Sacha Baron Cohen and Isla Fisher have announced that they have separated, revealing in a statement that they parted ways last year after more than a decade of marriage.
The news was shared by actors Sacha, 52, and Isla, 48, on their respective Instagram accounts on Friday evening. The former couple posted the same statement on the platform alongside a photo of them wearing tennis clothes.
The statement made reference to the sport, with it reading: “After a long tennis match lasting over twenty years, we are finally putting our rackets down. In 2023 we jointly filed to end our marriage. We have always prioritized our privacy, and have been quietly working through this change.”
Appealing for privacy, Sacha and Isla concluded the newly-released statement by telling their respective followers: “We forever share in our devotion and love for our children. We sincerely appreciate our family’s wishes for privacy.”
Following the announcement, we’ve taken a look back at their relationship, which began more than two decades ago. The pair have given insights into their lives together over the years prior to the news that they have now separated.
The former couple are said to have met at a party in Sydney back in 2001. Reflecting on their first encounter years later, Sacha is quoted as having told the New York Times in 2020: “She was hilarious. We were at a very pretentious party, and me and her bonded over taking the mick out of the other people in the party.” He commented: “I knew instantly.”
Sacha and Isla got engaged in 2004, three years after their apparent first meeting. They went on to get married in what was described as an “intimate” ceremony in Paris in 2010. Isla reportedly converted to Judaism ahead of the event.
Hello! magazine reports that she said prior to the nuptials: “I will definitely have a Jewish wedding just to be with Sacha. I would do anything – move into any religion – to be united in marriage with him. We have a future together, and religion comes second to love as far as we are concerned.”
Prior to their nuptials, they welcomed their first child in 2007 and now have three kids together. They are parents to Olive, 17, Elula, 13, and Montgomery, nine. Isla has previously spoken about keeping her kids out of the spotlight.
She told Marie Claire Australia in 2021: “I think all parents are trying to protect their kids, especially in the social media age. I want our children to have a normal childhood – being able to play outside without pressure or scrutiny.” Isla added: “All kids have the right to just be kids, and I would never sell a film or magazine by speaking about [mine].”
Speaking about keeping details of their marriage private, she told the Australian Women’s Weekly back in 2022: “I get nervous talking about it because I feel like, by not having my relationship in the public domain and not having spoken about how we met or really talked about our marriage publicly, it’s remained something private and valuable to me.”
She further commented: “I don’t know if that’s the secret. But having a shared ability to find humour in the sharpness of life is always going to bring connection … and otherwise, I just think it’s nice to keep some things for yourself.”
Sacha and Isla have rarely worked together on films over the years, though did both appear in Grimsby (2016). The latter, whose other credits include Wedding Crashers (2005) and Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009), once shared that her husband had been “the reason” she pursued comedic roles.
She told People in 2020: “Sacha was the reason I got into comedy. I was going up for a lot of dramatic roles and getting rejected.” She said he described her as “one of the funniest people” he knew and urged her to try comedy.
Isla teased about Valentine’s Day celebrations whilst on the Kelly Clarkson Show in February. She said: “I think just having a lot of kids and being busy, we don’t do a lot, but every year Sasha does give me a card that’s like ‘Happy Valentine’s from’ and then there’s like a massive question mark as if anybody else would send me … as if I have any other Valentines.”
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