Deborra-Lee Furness has broken nearly two years of silence, unleashing a blistering condemnation of her ex-husband, Hugh Jackman, in a statement that has sent shockwaves through Hollywood and redefined one of the industry’s most visible divorces.
Furness used her first sustained public response to label the end of her 27-year marriage a “traumatic journey of betrayal,” describing the experience as “a profound wound that cuts deep” in a statement released to the Daily Mail, a stark contrast to the carefully crafted joint announcement that marked their initial separation. The use of the word “betrayal” was deliberate, chosen by a woman who had remained publicly quiet while Jackman’s reported romance with Broadway star Sutton Foster accelerated into wedding planning, forcing her hand to address the collapse of the relationship she had built her life around.
The trigger for Furness’s explosive statement was not the separation itself, but the head-spinning speed of the aftermath. Reports emerged in late 2025 that Jackman proposed to Foster during a New Year’s holiday in Costa Rica, allegedly before Foster’s own divorce from screenwriter Ted Griffin had even been finalized. By early 2026, entertainment outlets were abuzz with plans for a small, private ceremony in New York, with Ryan Reynolds reportedly positioned as best man, a detail that only amplified the sting of how quickly a new chapter was being written.
Sources close to Furness relayed a particularly pointed detail that added more fuel to the fire: Jackman reportedly has no intention of signing a prenuptial agreement with Foster, despite an estimated fortune of $387 million accumulated during his marriage to Furness. That wealth was built while she raised their two adopted children, relocated across the globe to support his career, and provided the stable foundation that allowed him to become a global superstar. The absence of a prenup in his new marriage, after a union of that length and financial scale, is the kind of omission that speaks volumes in the treacherous world of high-stakes divorce.
When sources close to Furness were asked about watching Jackman and Foster appear together in public, the response was a cold, five-word phrase: “A real kick in the teeth.” It was not a lengthy grievance, but a statement delivered with the particular flatness of someone who has already processed the worst, and is now simply describing what remains.
That calculated move indicates a woman who had been preparing for an outcome she could see coming long before it was visible to the public. Days before filing for divorce, Furness paid $1.7 million to acquire the sole ownership of the Manhattan penthouse she had once shared with Jackman.
The path to this breaking point began long before, during the Broadway revival of The Music Man. Rehearsing for the production in early 2022, Jackman was paired with Foster, a two-time Tony Award winner. During the show’s successful run, sources described an “open secret” on set, noting extended physical closeness between the stars and backstage intimacy that defied professional boundaries.
Furness believed an emotional 𝒶𝒻𝒻𝒶𝒾𝓇 had developed during that season, a betrayal that cuts nearly as deep as any physical encounter.
To fully comprehend the weight of Furness’s anger, one must reconstruct the story’s origin. Furness was not an unknown, impressionable actress when she met the newcomer. She was an established star, winning Best Actress at the Australia Film Critics Circle for “Shame” in 1988.
When Jackman, fresh from 𝒹𝓇𝒶𝓂𝒶 school, met her on the set of the TV series Corelli, he was a prisoner to her psychologist in the story; in reality, she was the famous one, 13 years her senior.
She initially tried to walk away, citing the age disparity as a foundational problem. But Jackman, with his “absolute certainty” and charm, refused to accept it. He proposed four months later, marrying her in April 1996.
For the next 27 years, she faced the tabloid photographers and the constant public scrutiny of aging beside a man the world voted as one of the sexiest alive.
Their public narrative was one of endurance and devotion. Jackman publicly declared his love on every anniversary, during press tours, and documented the still life of their commitment to over the years, specifically in their 25th anniversary tribute where he claimed their love had only deepened. But the timeline of 2023 paints a grim picture of that reality.
In April, he posted a warm tribute to his wife. In May, they attended the Met Gala together, presenting a unified front. Just four months later, in September, they released a joint statement announcing their separation, using the language of “individual growth.”
Since that announcement, Furness spoke only once, in May 2024, offering a comfortless comment that she had learned she was “strong and resilient.” With the news of the wedding planning and the divorce solidified, Furness has made it clear her version of the truth will be told. Reports suggest she is in discussions with publishers about a memoir covering her marriage, her divorce, and the aftermath, a project that sources claim Jackman tried to quell, but she is methodically documenting her story in a divorce diary.
The decision from her legal quarters raising the issue of a prenup suggests a shift from the woman who was once the star to the one who was in the background. Her advocacy work in adoption reform, a certainty of her legacy, highlights a sacrifice that goes uncredited in the tabloid coverage of the break-up; the roles she turned down to care for his schedule, the stability she ceased to claim for her own, and the years of silence in the face of public rumor.
For everyone who sees in this story a fall from Hollywood’s last great love story, the reality bears witness to a more complex, painful truth. Deborra-Lee Furness’s version of what happened will be the final act of a story that she, and she alone, will control. And she has decided that version deserves to exist on the record.
In building that narrative, she is the one walking away with the house, the dignity, and ultimately, the last word.
