Pop star Rita Ora has shared a sweet message to her filmmaker husband Taika Waititi to mark his 48th birthday.
The couple met at a barbecue he hosted in 2018 and began dating in 2021 while they were both in Australia filming, having been initially hesitant to take their long-term friendship to the next level for fear of ruining it.
Singer-songwriter Ora, 32, later proposed to Waititi while they were on holiday in Palm Springs last summer and they got married a few weeks later in August at their Los Angeles home.
On Wednesday, the I Will Never Let You Down singer shared a series of images with the Oscar-winning writer on Instagram to celebrate his birthday.
“Happy birthday to the funniest, smartest man I have ever come across in my life,” she wrote.
“You keep me together in moments I don’t think I can. Thank you for showing me what love really is.
“Here’s to many more moments of me stealing your jokes and telling them 10x louder so people think I’m the funny one. I LOVE YOU.”
New Zealand director Waititi responded: “There aren’t enough emojis on the planet to describe how happy I am.”
He is known as the writer, producer and director of Jojo Rabbit, which he also starred in, and won the Academy Award for writing (adapted screenplay).
Also among his credits are 2022 Marvel film Thor: Love And Thunder, which he wrote and directed, and the video for Ora’s new single Praising You.
She performed the song live for the first time in May at the Eurovision Song Contest, during which she was joined by a 12-year-old Ukrainian dancer forced to flee the Russian invasion.
Ora recently released her third studio album You & I, which follows 2018’s Phoenix and her 2012 debut Ora.