Sacha Baron Cohen and Isla Fisher make huge announcement
Aussie actor Isla Fisher and husband Sacha Baron Cohen have made a big decision as turmoil from Rebel Wilson’s accusations continue.
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Sacha Baron Cohen and his Australian actor wife Isla Fisher have announced they are divorcing.
The pair have three children together. They had been married for 13 years.
The split announcement comes during a messy spat with Australian actor Rebel Wilson who has accused Borat star Baron Cohen of sexually harassing her on set. Baron Cohen has denied the claims.
Now there are reports that Wilson was a “catalyst” for the public announcement.
Baron Cohen, 52, and Fisher, 48, who was raised in Perth, co-ordinated social media posts on Friday (UK time).
Showing the two of them in tennis gear, they stated they had filed for divorce last year. It’s not clear if the divorce has been finalised.
“After a long tennis match lasting over twenty years, we are finally putting our racquets down,” the post stated.
“In 2023 we jointly filed to end our marriage. We have always prioritised our privacy, and have been quietly working through this change.
“We forever share in our devotion and love for our children. We sincerely appreciate your respecting our family’s wish for privacy.”
Baron Cohen has described how he met the Wedding Crashers actor at a “very pretentious party” in Sydney in 2001.
He said they bonded over “taking the mick out of other people in the party” — and he knew it was love at first sight.
He said she was “hilarious” and added: “I knew instantly. I don’t know if she did. It’s taken her about 20 years to know”.
They got engaged in 2004 and married in March 2010 in a Jewish ceremony in Paris. Fisher converted to Judaism, Baron Cohen’s faith.
They have two daughters and a son.
Their family has been raised in Sydney, Baron Cohen’s home of London and Los Angeles in the US.
It’s been a rollercoaster week for Baron Cohen after Wilson said he had asked her to stick a finger up his anus for a scene during the filming of the movie Grimsby, which she out right refused.
Wilson devoted an entire chapter of her book Rebel Rising to her time working with Baron Cohen.
When promoting the memoir, the Pitch Perfect actor noted that he was the reason she has “a ‘no a**holes’ policy” with the people she works with.
A spokesman for Baron Cohen vehemently pushed back.
“While we appreciate the importance of speaking out, these demonstrably false claims are directly contradicted by extensive detailed evidence, including contemporaneous documents, film footage, and eyewitness accounts from those present before, during and after the production of …. Grimsby,” they said.
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Wilson’s claims a ‘catalyst’
The Sun has reported that Wilson’sclaims were a prompt for Fisher to publicly reveal the break-up.
It is understood she consulted lawyers over a separation last year.
A source told The Sun: “Rebel’s book was a catalyst in Isla deciding to announce this to the world”.
“She’s got her own career and reputation to worry about.
“Those close to her said it was starting to get embarrassing with all of the allegations that were spilling out of Rebel’s book.
“So she felt as though it was the right thing to do to inform everyone of their decision,” the source said.
“Sacha, on the other hand did not want that.
“He has been making as though it’s business as usual before they made this announcement.”
The couple are understood to have still been living together in Los Angeles and London.
But they are believed to have told friends they had called it quits a year ago.
The New York Post’sPage Six said the couple had posted the tennis pic and statement after it approached them for comment having learned they were living separate lives
Couple still seemed close
Yet in October they were seen in London celebrating Jewish new year and, according to onlookers, “seemed very much together”.
The last picture Fisher posted of them together was of them on the red carpet on November 26.
On November 17, she shared a selfie of them holding beers and smiling in Sydney and referred to him as her “off-screen date”.
Baron Cohen’s last post of Fisher was shared on February 3 2023, the day of her 47th birthday.
Alongside the snap of her holding a pint, he wrote: “Isla looking at me and thinking ‘Ten more of these and I may find him a tiny bit attractive’. Happy birthday my darling”.
The couple are said to have attended Oscars parties on their own last month.
A source close to the couple said: “They have been having difficulties for some time and have battled to make things work.
“They didn’t want to throw their love away for the sake of their family. Privately, though, friends were made aware.
“They went to great lengths to keep things ‘business as usual’ on social media so as to control the narrative in a way they both felt comfortable with.
“This decision wasn’t taken lightly and they remain incredibly close. There’s still a lot of love there.”
Wilson has claimed that while filming Grimsby the comic would “mention that he wanted me to go naked in a future scene” — which she said was in “no way essential” to the plot.
Wilson said she felt “scared” and claims no director or film crew were there to witness the incident.
She added: “It’s my opinion that Sacha Baron Cohen gets off on making people feel uncomfortable”.
Wilson has claimed Baron Cohen called in lawyers to try to stop her book being published.
Baron Cohen’s people have called her claims of harassment “demonstrably false” and “directly contradicted by extensive evidence”.
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