Ladies, I stand with Deborra-Lee Furness.
The rumored romance of Hugh Jackman with his co-star Sutton Foster was – reportedly – Broadway’s worst-kept secret, and as I write this the rumor mill is once again in full swing.
Not only is Deb’s former husband reportedly madly in love with 49-year-old Sutton, but Hugh’s best friends, Hollywood power couple Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, apparently knew all about the relationship — and kept it quiet.
A source told RadarOnline that Deb was “seething with anger because she was the last to know.” And if that’s true, who can blame her?
It’s Deb I want to focus on, ladies, because if there was ever a time for women to stand in solidarity with each other, it’s now.
Let’s assume the rumors don’t just come from the tabloids. To keep it simple, your ex-husband moved on with a coworker damn quickly and everyone around you knew it.
And worse, they chose not to tell you.
You have been betrayed not only by the man you love, but also by your close friends. It is the ultimate humiliation, a slap in the face, another betrayal. And it makes my blood boil.
The rumored romance of Hugh Jackman with his co-star Sutton Foster was reportedly Broadway’s worst-kept secret
Deb is reportedly ‘seething with anger because she’s the last to know’ about Hugh’s new relationship
If I were in Deb’s shoes, the question I would ask would be, “Well, who otherwise knew?’
They say ignorance is bliss, but I firmly believe that knowledge is power. I have always insisted that partners and friends tell me the truth, even when it will hurt. I’d rather know than not. When I am armed with the facts, I can act accordingly.
I don’t want there to be silent pity or hushed voices when I walk into a room. At least spare me that. I hope my husband of thirty years and our mutual friends would respect me enough to be honest.
But if the rumors are to be believed, Deb didn’t understand that. Not only does it sound like half of their A-list peers apparently knew about Hugh’s romance, but I’m guessing the cast of The Music Man did too.
So Hollywood knew (allegedly). Broadway knew (allegedly). Who else?
Let me be clear: I am not suggesting that I know the facts here. The source is RadarOnline, not The New York Times.
I don’t know if there is any truth to the rumor that Deb was “the last to know.” All I know is that this kind of thing happens in ordinary lives, far away from Hollywood all the time. And it’s heartbreaking. You feel like a damn fool. That’s why the story hit me like a punch in the stomach.
For now, let’s take a look at the possibility that Deb was the last to know. I know a pretty famous actor who told me he wasn’t surprised when he heard the rumors.
“The close atmosphere of a theater production allows the cast to get to know each other very well,” he says.
“They live in this cocoon bubble and everyone becomes quite intimate with each other. It would be safe to say that cast members would have been aware of the relationship.”
Ouch. I don’t think there are many women reading this who wouldn’t feel Deb’s pain.
Amanda Goff says the whole Hugh Jackman divorce saga shows why ladies should stick together
With their age difference of thirteen years, this was something Deb feared: that her handsome ‘toyboy’ husband, the Australian Mr Nice Guy, would eventually end up with someone younger.
As women, we feel this to our core. We all know a woman whose husband replaced her with someone younger, and many of us now know a couple who just broke up, and he’s already moved on.
Would you tell Deb if she was your girlfriend? Don’t you think she deserves to know? Do we have the right to know when our exes move on so quickly?
Yes, I think so. There’s no worse feeling than being the last to know when your ex has found someone new, especially if you’ve only recently broken up. I can’t imagine a friendship surviving knowing someone had that information but kept it a secret from me.
Again, put yourself in Deb’s shoes for a moment. The actress and producer will turn seventy in a year. She loved a man for thirty years, raised two children with him and, let’s face it, put her career aside so he could bask in the glory of his Hollywood success. Now, at retirement age, she has been replaced by a woman almost twenty years her junior.
That’s heartbreaking enough.
The couple released a statement announcing their separation in September last year and just over twelve months later reports emerged that Hugh and Sutton were an item, having grown during the production of their musical The Music Man, due in February 2022 premiered.
Let’s call it all together, ladies. The timeline overlaps a bit.
According to rumors, close friends Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds knew about Hugh and Sutton but didn’t tell Deb.
Don’t friends have an ethical responsibility to make this kind of information public? After all, isn’t that the definition of friendship? If not, what the hell is that? Dinners and movie nights? Coffee dates and shopping? Is that the extent of it? No, thanks. If I had friends like that, I’d take my dog out to dinner – more loyalty with her.
If your friends don’t speak out, are they complicit?
And Ryan and Blake, hello? Did you really think no one would ask the question: did they know? You are constantly pouring over each other. How do you think you would feel, Blake, if the shoe were on the other foot? That would wipe the pearly white smile off your face, wouldn’t it?
Do we as women have a responsibility to tell our girlfriends the truth in situations like this? Men have the bro code. The sisterhood can certainly adopt something similar.
Come to think of it, were any of their mutual friends even remotely loyal to Deb?
This situation reminds us of the importance of solidarity between women. We must speak out.
I see the argument for not saying anything and staying out of it. Telling everything can be counterproductive. Maybe the scorned partner won’t believe you. Maybe the couple gets back together, comes out stronger and suddenly you’re the bad guy.
But in Deb’s case, the marriage was already over when the news started to spread. Hugh had found someone new. Surely someone should have told her, even an anonymous text?
Maybe the rumor that no one said anything to Deb tells you everything you need to know about Hollywood and the fake, fickle people who live there..
With friends like that, who needs enemies?