Where Vili Fualaau is now and what he’s been up to since Mary Kay Letourneau’s death

The best Netflix movie of 2023 is without a doubt May December, a newly-released film directed by Todd Haynes and starring Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, and Charles Melton. Though mostly fictional, the movie is also loosely inspired by the real-life people Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau, who made widespread news in the 1990s for a major controversy. Letourneau, 34 at the time, raped her 12-year-old student and began a sexual relationship with him that lasted decades.

May December follows a couple named Gracie and Joe whose story bears striking similarities to Letourneau and Fualaau’s relationship. Similar to the real-life figures the characters were inspired by, Joe eventually starts to come to terms with what he went through years and years after his relationship with Gracie began, and his mental health is heavily impacted.

After serving two sentences in jail, Letourneau was released for good in 2004. She and Fualaau married in 2005 when she was 43 and Fualaau was 22. In 2020, Letourneau passed away after a battle with colon cancer and Fualaau was by her side — despite the two officially separating in 2019. Since their split, Fualaau has started to move on with his life. We break down some of his biggest life events after Letourneau’s death with the timeline below.

2020: Letourneau dies and Fualaau speaks out

After Letourneau’s death in 2020, Fualaau appeared on The Dr. Oz Show, where he discussed his ex-wife’s final moments. Recalling Letourneau’s cancer diagnosis, Fualaau remembered feeling in “disbelief,” saying she seemed healthy “on the outside.” He shared that her health declined quickly after the diagnosis and he was understandably devasted when she passed. He also spoke about his relationship with Letourneau when he was a minor, saying that if he was feeling any attraction to children at his age, he would “seek some help.”

"“I couldn’t look at a 13-year-old and be attracted to that because it’s just not in my brain,” Fualaau said. “It’s nothing that I’m attracted to. I mean, we all have our preferences, and that’s just not something that I would go towards.”"

A source allegedly close to Fualaau told People Magazine in 2020 that he was ready to date again following Letourneau’s death, this time with someone “his own age or even younger.” The source explained: “He sees things clearly now, and realizes that [his relationship with Letourneau] wasn’t a healthy relationship from the start.”

Because Fualaau has kept his life private since his relationship with Letourneau, understandably, we do not know if he’s dated someone seriously in the years since his ex-wife’s passing.

2021: Fualaau is arrested for a DUI

Unfortunately, 2021 appeared to be another difficult year for Fualaau as he was arrested for a DUI that September. According to TMZ, he was “driving erratically on the highway” in Seattle, Washington in the early hours of one Saturday morning and reportedly almost hit a police car. He was taken to the Snohomish County Jail after failing sobriety tests.

This was not the first time Fualaau had been arrested for a DUI, as it was reported in 2018 that he was taken to the station after crashing into multiple cars on the road in Burien, Washington. Letourneau reportedly arrived at the scene and tried to intervene and Fualaau later had to appear in court on the charge.

2022: Fualaau has another baby, we don’t know who the mom is

In happier news for Fualaau, it was reported by People Magazine in 2022 that he had welcomed another child into the world, a daughter named Sophia. This is Fualaau’s third child and third girl. His daughter Georgia shared the news on her private Instagram, posting a photo of the baby in the hospital. “Hi Sophia, I’m your big sister! You’re so beautiful, I can’t wait to watch you grow. I’ll be right here by your side no matter what ! I love you [heart emoji,” she wrote in the caption.

After some digging, we were not able to find out who the mother of Fualaau’s daughter Sophia is. As mentioned, he’s remained largely out of the spotlight in recent years. In any case, we’re happy for him and his expanding family.

2023: Fualaau and Letourneau’s daughter Georgia is expecting

2023 has been another eventful one for Fualaau as his daughter Georgia is now expecting her first child! The 24-year-old spoke to People Magazine this September, sharing that she’s having a boy. “I’m very excited to become a mother. I have an amazing mother to prepare me for these years to come,” Georgia said, adding that she believes her mom would “be really happy” for her.

“I think maybe at first it would be kind of shocking, because I am her baby, but after that, she’d be the most excited grandmother-to-be,” Georgia stated.

Fualaau has not spoken out on his daughter’s pregnancy publicly, but despite this, we know he’s been there for her as Georgia said he’s been “extremely supportive.” And though he keeps his Instagram page set to private and prefers to stay out of the public eye, we can confirm that he’s currently spending time getting ready for his first grandchild to be born.

According to Georgia, her dad is “already buying baby stuff for [her] and giving [her] hand-me-downs from [her] baby sister.”

There have not been any reports of Fualaau getting remarried. And though we know he’s worked as a DJ in the past, his Twitter account and YouTube page under his DJ name DJ Headline have not been updated in a few years, so it’s entirely possible he’s hit pause on that endeavor.

May December is a thought-provoking film that’s already winning awards, and knowing it’s inspired by a real-life story makes it all the more complex. You can stream it on Netflix right now.