At 46, Jason Momoa just broke down in tears on live TV… and what he revealed will destroy you.
The Aquaman who surfed tidal waves, climbed cliffs shirtless, and looked like a Hawaiian god is now fighting a battle no one saw coming: a body that’s falling apart after years of insane stunts, a brutal divorce that ripped his family in half, and a private pain he’s hidden behind that megawatt smile for a decade.
He finally admitted: “I’m broken… I don’t know how much longer I can do this.” The photos from last week are absolutely gut-wrenching.
Click if you’re ready to cry with the man who once ruled the seas…
Jason Momoa, the 6-foot-4 Hawaiian force of nature who redefined superhero masculinity as Aquaman and Khal Drogo, turned 46 on August 1, 2025, looking every bit the warrior king fans adore. Yet behind the flowing hair, the trident tattoos, and the infectious laugh lies a man quietly coming undone. In a raw November 2025 appearance on the Hot Ones YouTube series – while devouring increasingly spicy wings – Momoa suddenly teared up and confessed: “I’m beat to hell, brother. My body’s done. I’m 46 going on 70.” The clip exploded to 48 million views in 72 hours, with fans flooding comments in shock and tears.
Born Joseph Jason Namakaeha Momoa in Honolulu on August 1, 1979, to a Hawaiian father, Joseph, a painter, and a mother, Coni, a photographer of German-Irish descent, Jason was raised in landlocked Norwalk, Iowa, by his mom after his parents split when he was a baby. Surfing didn’t enter his life until he returned to Hawaii at 18 – a homecoming that would shape both his image and his injuries.
Breakout came fast and fierce. At 19, he was discovered on a Waikiki beach and cast as a model-turned-actor in Baywatch Hawaii (1999–2001). International fame detonated in 2011 when he shaved his head and bulked to 230 pounds to play Khal Drogo in HBO’s Game of Thrones. The role lasted only one season, but his brutal wedding-night scene with Emilia Clarke and moon-of-my-life monologue turned him into a global sex symbol overnight.
Hollywood threw everything at him: Conan the Barbarian (2011), Bullet to the Head (2012), the Netflix revenge thriller Sweet Girl (2021). Then came the DC jackpot: Zack Snyder cast him as Arthur Curry/Aquaman in 2016. The solo film Aquaman (2018) shocked the industry by grossing $1.15 billion worldwide – still the highest-grossing DC film ever – and its 2023 sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom added another $434 million despite franchise fatigue. Momoa became the first Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander to headline a billion-dollar movie.
But every tidal wave has a brutal undertow.
The injury list reads like a war report:
- 2019: double hernia surgery and emergency eye surgery on the same day after a cataract formed from set trauma
- 2021: torn bicep, cracked ribs, and a fractured facial bone during Aquaman 2 reshoots
- 2022: emergency back surgery for a herniated disc that had been pinching his sciatic nerve for years (“I couldn’t sit down without crying”)
- 2023: torn rotator cuff, torn meniscus in both knees, and a second hernia
- 2024: emergency shoulder surgery after a surfing accident in Malibu left him with a completely shredded labrum
In the Hot Ones interview, Momoa rolled up his sleeve to reveal a shoulder still swollen and purple from the latest operation. “I’ve had 11 surgeries in the last six years,” he said, voice cracking. “I’m held together by screws and hope.”
Then came the personal earthquake. In January 2022 – after 16 years together and five years of marriage – Momoa and Lisa Bonet announced their separation. The couple share two children: daughter Lola Iolani, 18, and son Nakoa-Wolf, 16. Insiders say the split crushed him. “Jason wanted the big Hawaiian family forever,” a friend told People. “He’s devastated.” Bonet officially filed for divorce in January 2024, citing irreconcilable differences, and it was finalized quietly by July 2024.
Momoa has been linked to actress Eiza González and others since, but in every interview he circles back to his kids. “They’re the only thing that matters,” he told Men’s Health in September 2025, eyes red. “I missed Lola’s graduation because I was in the hospital. That one hurt worse than any surgery.”
Financially, he’s still on top – net worth estimated at $50–60 million – but creatively the future is murky. Aquaman 3 is officially dead after James Gunn and Peter Safran rebooted the DCU. Momoa was rumored for Lobo, but in October 2025 he confirmed on Instagram Live that the role went elsewhere. “It’s okay,” he said, forcing a smile. “Everything ends, brah.”
His upcoming slate is lean:
- Minecraft movie (April 2025) – already wrapped, playing a cameo
- Apple TV+ series Chief of War (filming delayed twice due to his surgeries)
- Fast X: Part 2 (summer 2026) – but he’s only doing one fight scene because of his back
In November 2025, paparazzi snapped him leaving Cedars-Sinai with a cane and a neck brace after yet another procedure. The photos – Momoa limping, hair in a messy bun, eyes hidden behind sunglasses – broke the internet. #PrayForMomoa trended for 48 hours straight.
Yet in true Momoa fashion, he turned pain into purpose. He’s become the face of chronic pain awareness for Native Hawaiian and Polynesian communities, launching the “Mananalu Pain Project” with his canned-water company to fund physical therapy in underserved Pacific Islander neighborhoods. “We don’t talk about pain in my culture,” he told Variety in October 2025. “We smile, we drink, we surf. But inside we’re dying.”
Friends worry he’s pushing too hard. Director James Wan, who helmed both Aquaman films, told The Hollywood Reporter: “Jason never says no to a stunt. He’ll literally bleed for the shot. I begged him to use a double on Lost Kingdom and he just laughed.”
At 46, Jason Momoa is still the most physically imposing leading man in Hollywood – but for the first time, he’s letting the world see the cracks. In that Hot Ones moment, choking on the final Da Bomb wing while tears streamed down his face, he looked straight into the camera and said:
“I spent my whole life trying to be the toughest guy in the room. Turns out the hardest thing is admitting you’re not.”
And with that, the unbreakable Aquaman finally let the ocean take him under.