I have a pretty good memory for random facts about A, B and C-list celebrities, but before today, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you the name of Allison Williams’ husband. Literally the only thing I remember offhand about Allison’s marriage or wedding was that she demanded that her wedding cake be Funfetti cake from a box because it’s “trashy on the inside.” Allison married Ricky Van Veen in September 2015. I had a vague false memory of them getting married in New York or Connecticut, but no – they had a Wyoming wedding too (Karlie Kloss copied!). It looks like the marriage fell apart last year, and they’ve officially separated now:
“Girls” star Allison Williams and husband Ricky Van Veen have split after nearly four years of marriage, Page Six has learned. In a joint statement, the couple told us exclusively: “With mutual love and respect, we have made the decision to separate as a couple. We are grateful for the friendship that we have and will continue to have.”
The two are “distinctly different,” according to a close friend — while they haven’t been spotted out together in months. A source familiar with the splitting couple told us: “Every time I’ve seen Allison out recently, Ricky’s been nowhere to be seen.”
Indeed, the last time they were actually seen in public was at the Oscars in March 2018. The pair were married in September 2015 in a lavish ceremony at Brush Creek Ranch in Saratoga, Wyo., officiated by Tom Hanks. Williams’ dad, MNSBC host Brian walked her down the aisle watched by stars including “Girls” creator and star Lena Dunham, Katy Perry, John Mayer, Jemima Kirke, Barry Diller, Seth Meyers and Zosia Mamet.
Apparently, they shared a $2 million Chelsea apartment throughout their marriage but they’re now living apart. I wonder who got the apartment? Anyway, they don’t have kids and my guess would be that they kept their financials pretty separate throughout the marriage too, so this divorce shouldn’t be a huge drama. It sounds like a relatively uncomplicated starter marriage between two people who cared about each other, got married and then grew apart in a few years without a sh-t ton of drama.
Photos courtesy of WENN and Backgrid.
I find the concept of a ‘starter marriage’ very strange. I think it’s because I’m Irish and although divorce was made legal here in the late 90s, we still have the lowest rates in Europe. Culturally, people take marriage very seriously here- you get married with the intention you’ll stay married for life. Friends of mine from the UK have mentioned ‘starter marriages’, jokingly, but I’ve never heard any of my Irish friends say anything similar…
sometimes marriage is not for everyone. you don’t find that out until you are in the relationship with someone. maybe it is because I grew up in a secular and muslim adjacent home but sometimes things end and that is ok. Divorce is not a seen as a failure or something to be ashamed of. It is just a legal ending to a relationship.
No one should be stuck with someone they don’t like or want to be around.
“divorce was made legal here in the late 90s”
divorce wasn’t legal in ireland until the *nineteen* nineties?!! hooolyyyy shiz
And condoms were basically illegal until 1993!
I have Irish friends and they same Americans and Canadians get married way too quickly and too young and that’s why the divorce rates are so high. My Irish friends have been together 8 years and are in no hurry to get married.
That’s the thing. Maturity has a lot to do with it. Divorce rates are high in those under 30 yrs old. About 50%. But those numbers date back to the 70s. If you look at more recent however smaller data pools, past age 30 divorce rate is very low about 20% and gets lower the older the couple gets married. However a 2nd marriage has a higher divorce rate with a 3r sand subsequent marriage having even higher divorce rate.
Though I am American, I can’t mesh with this concept of a “starter marriage.” To me, though I haven’t been married (maybe because I take it so seriously), when you marry someone it is with the absolute intent to be together and journey together forever. I completely support divorce and all that, but the term “starter marriage” like it is a “starter house” before one upgrades to bigger, better pad, denotes that people are marrying kind of casually and are not in it with the intent to stay the course. Why not just live together in that case?
As an American living in Canada and 38 years old, never married, I know so many Americans and Canadians on their 2nd or 3rd marriages at my age or older. Everyone I know who married under 30 with maybe 2 or 3 exceptions are now divorced at my age. Poor communication and not voicing one’s wants and desires early on for fear the other person may disagree ultimately led to most all of their demises of their marriages. I only know of one where cheating was the cause of divorce and it was the woman cheating repeatedly on the man where the man ultimately found out and left.
It’s not like people getting married *expecting* it to fall apart, or viewing it as a “starter marriage,” but they may feel pressured by family and friends to commit prematurely. We live long lives now and it’s hard to keep your needs and wants perfectly meshed for 7-8 decades.
I do feel for people who have big public weddings and then deal with the fallout within a short period of time. * That’s gotta be embarrassing.
* Except for Kim Kardashian
Honestly, I think a lot of people get married bc they want the attention and excitement of a wedding and then are like, oops. If you don’t have children together, divorce is not that big of a deal unless you obsess over the finances. I say this as a person who did not have a wedding, got married for much worse reasons, and is now divorced, with kids,
after 12 years of misery.
I never get why people have to get married. Over here in The Netherlands it’s the most normal thing to live together for years before marriage and marriage often is about celebrating what you have build together. On the other hand, I also notice that when people divorce it’s often very amicable. I’m a teacher and the last time one of my students had parents who had a fight-divorce is over ten years ago. Now I usually have parents who show up together for parent-teacher conferences and are so amicable that I keep forgetting they’re divorced.
They look like brother and sister.
I was just going to comment the same. They completely look like siblings.
He looks a lot like her actual brother and I think Ricky even once posted a jokey Instagram about it
I remember thinking that when they got married, which is literally the last time I thought about these two. At the time I thought they probably wouldn’t last and I couldn’t have told you why, just a feeling.
100%
Thoughts and prayers.
Hahaha. Thanks for the huge laugh!
I was randomly thinking about this couple yesterday and how Collegehumor used to be funny 10 years ago (Jake and Amir, Phantom of the Office etc.)
Good for her for getting out before it got too bad. Some people stay too long in relationships and it can turn from bad to bitter quickly. I hope they both find a satisfiying end to their relationship.
Honestly, i have no ill will towards the princess of beige and bland. That photo of her in that beige outfit is hilarious. It is her personality through clothes.
Yep, also that they didn’t try to make it “work” with a “band-aid baby.”
Starter marriage was my first thought, too. They got to the age where it seemed appropriate to get married, tied the knot and then realized they weren’t the best fit. I might have done the same thing in my 20s…
I hope you’re right, Kaiser, that they kept things mostly separate and it will be a low-key divorce. I have a weird soft spot for Allison, nepotism career and all.
Another bland Girls. Weren’t they together for quite some time before marrying?
Is it because they found out that they’re siblings?
I mean, look at that picture.
Yeah, I was thinking maybe they got bored with their looking at their mirror image every day.
My nephew is beginning his starter marriage tonight in similar circumstances. Together four years, just turned 30, they’ve spent a dozen weekends in the last year attending the weddings of friends and it’s get married or break up time, so we’re all going to spend the evening fighting mosquitoes because the bride wants a sunset wedding by a lake.
I wonder how many marriages are a product of the sunk cost fallacy. There ought to be a study done. Save the world billions of dollars in Cuisinart toasters.
I feel like recently I’m seeing articles about marriage and marriage break ups because my friend is getting married and I’m worried for her. Similar to your nephew I feel like circumstances of not being alone, being mid thirties and disastrous 1st marriages for both of them has them rushing to the aisle. One of individuals is leaving the country soon so it also feels like why they’re doing 90 on relationship road. But what can we do but hope for the best right? Marriage isn’t easy but it’s easier when you’re genuinely in love with and love the person you’re vowing to commit to for life, so I guess let’s see what happens. Also good luck with the mosquitos, I’m their favorite snack!
Wow, glad he’s got such a supportive family(!)
He does. Everyone wants him happy and with someone nice, but when there are warning signs everywhere, it’s tough to be happy for him. Even they don’t seem particularly excited, the rehearsal last night was weirdly gloomy, although that might have just been because of the eight trillion mosquitoes.
My guy friend and well long ago ex is getting married after 2 years and given he is still thinking about an ex (not me) I am worried about him. Both his dad and brother are divorced, so the men all seem to have similar issues in the family.
LOL! I hope you all enjoy the celebration. I wish I could be seated next to you at the reception!
Woah…if they can’t be excited at the rehearsal dinner, that doesn’t bode well. Come back and tell us how the ceremony went!
I’m with Emma, let us know how the ceremony goes!
Whether it is called a “test marriage”, “ beta marriage “ or a” first marriage” that people who do enter into this sort of marriage will learn the hard way, that pain and loss are not so simple to swipe away. I also work for a divorce attorney and my new advice for anybody getting married now is a good prenup.
Love that jumpsuit. Nothing more to add. Although I will say that I randomly wondered the other day why I hadn’t seen her with her husband in awhile.
For some reason, I figured she’d divorce. I don’t know why. Something usually goes with people whose lives took too perfect from the outside.
Her husband looks a little dull (well, to be fair, so does she), and despite her outward appearance, she seems like she’d crave something a little outside the box (maybe I think this because of the scenes she had to do on “Girls.”) I predict she’ll start dating a hairy guy with long hair and tattoos next.
Maybe she got sick of him always being on his cell phone?
THANK YOU! Literally all I remember about them is Anna and the MET gala.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. It’s one thing to be married for a long time, try to make it work, and then realize your relationship has evolved and that you’ve grown apart. But man, these couples who cannot even make it to the three-five year mark – either you probably ignored a lot of red flags and shouldn’t have gotten married in the first place or you just didn’t even try. I do find it amusing that people have become so nonchalant about uncoupling from someone they made a lifelong commitment to after just a couple of years but let someone re-home a pet or or give their dog to a friend and the sky is falling!
Personally, I think it’s just a byproduct of the social media age we live in. People treat other people as commodities or products and are none to happy to dispose of them when something new, bright, shiny (i.e. an “upgrade”) comes along.
I agree with you. My fiancé and I both believe that, except in cases of cheating or abuse, divorce isn’t an option for us unless we’ve made multiple good faith shots at counseling and working through the problems and nothing works. Why go through the trouble of getting married if you don’t put the work in once the wedding is over?
I agree. Apart from cheating which can truly blindside a person any couple that breaks up that quickly HAD to have had issues going in they either chose to ignore or thought wouldn’t be as big a deal as they were. Neither speaks to a great understanding of what a marriage involves.
It’s also easier to get divorced when you have money, hence the reason a lot of “regular” people end up waiting until they’re older and more financially stable. Two people in their 20s, just starting out in adult life, are at the start of their careers and have a long way to go to save for their first house, etc. But for a pair of celebs who earned their first million at 22 and are both completely independently wealthy, there are no (or minimal) financial repercussions to divorcing before you’re 30, even if you’ve only been married for 2 or 3 years. You don’t have to give up what tends to be a more comfortable lifestyle when two incomes are involved, because you’ve got more than enough income yourself. Frankly, I believe that a lot of people who wait until the kids are older to end it probably would have gotten divorced a lot sooner if money was no object.
Ricky Van Veen just sounds like a jerky name. Isn’t he besties with John Mayer or did I imagine that?
I officiated a wedding at Brush Creek right after this one! It is by far and away the poshest place I’ve ever stayed. So kudos for a great event I’m sure!
While I spend zero time thinking about Allison Williams, it strikes me as odd that people would criticize them for pulling the plug on the marriage so soon. If it’s not working why force it, only to wake up 10 years later w kids and then split?? That’s far worse IMO. And I speak as someone who did, unfortunately, have a “starter marriage” back in the 90s. I was grateful I met someone after to whom I got married and we’re still together after 24 years. I refused to write off the rest of my life married to the wrong man!
Yet they look so well suited – bland and blander!!
She was looking terrifyingly thin for a while and looks healthier now. Sometimes one person in a marriage gets therapeutic help and it can blow a marriage apart. Also everyone who gets married doesn’t make a commitment for life in their vows in their head or in reality.
I wish them both well. I am sure they got married for the right reasons. Also, got divorced for the right reasons. People change and grow apart. They are still both so young and have all the time in the world to find a new, more suitable (for marriage) partner.
“Growing apart” shouldn’t be a reason to divorce, IMO.
Wow to these judgy comments 😐
I am guessing they didn’t get married with the intention of later divorcing, and isn’t it better to have divorce as a readily available option than for people to get married and then be stuck with someone forever if it’s not a good match? People like to condescendingly refer to the high divorce rates in America and I’m not saying it’s ideal, but it’s certainly better than divorce being so taboo like it once was that women (and men, but mostly women) stay in shit marriages forever with no other options.