Who are Sufi Sun and Anjali Chakra? Influencers call off wedding after Sufi admits to infidelity

Influencers Sufi Malik and Anjali Chakra rose to internet fame in 2019 for their same-sex interfaith relationship

Influencers Sufi Malik and Anjali Chakra shocked the internet this week when they announced they had called off their wedding after five years together. The former couple announced their split in separate statements posted to Instagram, with Malik revealing that she had cheated on Chakra just a few weeks before their wedding.

“Hey everyone, there has been a major turn of events in my relationship with Anjali,” Malik began her black and white Instagram post. “I made an unrecognisable mistake of betrayal by cheating on her a few weeks before our wedding. I’ve hurt her tremendously, beyond my own understanding. I’m owning up to my mistake and will continue to do so. I understand the gravity of the situation and can only ask relentlessly for forgiveness, from Anjali and Allah.”

“I’ve hurt the people I love and care about the most through my actions, including our family and friends; our community that I cherish,” she continued. “Thank you so much to everyone who has supported us all these years, we owe everything to you all. We ask you all for privacy and respect at this time.”

Malik signed her statement: “With humility, Sufi.”

Meanwhile, Chakra shared her own statement about the breakup to her respective Instagram page, where she also admitted to fans that Malik had cheated on her. “Sufi and I have been blessed to spend the last five plus years together in a loving and beautiful partnership that we have been so honoured to share with all of you,” she wrote to her 237,000 followers on Instagram.

The New York City and San Francisco-based influencer explained to fans that their “outpouring of love and support has played such a special part” in her relationship with Malik and they will “continue to carry that love with us moving forward”.

“This may come as a shock, but our journey is now shifting,” Chakra continued. “We have decided to call off our wedding and end our relationship due to infidelity committed by Sufi.”

She wished for “absolutely no negativity” to be directed toward Malik and that their fans “respect this difficult decision”.

“What we have shared has been so full of love and nothing short of magical - I will choose to remember it this way,” Chakra concluded her post, signing it: “All my love, Anjali.”

Who are Sufi Malik and Anjali Chakra?

Malik and Chakra rose to internet fame more than five years ago when their photoshoot together went viral. The former couple, who gained popularity as a same-sex interfaith couple, have amassed more than 136,000 subscribers on their shared YouTube channel since 2019, and over 200,000 followers on their respective Instagram pages.

Back in 2019, Malik and Chakra went viral when photographer Sarowar Ahmed shared sweet images of the couple posing under an umbrella on a rainy day in New York City in honour of their one-year anniversary. “A New York Love Story,” he captioned the photoshoot.

They posted additional photos of themselves one week later dressed in traditional outfits, a lehenga and a saree, along with traditional jewellery. The photos captivated the internet, as people praised Malik and Chakra for providing representation and visibility for the queer South Asian community.

Internet users immediately fell in love with Malik, a Muslim artist and teacher from Pakistan, and Chakra, a Hindu event planner from India. Since they began dating in July 2018, the pair have documented their relationship on social media, often sharing birthday tributes or anniversary posts dedicated to each other on Instagram.

Following their viral photoshoot in 2019, Malik and Chakra uploaded a video to their YouTube channel detailing exactly how they met. They explained that they had followed each other on Tumblr for seven years before finally forming a connection. Chakra initially reached out to Malik over Instagram private messages because she didn’t have a strong queer South Asian community and she “just wanted someone to talk to”.

When Chakra, who was living in California at the time, found herself planning a trip to New York, where Malik was born and raised, she reached out to the artist and asked to meet each other in person. Their first date took place at the Empire State Building, and lasted four whole days. From there, Chakra and Malik began a long-distance relationship.

“People message us so often to say that they’re so happy they found us because they didn’t realise that there were any other queer South Asian people out there,” the couple previously told Business Insider. “To us, using our platforms responsibly means sharing about others doing important work for our communities without those privileges.”

In September 2022, Malik and Chakra announced their engagement on Instagram. The Pakistani artist proposed to her then-girlfriend at the Empire State Building, the same location as their first date. Chakra shared photos of the proposal to Instagram, captioning the post: “Easiest yes of my life!!!!”

Taking to social media, fans were devastated to learn the former couple had called off their wedding.

“Not me looking at the date to see if it was April Fools Day,” one user commented under Chakra’s Instagram post, while another echoed a similar sentiment: “WTFFFFFFFF is this a prank?”

A third person commented: “Okay yeah I don’t believe in love anymore.”