What You Don't Know About Lisa Bonet

The following article mentions sexual assault allegations.

While some know Lisa Bonet primarily for her marriages to singer and songwriter Lenny Kravtiz, which ended in 1993, and to actor Jason Momoa (they announced her separation in early January 2022), she has always had her own career and been able to stand on her own two feet. After rising to fame as Denise Huxtable on "The Cosby Show" and its subsequent spin-off series "A Different World," Bonet has acted steadily throughout the years. She's also brought three children into the world. Daughter Zoë Kravitz was born in 1988, and Bonet's children with Momoa, Lola and Nakoa-Wolf, were born in 2007 and 2008, respectively. 

Bonet is a hard woman to find information about, a fact that she is likely quite pleased by. After all, as she told Porter magazine in 2018, she doesn't mind that her home in the mountains outside of LA is a little "reclusive." Here are a few things you might not know about Lisa Bonet.

In 1993, Lisa Bonet was at a personal crossroads. Her marriage to ex-husband Lenny Kravitz ended a few years prior, their daughter together was 5 years old, her career had stalled, and, as she told People, she needed to do something that would "honor my personal life outside of this."

So, Bonet made the decision to legally change her name to Lilakoi Moon, which surprised some, to be sure. But regardless of the name change, the actor continued to be credited as Lisa Bonet in her projects. 

At the time, Bonet said that the name change was part of a larger effort to keep her privacy intact, with Emerge magazine reporting that her official explanation to the court for the change was to "protect her privacy" (via the Orlando Sentinel). In the years that followed, she offered very little additional explanation about the swap, and it's unclear to what degree she has used the name since.

Lisa Bonet and Marisa Tomei met for the first time when they were both cast on "A Different World." The two played roommates, an arrangement that they also lived out offscreen, and developed such a close bond that Tomei is godmother to all three of Bonet's children.

While the pair traded off questions for Interview magazine in 2021, they revealed just how deep their friendship goes back. After discussing their fondness for visiting flea markets and finding clothes (with Tomei admitting that they often ended up bringing home the same styles), Bonet admitted that Tomei helped guide her toward reusing and repurposing older items. She said, "I'm a total repurposer, so finding another life for something, and letting it live on is so satisfying. And then, knowing an object's history and craftsmanship, and you've got me hooked."

Tomei and Bonet's eldest child have also spoken for a publication. When Zoë Kravitz graced the cover of InStyle in 2018, the magazine had Tomei ask her a few questions for the interview. After Kravitz shared that she is entering an age where she feels comfortable with her body and embracing her inner beauty, Tomei brought things back to Bonet by adding, "You grew up knowing that — or being taught that. And I know because I'm best friends with your mom, and that's something she also taught me."

While Lisa Bonet doesn't give a lot of interviews or statements, she has spoken up about her penchant for fitness and healthy eating habits over the years. In an interview with The New York Times, Bonet shared that she's a big fan of yoga and Pilates and that she definitely enjoys hitting the gym. Bonet also said that she even takes part of a dance class, adding, "I take an African dance class that I live for. I just walked in one day, and I have been doing it pretty regularly for seven years now."

That healthy lifestyle also extend to what she puts into her body. While speaking with and interviewing her good friend Marisa Tomei for Interview magazine in late 2021, Bonet shared her ideal breakfast. She said, "I'll scramble an egg in coconut oil and throw the bone broth over that. And that is very sustaining with some lovely sourdough and some beautiful cultured butter."

For her aforementioned chat with Porter magazine, Lisa Bonet invited the interview's author out to her home tucked away in the mountains outside of Los Angeles where she has lived for over two decades. After moving to the Topanga, California, home following her divorce from ex-husband Lenny Kravitz, Bonet built a home for herself and their daughter, Zoë Kravitz. 

Of her home, which the magazine described as adorned with Tibetan prayer flags and "daily mandalas of pebbles and beans on the path," Bonet shares that the area she lives in is just right for her. She explained, "I know people give Southern California a bad rap, but I love it here. You can create the life you want."

Bonet's home is also filled with animals, including two half-wolf, half-Malamute dogs, named Amba and Zion, and a donkey called Freya. While she admits that her home is "quiet, tranquil and, yeah, a bit reclusive," Bonet also says that those traits are perfectly in line with her own personality.

Lisa Bonet married her ex-husband Lenny Kravitz in 1987. Though the two divorced only a few years later in 1993, they share a daughter that they are both tremendously proud of. As shared by Porter magazine, Kravitz and Bonet's relationship and marriage was a powerful time for the pair. Bonet was already well known for her work on "The Cosby Show" and "A Different World," and Kravitz was writing his music.

Kravitz landed his first record deal a year after their relationship began, and it turns out that Bonet even contributed to his first album by co-writing a few of the songs. Happily, the two worked through their problems following their divorce and have been good friends ever since, which Bonet said was an effort they both made for their daughter. "I didn't want to pass on those heirlooms, and this fresh wound of a divorce," she said.

Lisa Bonet met her second husband, actor Jason Momoa, in 2004 or 2005. The two welcomed their first child together in 2007 and their second in December 2008. They remained together for years, marrying in 2017 before announcing their separation in January 2022.

Though they are both actors, the twosome only worked together professionally once when they co-starred in 2014's "Road to Paloma." Momoa was also billed as a writer, producer, and director on the movie, which is about the events following an Indigenous American revenge against the killing of his mother. He told Indian Country Today that Bonet's character is the type of person that his own character could fall in love with, but that the audience knows it can never work out.

When asked if the two had fun working together, Momoa said, "Yes but it's also nerve-racking because your love is there — but at the same time is a dream come true to work with her." 

Audiences were stunned when Lisa Bonet was fired from the set of "A Different World" in 1988 after only being in one season of the show. The reason why she was asked to leave wasn't immediately clear, but Bonet was recently married and, as people would find out soon enough, expecting her first child. 

In his book "Let Love Rule" (via MovieWeb), Bonet's ex-husband Lenny Kravitz touched on why Bonet lost her spot on the show and finally confirmed what many believed and suspected. It turns out that the show's producer Debbie Allen knew Bonet was pregnant, and she liked the idea of Bonet's character, Denise Huxtable, being pregnant and raising a child as a single mother on the show. Unfortunately for Bonet, however, the show's creator, Bill Cosby, did not. 

As Lenny wrote in his book, Cosby called up Bonet to issue a simple statement: "Lisa Bonet is pregnant, but Denise Huxtable is not." With that, Bonet was apparently no longer a part of the cast of the show.

During her conversation with pal Marisa Tomei for Interview, Lisa Bonet had some interesting remarks to make about authenticity. Despite having racked up enough birthdays to be considered middle-aged, Bonet insisted she was still working to discover who her own authentic self was. Interestingly, People pointed out that particular conversation took place in late 2021 — just before the announcement of her separation from Jason Momoa. 

Bonet apparently referenced her changing circumstances when she responded to a question from Tomei, who asked, "What's calling you?" Bonet replied, "Definitely learning how to be authentically me, learning to be new, and following this invitation from the universe to step into this river of uncertainty." As she continued, Bonet declared that the period of "uncertainty" she was entering into had presented her certain opportunities to focus on self-reflection. "We've eliminated all this extra noise," she explained, "and now it's time to grow our roots deeper into our own values."

In fact, Bonet appeared to be in a philosophical mode throughout the entire interview with Tomei. That was certainly the case when the two discussed their mutual interest in meditation, with Bonet once again indicating that her circumstances were far less solid than they had been. "​​The more still we are, the more clearly the guidance comes through in these very uncertain times," Bonet shared.

Since the late 1980s, Lisa Bonet has worn her hair in long dreadlocks, a distinct hairstyle that's become deeply associated with her aesthetic. "I've had my hair in dreadlocks for a really long time. It's probably been 20-something years now," Bonet said in a 2016 interview with The New York Times.

She decided to stick with dreads, she explained, because the process of keeping her hair from knotting up typically involved spending a significant amount of time in a salon, something for which she admitted she had little patience. "It seemed the natural solution," she said of what's become her hair's signature look. She also admitted she found other people's ignorance of dreadlocks, and what's entailed in maintaining them, to be funny to her. "It's hilarious when people who don't know about dreads wonder, 'Do you wash your hair?' The answer is 'Of course,'" she said.

As it happened, another female star, from a subsequent generation, drew inspiration from Bonet's dreads. In a 2015 Instagram post, actor and singer Zendaya posted side-by-side photos of herself and Bonet on Instagram, in which she's sporting dreadlocks much like Bonet's. "Inspiration," Zendaya wrote in the caption.

As a multiracial child — her father is Black, while her mother is white and Jewish — young Lisa Bonet grew up, she told the Washington Post in a 1987 interview, "in a little white neighborhood on the wrong side of the tracks." Her childhood, she admitted, led her to experience some confusion about where she fit in, given that she was both Black and white, while also neither. 

"I don't know, it was really weird," Bonet recalled. "Because, like, you know, the Black kids would call me 'Oreo,' and I just didn't feel totally at home and accepted with all these, you know, white rich people." Feeling caught in between two cultures, while accepted by neither, she found herself enveloped in confusion. "I had just a whole identity crisis," she said. "'Cause I had absolutely no idea where I belonged in life."

It was acting, she said, that allowed her to overcome those feelings and embrace herself for who she was. It all began when a friend invited her to attend an acting class, something in which Bonet admitted she had little interest, primarily due to her shyness, but decided to check out simply because she had little else going on. "So I went and the people were just so much fun that I went back," she added. 

Bill Cosby, once "America's dad," saw his image forever tarnished when he was accused of sexual assault by more than 60 women. One of those accusations sent him to prison, where he served three years behind bars before he was released in 2021 when his sexual assault conviction was overturned. Speaking with The Guardian in 2015, Zoë Kravitz said that her mother had not addressed the scandal surrounding her one-time TV dad. "She'd plead the fifth, even to me. I think she's just staying out of it," Kravitz explained. "She's just as disgusted and concerned as everyone else is, but I don't think she has any insight."

In 2018, Bonet broke her silence on Cosby during her interview with Porter magazine. "There was no knowledge on my part about his specific actions, but... There was just energy. And that type of sinister, shadow energy cannot be concealed," she explained. 

Asked if she could sense a "darkness" within Cosby, she admitted she did indeed have an intuitive feeling that something was amiss. "Always," she confirmed. "And if I had anything more to reveal then it would have happened a long time ago." Given the public conflicts she and Cosby experienced, she also offered something close to an opinion. "I don't need to say, 'I told you so.' I just leave all that to karma and justice and what will be," she added.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).