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They’re the latest Hollywood couple to go their separate ways – ut the timing of Isla Fisher (48) and Sacha Baron Cohen’s split has raised plenty of eyebrows, given that it came just days after actress Rebel Wilson accused the actor of sexual misconduct.
Last Friday Sacha and Isla, who met in 2001, posted an unexpected statement announcing their separation on Instagram.
“After a long tennis match lasting over twenty years, we are finally putting our racquets down,” they lightheartedly wrote alongside a throwback photo of them in tennis outfits.
In the statement they said that they had legally separated in 2023. The couple have three children, Olive (17), Elula (13) and Montgomery (9).
In her new memoir, Rebel Rising, the 44-year-old Pitch Perfect star calls the Borat star an “a****le” and accuses him of sexual harassment while filming the 2016 comedy The Brothers Grimsby, which was shot in South Africa.
She says Sacha (52), who's known for his edgy, and often crass humour, would make “outrageous” demands while filming the raunchy action comedy.
She says he asked her daily to strip off for scenes where she played his character’s girlfriend despite her "no nudity" rule. He also pressured her to perform a lewd act with him for their last scene together.
In Rebel Rising the Bridesmaids star says Sacha asked her to “stick her finger up his a**” because he thought it would make a funny scene in the film. She however refused and just ended up giving him a slap on his bottom.
“It felt like [he] had sexually harassed me”, she writes.
READ MORE | Sacha Baron Cohen: 'My wife hated Borat'
Isla also starred in the film, the first time she and her husband, who she wed in a Jewish ceremony in 2010, had appeared together in a movie.
Since going public with her allegations, Rebel says, “other women have come forward with similar accusations”.
A representative for Sacha has “vehemently” denied Rebel’s allegations, saying they are contradicted by evidence.
A source close to the former couple says their split has “nothing to do” with Rebel’s claims and that their decision to divorce predates the controversy surrounding Rebel’s book.
While they’ve always seemed the very picture of domestic bliss, those who know them say they started having problems in recent years.
They reportedly fought over their acting and family commitments.
Things amplified after they moved to Isla’s native Australia in 2020 during the pandemic. They lived in Sydney for a year before moving to Perth in 2021 where her family lives. Around that time, Sacha made it clear he wanted to live in the UK.
“Sacha grew up in Hammersmith and is very close to his family and he was itching to return to London,” a source says.
READ MORE | It’s a boy for Isla and Sacha!
“The return to the UK came from nowhere. They had been living away from Britain for a while and they weren’t expected to relocate.
"But things were becoming difficult and, as they say, home is where the heart is. Perhaps Sacha thought that would make things better.
“It didn’t, though – things just crumbled and crumbled.”
Known for being fiercely private, they took pains to keep their domestic issues out the public eye.
Just two months ago Isla spoke about her Valentine’s Day plans with her husband on live TV – despite secretly not being together.
Appearing on The Kelly Clarkson Show, she said, “Every year Sacha does give me a card that (says) ‘happy Valentine’s from . . . ’ and then there’s a massive question mark, as if anybody else would . . . as if I have any other Valentines.”
“You just seem like a fun couple. I love that,” Kelly replied.
Sources: mercurynews.com, dailymail.co.uk, news.com.au
