'Moving on': Hugh Jackman's primary school best friend pleads with his ex Deborra-Lee Furness after her shock 'betrayal' statement
Hugh Jackman's best friend has pleaded with his ex Deborra-Lee Furness after she made a surprising "betrayal" statement amid their high-profile divorce.
Radio personality Gus Worland, who attended Pymble Public School with Jackman, spoke to 2GB's Ben Fordham Live on Thursday and revealed how the Deadpool & Wolverine star is faring amid the drama.
Worland said Jackman is "moving on", suggesting he is happy with his life as the pair navigate their divorce, and urged Furness, 69, to do the same.
"He is moving on with his life. I hope Deb does as well. They were together for 30 years and have two beautiful kids together," he said.
"I go to their kids and ask them what we can do to make sure they get through this as best as possible."
Worland said he was with Jackman in New York City last month, where the Greatest Showman star was "fine" and "going along well."
At the same time, he said Jackman was still "going through" the emotions that come with his divorce being splashed across the media.
"No one wants anyone to go through what he is, and he is going through it publicly because of his fame," Worland said.
Jackman's longtime pal five decades said he has been "really strict" on supporting both exes in doing whatever they need to do to move on.
Furness finally filed for divorce from Jackman in New York City last Friday, according to DailyMail.com on Wednesday.
It comes two years after the former couple announced their split in September 2023 in a move which shocked some Hollywood insiders.
Furness then took a very surprising public swipe at the Deadpool & Wolverine star in a candid statement to the same publication.
The actress said her "heart and compassion goes out to everyone who has traversed the traumatic journey of betrayal."
"It's a profound wound that cuts deep, however I believe in a higher power and that God/the universe, whatever you relate to as your guidance, is always working FOR us," she said.
"This belief has helped me navigate the breakdown of an almost three-decade marriage. I have gained much knowledge and wisdom through this experience. Even when we are presented with apparent adversity, it is leading us to our greatest good, our true purpose.
"It can hurt, but in the long run, returning to yourself and living within your own integrity, values and boundaries is liberation and freedom."
Later, Jackman took to Instagram to share a cryptic video of himself skipping to the tune of NSYNC's Bye Bye Bye in his solo stage show Hugh Jackman Live From New York With Love at Radio City Music Hall.
The hit was most likely a nod to Jackman and actor Ryan Reynolds' starring film Deadpool & Wolverine, which features the single.
However, the inclusion of the song was notable, given the timing.
Jackman also raised eyebrows with a pointed one-word caption.
"FINALLY," he wrote.
Furness's lawyer Elena Karabatos reportedly submitted further filings which include a health care coverage notice, a proposed qualified medical child support order, a New York state case registry form, the settlement, a proposed judgment of divorce, and a certificate of dissolution of the 27-year union.
It's understood Furness and Jackman have agreed to their divorce terms and both parties can expect a judge to sign the judgment.
A Daily Mail insider said a "settlement was reached that Deborra is pleased with".
This could suggest Jackman and Furness negotiated to reach an agreement after their divorce was reported stalled over money in January.
Furness believed she was "entitled to money," and Jackman refused.
"Hugh and Deborra-Lee have not yet filed for divorce because they are struggling to reach an agreement on how to divide their assets," a source told Daily Mail Australia in March.
"Deborra-Lee feels entitled to more money than Hugh is willing to offer.
Speculation also emerged the Jindabyne actress was bitter about their split.
"While he didn't physically cheat on her with Sutton, Deborra-Lee believes they were having an emotional affair, and she feels he betrayed her," the source said.
Jackman and his former The Music Man co-star Sutton Foster, 50, confirmed widespread speculation they were together in January.
The couple were spotted holding hands in Santa Monica, California.
That same month, photos surfaced of the lovebirds making out in an In-N-Out drive-thru in San Fernando, California.
Jackman and Foster were seen laughing and kissing in a Range Rover.
Foster split from her husband of ten years, Ted Griffin, last October.
They share a seven-year-old adopted daughter, Emily.
She is believed to be moving into Jackman's New York penthouse, which he purchased for USD$21.12 million (AUD $30 million) in 2022 with Furness.
In February, a source close to the Oscar-nominated star told Closer Jackman 'wants to make Sutton his wife'.
The source said the timing of Jackman's official divorce from Furness will impact when he can get married again, but that 'as soon as they are both free and clear, they (Jackman and Foster) want to walk down the aisle'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sydney Morning Herald
a day ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
How Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster became the new ‘Bennifer'
'We got the two-shot, the shot that everyone kind of was waiting for,' said Parshotam, whose Jackman-Foster images published everywhere from American and British tabloids to the covers of Australian newspapers. 'That January made my year,' he added. 'Not just financially, but more as a scoop.' Indeed, the news that Jackman, 56, and Foster, 50, were official lit up theatre group chats, Reddit gossip threads and social media comments across the globe, not to mention a slew of publications that now track their every move. Five months later, the two still have not said a word publicly about their courtship. But their very existence as a couple seems to have hit enough cultural nodes to vault them to near-Bennifer 2.0 status: Hollywood but also Broadway, blockbusters but also niche streaming faves, Australian celebrities, regular celebrities, co-stars falling in love, dating in your 50s, divorcing in your 50s and - perhaps most important – a hint of possible scandal. The story picked up more steam last month when Furness, 69, confirmed to the Daily Mail that she has now officially filed for divorce from Jackman. She also sent a lengthy and vague-yet-pointed statement, allowing readers to do their own maths. 'My heart and compassion goes out to everyone who has traversed the traumatic journey of betrayal. It's a profound wound that cuts deep,' Furness told the publication. 'However I believe in a higher power and that God/the universe, whatever you relate to as your guidance, is always working FOR us. This belief has helped me navigate the breakdown of an almost three-decade marriage. I have gained much knowledge and wisdom through this experience.' Loading Representatives for Jackman, Foster and Furness did not respond to requests for comment for this story. It's an unusually messy situation for twocharming entertainers who have spent years accumulating goodwill, moving seamlessly from musical theatre to film and TV and back again. Jackman was an Academy Award nominee for Les Misérables (he's got all but the 'O' in EGOT - Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards) and is the rare Marvel action hero who can sing and dance. Foster has been nominated for five other Tonys in addition to those two wins and earned a following among young fans for her work in TV. But in the game of fame, critical success can't hold a candle to a juicy real-life love story. Loading 'People are fascinated by Hugh Jackman as an actor, but his love life has always been an even bigger obsession,' said Dax Holt, a former TMZ on-air personality. Holt, who now co-hosts the Hollywood Raw podcast where Parshotam first shared his story of cracking the 'JackFost' case, noted the endless curiosity about Jackman and Furness's marriage: their age gap, the long-running speculation about Jackman's sexuality – and now intrigue about the estrangement timeline. 'Deborra alluding to him being a cheater has poured more gas on the fire,' Holt said. 'I'm not going to lie, it's been an entertaining topic to cover on the podcast.' Part of the excitement is that Jackman and Foster have joined a storied tradition of co-stars who wind up dating. Anika Chapin, a musical theatre dramaturge and writer, recalled seeing an Instagram post shortly after news of the new couple broke. 'I didn't realise this happened in theatre,' one commenter replied. 'I was like, 'Well, of course it happens in theatre',' Chapin said. In film and television, you shoot a romantic scene a handful of times, she noted, while in theatre, you fall in love onstage eight times a week and spend hours together backstage. 'It's so much more of a concentrated experience that it feels like even more of a breeding ground for potential romantic entanglements.' Ben Rimalower, a theatre writer, performer and director, said the rumours about Jackman and Foster were so persistent in Broadway circles – a community drawn to drama both onstage and behind-the-scenes – that the most surprising part about the relationship confirmation was that they were still together. But since Foster in particular is beloved in the theatre world, there seemed to be 'a widespread desire' to let her handle whatever was going on at her own discretion, he said. However, after the news of her marriage ending not long after Jackman's, the chatter increased to a level that couldn't be contained to Midtown Manhattan. 'Even though they are obviously theatre stars, and that's where their careers began, they are both clearly famous at the level where they crossed over,' Rimalower said, adding, 'It's just a really far reach that makes them a lot more interesting to people than the average Broadway couple.' Decades before The Music Man brought them together, Jackman and Foster shared the kind of big-break origin story that theatre kids swoon for. Jackman landed his role as Wolverine in Marvel's 2000 blockbuster X-Men when Dougray Scott, a bigger name at the time, had to drop out due to Mission: Impossible 2 commitments. Foster was hired to understudy Millie Dillmount during Thoroughly Modern Millie 's slow path to Broadway in 2002, but took over the role when the original lead actress fell out with producers days before its out-of-town opening. Jackman emerged as the breakout star of the X-Men ensemble, while Foster won her first Tony. Jackman met Furness five years before X-Men on the Australian TV crime drama Correlli, they wed the following year when he was 27 and she was 40. They later adopted a son and a daughter and were often praised for their public devotion to one another. But as Jackman continued to star in musicals between hit movies, speculation about his sexuality was rampant. In a 60 Minutes Australia interview in 2013, he and Furness expressed irritation about rumours that he was clandestinely gay. 'If I was, I would be,' Jackman told the reporter. ' … But I do get frustrated for Deb, cause I see Deb go, 'Ah, this is just crazy'.' As Foster went on to success in Broadway shows and basic-cable series – ABC Family's Bunheads and TVLand's Younger – she married her Millie co-star Christian Borle, also now a two-time Tony winner, in 2006. They, too, were an object of sotto voce speculation in theatre circles, which Foster addressed in her 2021 memoir Hooked: How Crafting Saved My Life – describing how upset she was by tabloid reports of supposed cheating when in fact she and Borle had quietly separated and started seeing other people. (They divorced in 2009.) 'The gossips tried to sum up our demise as simply and salaciously as they could,' Foster wrote. 'But it wasn't that clear-cut.' Ultimately, this story of an old-school backstage romance – except involving 50-somethings! – just proved irresistible for very online gossips, who have found themselves combing through the pair's now years-old promotional interviews for The Music Man: how much they bonded during pandemic-delayed rehearsals, how naturally their professional chemistry developed. Foster told CBS Mornings in 2022 that she and Jackman made a routine of meeting in her dressing room before every show, sitting on the floor to catch up in what she called 'carpet chat'. 'We're kind of this little pair. And it's the greatest thing that's come out of this whole experience, is that I have a new friend,' Foster said. In other interviews, she described how their families spent time together and that her young daughter, whom she adopted with Griffin, called Jackman 'Uncle Hugh'. Loading One of the first hints of scandal came last autumn, not long after Foster confirmed her divorce. Pop culture creator Tasha Lustig posted a video on Instagram to her 227,000 followers where she claimed that Jackman 'blindsided' Furness by 'running off' with Foster. Amanda de Cadenet, a British media personality and part of Furness's crowd, showed up in the comments: 'You are on point with this one,' she wrote. 'My beloved friend Deb is about to have her glow up any moment fyi!' Tabloids and gossip magazines took note that Furness herself 'liked' Lustig's video from her private Instagram account. In an interview with The Washington Post, Lustig said that she knew that Furness followed her on Instagram, and she wasn't too surprised that Furness engaged with the post. Lustig argued that the media all too often reports on celebrity divorce from the man's point of view, so she seeks to give her audience the counter perspective. Plenty of fans sympathised with Furness. 'People are really fond of Deb,' Lustig said, noting she was Jackman's 'ride or die' for years. After four months without a recorded public sighting, Jackman and Foster resurfaced in new paparazzi photos in mid-May that showed them on the streets of New York – another People exclusive, this time with the headline, 'Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster Show Sweet PDA in Rare New Photos Since Confirming Romance.' They are positively beaming as they hold hands, not looking directly at the cameras, but with the aura of stars who know that everyone is watching their every move.
The Age
a day ago
- The Age
How Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster became the new ‘Bennifer'
'We got the two-shot, the shot that everyone kind of was waiting for,' said Parshotam, whose Jackman-Foster images published everywhere from American and British tabloids to the covers of Australian newspapers. 'That January made my year,' he added. 'Not just financially, but more as a scoop.' Indeed, the news that Jackman, 56, and Foster, 50, were official lit up theatre group chats, Reddit gossip threads and social media comments across the globe, not to mention a slew of publications that now track their every move. Five months later, the two still have not said a word publicly about their courtship. But their very existence as a couple seems to have hit enough cultural nodes to vault them to near-Bennifer 2.0 status: Hollywood but also Broadway, blockbusters but also niche streaming faves, Australian celebrities, regular celebrities, co-stars falling in love, dating in your 50s, divorcing in your 50s and - perhaps most important – a hint of possible scandal. The story picked up more steam last month when Furness, 69, confirmed to the Daily Mail that she has now officially filed for divorce from Jackman. She also sent a lengthy and vague-yet-pointed statement, allowing readers to do their own maths. 'My heart and compassion goes out to everyone who has traversed the traumatic journey of betrayal. It's a profound wound that cuts deep,' Furness told the publication. 'However I believe in a higher power and that God/the universe, whatever you relate to as your guidance, is always working FOR us. This belief has helped me navigate the breakdown of an almost three-decade marriage. I have gained much knowledge and wisdom through this experience.' Loading Representatives for Jackman, Foster and Furness did not respond to requests for comment for this story. It's an unusually messy situation for twocharming entertainers who have spent years accumulating goodwill, moving seamlessly from musical theatre to film and TV and back again. Jackman was an Academy Award nominee for Les Misérables (he's got all but the 'O' in EGOT - Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards) and is the rare Marvel action hero who can sing and dance. Foster has been nominated for five other Tonys in addition to those two wins and earned a following among young fans for her work in TV. But in the game of fame, critical success can't hold a candle to a juicy real-life love story. Loading 'People are fascinated by Hugh Jackman as an actor, but his love life has always been an even bigger obsession,' said Dax Holt, a former TMZ on-air personality. Holt, who now co-hosts the Hollywood Raw podcast where Parshotam first shared his story of cracking the 'JackFost' case, noted the endless curiosity about Jackman and Furness's marriage: their age gap, the long-running speculation about Jackman's sexuality – and now intrigue about the estrangement timeline. 'Deborra alluding to him being a cheater has poured more gas on the fire,' Holt said. 'I'm not going to lie, it's been an entertaining topic to cover on the podcast.' Part of the excitement is that Jackman and Foster have joined a storied tradition of co-stars who wind up dating. Anika Chapin, a musical theatre dramaturge and writer, recalled seeing an Instagram post shortly after news of the new couple broke. 'I didn't realise this happened in theatre,' one commenter replied. 'I was like, 'Well, of course it happens in theatre',' Chapin said. In film and television, you shoot a romantic scene a handful of times, she noted, while in theatre, you fall in love onstage eight times a week and spend hours together backstage. 'It's so much more of a concentrated experience that it feels like even more of a breeding ground for potential romantic entanglements.' Ben Rimalower, a theatre writer, performer and director, said the rumours about Jackman and Foster were so persistent in Broadway circles – a community drawn to drama both onstage and behind-the-scenes – that the most surprising part about the relationship confirmation was that they were still together. But since Foster in particular is beloved in the theatre world, there seemed to be 'a widespread desire' to let her handle whatever was going on at her own discretion, he said. However, after the news of her marriage ending not long after Jackman's, the chatter increased to a level that couldn't be contained to Midtown Manhattan. 'Even though they are obviously theatre stars, and that's where their careers began, they are both clearly famous at the level where they crossed over,' Rimalower said, adding, 'It's just a really far reach that makes them a lot more interesting to people than the average Broadway couple.' Decades before The Music Man brought them together, Jackman and Foster shared the kind of big-break origin story that theatre kids swoon for. Jackman landed his role as Wolverine in Marvel's 2000 blockbuster X-Men when Dougray Scott, a bigger name at the time, had to drop out due to Mission: Impossible 2 commitments. Foster was hired to understudy Millie Dillmount during Thoroughly Modern Millie 's slow path to Broadway in 2002, but took over the role when the original lead actress fell out with producers days before its out-of-town opening. Jackman emerged as the breakout star of the X-Men ensemble, while Foster won her first Tony. Jackman met Furness five years before X-Men on the Australian TV crime drama Correlli, they wed the following year when he was 27 and she was 40. They later adopted a son and a daughter and were often praised for their public devotion to one another. But as Jackman continued to star in musicals between hit movies, speculation about his sexuality was rampant. In a 60 Minutes Australia interview in 2013, he and Furness expressed irritation about rumours that he was clandestinely gay. 'If I was, I would be,' Jackman told the reporter. ' … But I do get frustrated for Deb, cause I see Deb go, 'Ah, this is just crazy'.' As Foster went on to success in Broadway shows and basic-cable series – ABC Family's Bunheads and TVLand's Younger – she married her Millie co-star Christian Borle, also now a two-time Tony winner, in 2006. They, too, were an object of sotto voce speculation in theatre circles, which Foster addressed in her 2021 memoir Hooked: How Crafting Saved My Life – describing how upset she was by tabloid reports of supposed cheating when in fact she and Borle had quietly separated and started seeing other people. (They divorced in 2009.) 'The gossips tried to sum up our demise as simply and salaciously as they could,' Foster wrote. 'But it wasn't that clear-cut.' Ultimately, this story of an old-school backstage romance – except involving 50-somethings! – just proved irresistible for very online gossips, who have found themselves combing through the pair's now years-old promotional interviews for The Music Man: how much they bonded during pandemic-delayed rehearsals, how naturally their professional chemistry developed. Foster told CBS Mornings in 2022 that she and Jackman made a routine of meeting in her dressing room before every show, sitting on the floor to catch up in what she called 'carpet chat'. 'We're kind of this little pair. And it's the greatest thing that's come out of this whole experience, is that I have a new friend,' Foster said. In other interviews, she described how their families spent time together and that her young daughter, whom she adopted with Griffin, called Jackman 'Uncle Hugh'. Loading One of the first hints of scandal came last autumn, not long after Foster confirmed her divorce. Pop culture creator Tasha Lustig posted a video on Instagram to her 227,000 followers where she claimed that Jackman 'blindsided' Furness by 'running off' with Foster. Amanda de Cadenet, a British media personality and part of Furness's crowd, showed up in the comments: 'You are on point with this one,' she wrote. 'My beloved friend Deb is about to have her glow up any moment fyi!' Tabloids and gossip magazines took note that Furness herself 'liked' Lustig's video from her private Instagram account. In an interview with The Washington Post, Lustig said that she knew that Furness followed her on Instagram, and she wasn't too surprised that Furness engaged with the post. Lustig argued that the media all too often reports on celebrity divorce from the man's point of view, so she seeks to give her audience the counter perspective. Plenty of fans sympathised with Furness. 'People are really fond of Deb,' Lustig said, noting she was Jackman's 'ride or die' for years. After four months without a recorded public sighting, Jackman and Foster resurfaced in new paparazzi photos in mid-May that showed them on the streets of New York – another People exclusive, this time with the headline, 'Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster Show Sweet PDA in Rare New Photos Since Confirming Romance.' They are positively beaming as they hold hands, not looking directly at the cameras, but with the aura of stars who know that everyone is watching their every move.
7NEWS
2 days ago
- 7NEWS
Actor Kelsey Grammer to be a father for eighth time at age 70
Actor Kelsey Grammer is set to be a father for the eighth time, at age 70. The Frasier actor is set to welcome his fourth child with wife Kayte Walsh, 46. The news was confirmed by on Thursday, with photos showing the couple out in London — Walsh cradling her baby bump as the pair strolled along a street. 'Kelsey is thrilled to finally have time to fully enjoy being a father all over again,' a source told the publication. 'He's been incredibly supportive of Kayte throughout this pregnancy which, though unexpected, has reignited a spark in their marriage that they both needed. 'This will be their fourth child together and, with Kelsey's other three children from his past marriages, their new bundle of joy will have so much love. 'After giving Frasier one last go, he has hung his hat up on that character and is ready for the next phase of his life. He is looking forward to embracing the hands-on parenting he missed in the past.' Grammer and Walsh are already parents to daughter Faith Grammer, 12, and sons Kelsey Gabriel Grammer, 10, and Auden 'James' Ellis Grammer, 8. The actor, who has been married four times, also has a daughter, Spencer Grammer, 41, with ex-wife Doreen Alderman, and daughter Greer Grammer, 33, with ex-girlfriend Barrie Buckner. He also daughter Mason Olivia Grammer, 23, and son Jude Gordon Grammer, 20, with former Real Housewives star Camille Grammer. In May, Grammer told US People magazine he was absorbed in his work in the early days of fatherhood. 'I have neglected a couple of the kids in my life, especially the first two. I'm trying to make up for a little of it now. I'm still their dad, so you can always have (a) chance to show up,' he said. 'I probably should have been a little more clear and maybe less tolerant with the older ones. 'I'm pretty tolerant with the young ones, but I'm clear about how there's certain expectations and certain ways to navigate through a social situation: keep it close to the vest and play it straight, and you're going to be well-served in your life.'
