solei, while continuing her professional basketball career both in the WNBA (most recently with the Connecticut Sun) and overseas. She has spoken openly about the difficulty of balancing a globetrotting career with motherhood, often documenting her life as a single parent on social media.

In a candid interview years later, Johnson reflected on the tumultuous relationship, acknowledging the immense public scrutiny and admitting that she was blindsided by Griner's annulment filing. She also clarified her own sexual identity, stating that she had never dated women before Griner and does not consider herself a lesbian. Her perspective today is one of resilience, having navigated the shocking end of a marriage while simultaneously managing a high-risk pregnancy and a professional career.

The story of Brittney Griner and Glory Johnson serves as a cautionary tale about the pressures of public relationships and the difficulty of navigating personal conflict under the intense spotlight of professional sports. While the drama of 2015 is over, the financial and parental ties—specifically the monthly child support payments—ensure that the two WNBA stars remain connected by the brief, explosive chapter they shared.