Isla Fisher has discussed her “difficult” divorce from Sacha Baron Cohen for the first time.
The couple, who were together for two decades, announced in April 2024 that they had split the previous year.
Their break-up news came just weeks after Rebel Wilson called Baron Cohen a “massive a***hole” and accused him of trying to “bully” her into silence over her claims about him in her memoir.
Fisher broke her silence on the split on Saturday, telling the Sunday Times: “It’s the most difficult thing that I’ve been through and I’ve learnt so much about myself in the process.”
The Wedding Crashers star - who shares daughters Olive, 17, and Elula, 14, and son Montgomery, 9, with Baron Cohen - added: “I never imagined my family being separated but we are committed and loving parents.”
The actress, 49, said her own parents separated when she was nine and she “dreams” of replicating their peaceful co-parenting arrangement.
“It was very harmonious, I don't ever remember them fighting about anything. They were very inclusive of each other,” Fisher recalled.
Fisher and Baron Cohen, 53, live in London where they co-parent their three children.
The Bachelorette star, who has now been single for almost two years, said she is “not ready to think” about getting back into dating.
Fisher also became “emotional” as she reflected on being helped by the “women in my life”.
“The female relationships that I cultivated in our business, those women have been there for me,” she said, giving a specific mention to Friends star Courteney Cox.
Fisher and Baron Cohen said in a joint statement last year: “After a long tennis match lasting over 20 years, we are finally putting our racquets down. 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.”
The announcement came after Pitch Perfect star Wilson claimed she struggled with Baron Cohen on the set of their 2016 comedy, Grimsby - something the actor has vehemently denied.
Wilson said that on set she felt “completely disrespected, which led to me treating myself with even more disrespect by eating in an extremely unhealthy way”.
Fisher reportedly wanted to announce her divorce from Cohen as she was “starting to get embarrassed” about the claims in Wilson’s memoir, sources told The Sun.
Baron Cohen’s representative said at the time “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 The Brothers Grimsby.”
