Why is Hugh Jackman getting divorced now?
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Hello and welcome to Gossip Time, a weekly guide to the stars by Allie Jones. This week: an actor gets divorced, a pop star celebrates an anniversary, and Prince Harry gets drunk.
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This is not the Friday afternoon divorce dump I was expecting: Hugh Jackman and his wife Deborra-lee Furness announced in an official statement to People that they are separating after 27 years of marriage. The statement, in keeping with the current trend in celebrity divorces, makes it sound like Jackman, 54, and Furness, 67, are more in love than ever before, just amicably and gracefully floating away from each other for some reason.
“We have been blessed to share almost 3 decades together as husband and wife in a wonderful, loving marriage. Our journey now is shifting and we have decided to separate to pursue our individual growth. Our family has been and always will be our highest priority. We undertake this next chapter with gratitude, love, and kindness. We greatly appreciate your understanding in respecting our privacy as our family navigates this transition in all of our lives. This is the sole statement either of us will make. – Deb and Hugh Jackman”
Oookay. Jackman and Furness got married back in 1996 after meeting on the set of the Australian TV series Corelli, and divorce rumors have plagued them pretty much since Jackman got cast as Wolverine in the early 2000s. It is genuinely shocking to me that they are separating now after spending literal decades defending their relationship.
Both parties have publicly denied, several times, that their marriage is a sham and that Jackman is gay. “If he was gay, fine, he would say he’s gay,” Furness said in a joint 60 Minutes interview with Jackman in 2013. “It has gotten so out of whack … it’s stupid, yeah, it’s annoying, because it’s not true.”
“If I was [gay], I would be,” Jackman concurred. “It’s to me not the most interesting thing about a person anyway, but I do get frustrated for Deb, because I see Deb go ‘Ah, this is crazy.’”
Just last year, Furness repeated the same line with a bit of an update in an Australian podcast interview. “Hugh’s been gay for whatever, I mean, hello guys — if he was gay, he could be gay!” she said. “He [wouldn’t] have to hide in the closet anymore, and he’d be dating Brad Pitt, or whatever. Not that Brad’s gay, but you know what I’m saying!”
Right. So why split up now? Jackman and Furness share two children together, the younger of whom recently turned 18. That is a common time for unhappy parents to go their separate ways. But their arrangement seemed to be working as normal as recently as this summer: Jackman posted a gushing tribute to Furness on their anniversary in April, and the couple attended the Met Gala together in May and Wimbledon in July.
So far, no sources have come out of the woodwork to indicate what went wrong, but I suspect that either one or both parties is ready to date other people. In the meantime, Jackman is silently contemplating sunsets:
I wish them both the best.
What do you think Justin and Hailey Bieber’s eventual divorce announcement will sound like, not to be rude? The couple just celebrated their five-year wedding anniversary this week, and they seem as obsessed with each other as ever, but you know.
To mark the occasion, Justin wrote an Instagram tribute to Hailey in his typical Jesus-inflected style: “To the most precious, my beloved. 5 years. You have captivated my heart. I know from the depths of my soul down to my bones that this journey with you will only exceed our wildest expectations. So let’s keep dreaming big baby. Cheers to forever and ever. I love you with every fiber of my being.”
Nice. Justin is currently in a transitional phase, career-wise, having fired most of his team including Scooter Braun. Braun did not publicly wish the Biebers a happy anniversary, but he did post a quote on Instagram about leaving friends behind in the pursuit of a new life:
Sounds like he’s doing really well.
Also thriving are Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who are having a bit of fun at the Invictus Games in Germany after several months of less-than-favorable headlines. Prince Harry even got drunk on his birthday:
The head waiter at the traditional Dusseldorf restaurant told The Daily Mail that Harry and Meghan “were very happy” during the outing. “He is a lovely man, and they were so nice,” he added. They can’t get divorced now, it just wouldn’t be right.
STUFF BY HILARY DUFF: Hilary Duff wants to bring back toe rings.
Finally, I’ll leave you with the news that former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes and Real Housewife of Salt Lake City Jen Shah have become friends in prison:
According to Shah’s publicist, who talked to People about this budding fraudster friendship, Holmes is a regular in Shah’s “Shah-mazing Abs” fitness class at the federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas, where both women are currently serving time. “They’re friends,” Shah’s rep told the tabloid. “They’re both rehabilitating and have bonded over being on this journey of positive change.” That’s great news.
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i am actually shocked by their announcement ! like why now?? no one wants to fight for marriage anymore!
Woah, missed this divorce announcement completely- THANK GOD FOR THIS NEWSLETTER