Sacha Baron Cohen and Isla Fisher struggled through their ‘rocky’ years of marriage before quietly splitting in 2023, with the estranged couple now desperately trying to get through their difficult prenup and sort out custody of their three children, insiders claim.
The British comedian, 52, and the Australian actress, 48, announced on Friday that they had filed for divorce, breaking the news on Instagram with simultaneous photos of them posing in tennis outfits.
Now insiders claim their marriage has been ‘shaky’ for years, with Cohen reportedly struggling after making the ‘sacrifice’ to move his family to Australia in 2020.
“Their marriage has been rocky for years,” an insider exclusively told DailyMail.com. ‘The breakdown started when they moved to Australia so she could be closer to her family. But it left Sacha distant from everyone he knows.
Sacha Baron Cohen and Isla Fisher announced their split on Friday with simultaneous statements on Instagram
The British comedian, 52, and the Australian actress, 48, reportedly struggled after moving to Australia
“He made this sacrifice for her and would make many sacrifices for her throughout their marriage. He is deeply affected by their separation, because she was his life for many years.’
The couple, who married in 2010, are now working on the ‘best arrangement’ for their three children, Olive, 17, Elula, 13, and Montgomery, nine – with Fisher currently the one who has custody.
“She has custody of the children and they are still working on the best arrangement so Sacha can be an active part of their lives,” the source continued.
‘They have a lot of love for each other, but they didn’t get along and have become different people than they were at the beginning of their relationship. They wanted different things in life in terms of their careers.
“They had a prenup, but it’s still very difficult because everything they had is bought for both of them and their family together.”
The insider insisted that infidelity had played no role in the breakdown of their marriage and that neither party was dating anyone new.
They ended with, “There was no cheating on either side and they don’t see anyone else.”
DailyMail.com has contacted representatives for Cohen and Fisher for comment.
The now estranged couple looked in love as they shared a kiss in an Instagram post in July 2023
The now estranged couple met at a party in Australia in 2002 before getting engaged in 2004. Fisher, who likened meeting the actor to “winning the lottery,” converted to Judaism before they tied the knot in Paris, France, in a Jewish ceremony in March. 2010.
Ten years later, they moved to Sydney in December 2020 after splitting their time between the US and UK, before later relocating to Perth, Western Australia.
Fisher, who grew up in Perth from the age of six, opened up about the move in 2021, telling Stella magazine she feels safer in her native Australia.
‘I just feel so safe, I think the word is cozy, when I’m in Australia. It’s where I grew up,” she said.
‘I’m happiest when I’m at home. I miss it when I’m not there. I don’t feel any pressure when I’m in Australia. I don’t have to say, do or be anything. I mean, I don’t even have to wear shoes.’
There were also reports at the time that the political situation in the US was behind their move.
“They didn’t want to raise their children in Trump’s America,” an insider told the Sydney Morning Herald in January 2021.
Borat star Cohen has long been an outspoken critic of the Trump administration.
Their split comes just days after Rebel Wilson made a series of shocking claims against Cohen in her new memoir Rebel Rising.
Wilson played his on-screen girlfriend in the 2016 comedy The Brothers Grimsby and made a series of accusations about her awkward experience during filming.
She claimed he would ask her to undress for scenes on set, despite her ‘no nudity’ rule.
He has strongly denied her claims, which he says are contradicted by evidence.
The British prankster rose to worldwide fame in 2006 when he starred in the satirical mockumentary Borat, playing a journalist from Kazakhstan learning about life in America.
Fisher’s first major role was as Shannon Reed in the Australian soap opera Home and Away from 1994 to 1997. She went on to appear in films such as Confessions of a Shopaholic and Wedding Crashers.
Sources tell DailyMail.com that Isla currently has custody of their three children Olive, 17, Elula, 13, and Montgomery, nine
Their split comes just days after Rebel Wilson made a series of shocking claims against Cohen in her new memoir Rebel Rising (pictured on the set of The Brothers Grimsby in 2016)
In January 2022, she gave a rare interview about her marriage to Cohen when she was asked how they managed to stay together for 20 years.
“I think it’s probably 200 years by Hollywood standards!” she joked. “I feel like it’s a golden anniversary or something. Everyone congratulated me.
‘It’s a fun ride. I feel so lucky to have Sacha in my life. Now we have a beautiful family and we survived the lockdown together. You know, it’s not easy for any couple.”
But on Friday they confirmed they had split, telling fans in a statement: ‘After a long tennis match of more than twenty years, we are finally putting down our rackets.
‘In 2023 we jointly filed an application to end our marriage. We have always prioritized our privacy and have been working through this change quietly
“We share forever in our devotion and love for our children. We sincerely appreciate your respecting our family’s wish for privacy.”
