There’s usually not that much gossip about Ben Stiller, which means Stiller is a good guy who is liked by everyone, or he’s a complete jerk and everyone’s afraid of him. Take your pick! One of the few major stories about Ben happened in 2017, when he and his wife Christine Taylor separated after 17 years of marriage. They have two kids together: their daughter Ella turns 20 in April, and their son Quinlin is 16 years old. For what it’s worth, Ben and Christina’s split never seemed hostile or messy. They kept things out of the press and the biggest tea immediately following their separation was that their work schedules had been keeping them apart. They even seemed publicly supportive of one another post-separation, sometimes attending events together or as a family. And now this: Stiller says that he and Christine have fully reconciled.
Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor have rekindled their marriage after separating nearly five years ago. The Meet the Parents actor, 56, revealed the couple got back together in an interview with Esquire that was published on Tuesday. Their romantic relationship was rekindled after Stiller and Taylor, 50, decided it would be best if he moved back in with her and their two kids during the early days of the pandemic, as it would be the only way he’d be able to see the kids during the lockdown.
“Then, over the course of time, it evolved,” he told the outlet. “We were separated and got back together and we’re happy about that. It’s been really wonderful for all of us. Unexpected, and one of the things that came out of the pandemic.”
“I think we have a respect for the ways that we’re similar and the ways we’re different. And I think accepting that, you can really appreciate someone more because you’re not trying to get them to change for you,” Stiller continued, touching on how his relationship with Taylor progressed over the last two years. Added Stiller: “Once you accept that, you save a lot of energy. ‘This is something that works for me; this is something that doesn’t work for me.’ If you have that trust level with your partner, you know that me saying ‘I don’t like doing that thing’ is not me saying ‘I don’t like you.’ “
I enjoy these kinds of stories and reunions. I think… couples who have been together for many years sometimes need a break from each other, and then maybe they find their way back to each other. It’s not a fairytale, but it’s realistic. Sometimes you appreciate your spouse more after you get some distance… and see what else is out there, and how awful the dating scene is. Anyway, I’m happy for Ben and Christine. It seemed to me like Ben wanted to have a Tom Hanks-Rita Wilson-type marriage, or a marriage like his parents and Christine was like “no, it’s more complicated than that.”
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
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- Friendly exes Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor are seen together in public for the first time since their split last year. The former couple had a two hour lunch at a Tribeca restaurant. New York City, New York – Monday July 30, 2018. Photograph: © LGjr-RG, PacificCoastNews. Los Angeles Office (PCN): +1 310.822.0419 UK Office (Avalon): +44 (0) 20 7421 6000,Image: 523858521, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – DIRECT SALES ONLY – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: LGjr-RG, PacificCoastNews / Avalon
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- 147722, Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor at the screening of ‘Zoolander No 2’ at Empire Leicester Square in London. London, United kingdom – Thursday February 4, 2015. UK, IRELAND, DUBAI, USA & CANADIAN USE ONLY Photograph: © ZTimages.com, PacificCoastNews. Los Angeles Office: +1 310.822.0419 sales@pacificcoastnews.com FEE MUST BE AGREED PRIOR TO USAGE,Image: 532138949, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS, DIRECT SALES ONLY UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE IN CAPTION – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: ZTimages.com, PacificCoastNews / Avalon
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- Novak Djokovic (SRB) Ben Stiller (USA) Hugh Jackman (AUS) Christine Taylor (USA) Deborra-Lee Furness (AUS) Jelena Djokovic (SRB) TENNIS : US Open 2015 – 06/09/2016,Image: 533443410, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Virginie Bouyer / Panoramic / Avalon
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- ** RIGHTS: ONLY UNITED STATES, CANADA ** New York, NY – After 17 years of marriage, Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor are calling it quits. The pair exclusively announced their split in a joint statement to ET this afternoon. Here, the couple attended the MET Costume Institute Gala 2016 at The Metropolitan Museum Of Art in New York City, New York on May 2, 2016. Pictured: Ben Stiller, Christine Taylor BACKGRID USA 26 MAY 2017 BYLINE MUST READ: Best Image / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
Christine Taylor is (IMO) such a great comedic actress, I’ve always wondered why her career never went stratospheric – she always seemed to be more in Ben’s shadow than she ought to be
I thought maybe because she’d stepped away to raise kids. I’d love to see her make a comeback as an older actress. There are so many great projects on tv she’d be so good in.
I saw her as more of a generic Hollywood blonde. The roles she got on her own were never that good. She never launched until he got her side roles and with his influence.
Weren’t there stories of him being a controlling monster? And her trying to calm all situations, be a present mom, but still being sort of snobby? I never liked her after those reports.
This is sweet for them, especially bc now its been two years so its not like they announced it as soon as he moved in with them. It really does sound like it was a gradual thing where they realized what they wanted.
Christine Taylor has always been one of my favorites. Melody forever! IYKYK.
Ahhhh, I loved her in Hey Dude! I thought she was just the prettiest, coolest girl.
I always think of her from Hey Dude!
Here’s hoping we get to see her in something sooner rather than later.
She was perfect as Marsh Brady.
Just saw “The Brady Bunch” movie again> Christine was perfection as Marcia Brady.
It’s all about Marsha Marsha Marsha
Yes! I can’t see her and not think of Hey Dude!
I find it likely that Stiller lives in a bubble and sometimes has a hard time seeing where other people are coming from based on the exchange he had with Franklin Leonard, the founder of The Black List, on Twitter last summer about nepotism in Hollywood. See: https://tinyurl.com/ymk4u5af
I can’t say what effect, if any, that might have had on he and Christine Taylor’s relationship either now or in the past, but perhaps the time during lockdown gave them space to work through whatever caused them to grow apart in the first place. Whatever the reason, I hope they are both happy and secure in their relationship again.
Have met him more then once and can confirm he is a MONSTER asshole. I had no idea who he was the first time i met him in the early 90’s and man, was he pissed about that. His PARENTS on the other hand were the most delightful, charming, lovely people. I have been to their house for brunch and I wanted them to immediately be my parents, grandparents ANYTHING, as long as i could just BE around them. They were magic. So Ben has no excuse for being such a pretentious ass hat. Someday the stories will come out.
And totally off-topic
WHEN are the Jared Leto me too stories coming?
I believe Ben is the same asshole character he played on an episode of Friends, where nobody believed Ross when he told him the guy was a monster.
My sister told me he was hitting on her friend at a college bar when he was filming somewhere nearby. This was when he was still married. This is obv a story that went from my sister’s friend to my sister to me so take with a grain of salt.
@laurelcanyoner, thanks for re-confirming my long-held gut feeling about this guy. I grew up around assholes and have a pretty great track record about sensing them, although I do get blindsided sometimes.
My aunt ran a comedy club when I was a kid and she used to take me to pick up comedians at the airport in her car that she never, ever cleaned out and I hung out in her office quite a bit. Unlike his parents, Stiller was never a stand up, so I’ve never met him, but I heard several people say similar things as you, which was around the late 90s to the early 00s.
Here’s hoping he’s grown up a bit? Perhaps that it’s vain, but for his kids’ sake, I hope it’s true.
I have heard the same stories about him for years.
I’ve had multiple close friends in the industry confirm your take. Stiller acts like a nice guy, but he is a class A jerk. Seasoned professionals with years of experience working with celebs have sighted him as their worst working experience, won’t work with him again etc. And the rumors at the time of their split were that Ben was hyper-controlling of her and of everything she ate, specifically. That he somehow kept her very very thin, and that that caused her to have trouble getting pregnant again. It was gross. Maybe he stopped that controlling BS to win her back. A lot of people had to learn to give up some control during the pandemic! She certainly appears to be at a healthier weight in the images.
@BackstageBitchy
I’ve heard the same thing, and all you have to do is look at the pictures of her when she was with him! SUPER scary thin, and then look at her after she left him. Healthy weight. That alone, says it all.
@Terra
Yup, your instincts were correct. He’s an asshole with ZERO sense of humour about himself. And since I’m naming names today, LOL, Vin Diesal, and Jason Schwartzman, fit into this category too. NO sense of humour at all. And Vin talks so low you have to lean in so he’s the center of attention.
@laurelcanyoner, I wish I had names to add to the conversation since today is Name Names Day, but all of my names are pretty obvious. I haven’t gotten a chance to grab my childhood journals from storage yet and the ones I remember clearly almost everyone already knows, i.e. Rogan, Chapelle.
I do find it funny that Blake Shelton gets talked up so much since being with Gwen Stefani when I happen to know for a fact that he was hitting on and sleeping with other women while married to Miranda Lambert, years before their split. My aunt was still bartending at the time, and she was the unwelcome recipient of his attentions more than once. (Side note: my uncle knew Lambert when she was playing gigs as a teenager and said she had the worst attitude he encountered.)
My uncle also knew Wes Anderson in his early 20s, back when Anderson was in college, and says he was nice enough, if odd, and insists that The Royal Tenenbaums was just Anderson putting his family’s disfunction directly on the screen with very little embellishment. Also, that the Wilson brothers have always been knobs.
A good friend knows Rose Leslie’s family and says Kit Harrington is the worst.
One thing we know about him is he doesn’t think that he’s a nepotism actor. He worked hard to get where he is.
Ahhhhh I remember that!
I laugh whenever there is a convo like that bc……none of them think they’re nepotism actors, LOL.
(my take on it esp with someone like Stiller is that its possible to have talent and STILL to have benefited from nepotism.)
Becks, I agree. It can be both. There’s a *lot* of talented actors that got their break because of their name. On the other hand, there’s a lot of undeserved nepotism too.
Neither of his kids have expressed interest in the biz as far as I know. Am I wrong about that?
I agree it’s both – I think the nepotism gets you the foot in the door, the contacts, and the opportunities someone unconnected wouldn’t have. But talent and hard work give you staying power.
I always look to Jamie Lee Curtis as my litmus for this. She knows she benefited from nepotism, and she works her ass off to get the …”but she’s really talented”.
I am certain that being the beloved child of comedy royalty didn’t make a bit of difference, lol. I think he’s a bit of a brat, but I adore his mother.
I honestly never knew he came from comedic royalty until years later. When people like Kendall Jenner dispute nepotism claims i shudder but i believe Ben would have been successful regardless.
I didn’t know either Noki until I was like in college. Stiller is in an elite nepotism league: actually talented.
There are plenty who are decent but unnecessary (like the Hawk-Thurman, daughter). There are some who get very very far and were never that talented (ahem, Paltrow).
People love to hate on Gwyneth but I don’t think she’s any less talented than Ben Stiller. Ben is a good comedic actor but that’s about it. I just watched Shakespeare in Love and she really was fantastic in that movie. Not saying she deserved the Oscar (Fernanda Montenegro says hey) but she deserved to be nominated. GP definitely benefited from nepotism though.
Unfortunately, as delightful as Anne Meara was onscreen, she was frequently mean-spirited (and drunk) offscreen. Jerry Stiller, on the other hand, was always known to be generous and kind, to my knowledge.
I remember Anne Meara from Sex and the City as Steve’s “Ma”… she was a drunk and then later had dementia or Alzheimer’s. Such a sad storyline!
Nice to know Jerry was nothing like Frank Costanza – he was brilliant in that role!
@lucy2 yes! But the key to the whole thing is that there are a whole lot of people with the talent and work ethic who just never get that foot in the door!
People who benefit from great privilege and/or nepotism, never seem to understand that the almost impossible part is being allowed onto the field.
Once there, most people can ‘work hard’ and compete. Since they are given their place, they think they are doing the hard part. If that makes sense.
He also got diagnosed or st least made public his diagnosis of prostate cancer around the same time. That could have prompted reevaluations of their life together. They do seem good together. Hopefully they are both happy.
I hope this doesnt sound horrible but a lot of men after their fortunes have changed go back to the most stable and loyal partner. A one sided for ‘better or worse’ .
I agree with you. Christine seems stable and loyal. Who else is gonna put up with his pompous ass? I have never liked Ben, he seems very mean spirited and entitled. Not that funny either. However, his father Jerry Stiller was hilarious!
Whoa. I thought he was awful to her? I can’t remember why, though. Hopefully, I’m mistaken and they are both very happy. It’s a good sign when celeb relationships fly under the radar.
Yeah, I remember there being claims of him being super controlling of her and pressuring her to be as slim as possible.
There were some comments about disordered eating on her part and him controlling her food intake a la Secretary. I don’t know the validity of any of that, but it stuck in my mind because it was so odd and unexpected from Zoolander and Marcia Brady.
I also remember something about them both having food issues, or that he had an eating disorder and was also trying to control what she ate. I’d like to think that the fact they were separated for 5 years but never divorced is because there was still a lot of love there despite the issues. Hopefully he’s been able to move past that and that getting back together is good for them both.
Hopefully that’s not true or he’s changed. She’s definitely heavier than in her movie days (she was really slim and tiny in dodgeball) but looks great and healthy.
I feel like I heard that as well. Hopefully it wasn’t true, or if it was they’ve worked it out. The idea of falling back in love and rebuilding a healthier relationship is nice.
Yeah I’ve heard some rumors that he was controlling and pretty awful to her. I’ve also heard that he’s not a particularly nice person unless you’re mega famous- kind of like Ellen. Hopefully this is a legit reconciliation and not two people going back to an old and unhealthy relationship
That being said, all of those rumors are completely unsubstantiated so who knows
There was a blind about an actor that was insanely controlling about his wife’s food and nitpicked her body all the time. The parameters seemed to fit him and it was widely regarding as one of the reasons for their split. HOWEVER, I think we all take Blind Items with much more of a side eye than we used to.
Isn’t that the effing truth.
How nice to hear of a relationship that was helped by the pandemic. It seems like all I had heard of was people who were sick of each other, some actually divorcing. I’m glad their family healed during that time.
Ya know, I kinda love this for them. I don’t follow either of them closely, but I was bummed when they split. They seemed like such a sweet, organic couple, so I’m happy to see this.
I recall the story was he is a controlling jerk, not just in relationships but also in his career?
Hope they are happy together, both exceptionally talented people.
This makes me happy, because I loved his father so much, he was hilarious, and also DEREK AND MATIL!
I adored both of his parents, though I am a boomer so I grew up seeing them perform together. Ben seemed to be extremely close to both of his parents.
As for their marriage, I am happy for them as long as they both came back to the table for the right reasons. I never want someone to be in a marriage when they are unhappy or haven’t resolved their issues.
Otherwise, I am very happy for them both!!
Happy news to start the day! I’ve always liked them as a couple and it’s nice o hear they were able to work things out.
I didn’t remember he’d separated from his wife, Ben Stiller has always been lower key than other comedians. This is a nice story and it’s nice to hear this for a change then so many other couples who got divorced or broke up during the pandemic. I don’t know if he has the reputation of being a jerk or difficult so I wonder what led him and his wife to separate in the first place. I hope they got back to a good place.
Not to cast any shade on the joy of this reunion–this is a sweet story and I bet their kids are delighted–but I’d love to know the correlation between square footage/rooms in home/bathrooms per person/presence of yard and divorce because of pandemic. Seems like a lot of couples might have made it if they had a large-enough home where everyone could have space to themselves and a door they could close to be alone and a way to be safely and conveniently outdoors.
Maybe White Goodman broke out his shiny shoes.
In a current word of sadness and devastation, this story warmed my heart a little.
Ben and Christine were one of my favourite Hollywood couples, and I was so sad when they separated. This makes me happy <3
I don’t know if I should be happy or not. I had heard many stories of what a jerk he is, and I do not believe that people/women are better off being married to a jerk than being single. But I guess it’s between them, and not for me to say.
Long-term commitment can be very challenging, especially when you get past the stage of kids needing you as much. Suddenly, you see life opening up and you feel unsure what you want to do and you look at your partner and think, “Is this what I want?” I think a lot of couples ‘separate’ for a few years at this point, even if they are still together. Some find a new balance (as Ben and Christine seemed to have done) and others go their separate ways for good. It’s nice to see that good came out of the pandemic for them – it’s like the Universe conspired to keep them together. What a wonderful, deep, and meaningful history they share! I wish them contentment and joy till death do them part.
I’m happy for both of them, as they say sometimes “it takes separation to bring appreciation”.
She has a small role in Search Party and she is SO GOOD!!
My paths crossed with Jerry Stiller numerous times professionally and I can confirm, he was one of the kindest, sweetest, most genuine people I had ever met. He went out of his way to show everybody respect and love and even though I knew he lived a long, full life, I was so sad when he passed away. He was extremely humble and so grateful and almost seemed surprised when anyone complimented him on his work.
I had a few interactions with Ben by way of Jerry, and Ben was always very kind to me as well. (Just my experience! I know others have had different ones.) I know he has been open about having BPD and that his struggles with it have hurt his relationships.
Ben and his sister Amy did an interview after Jerry died and I thought they both came off sweet and adorable and exactly how I thought they’d be.
Anyway, as I said, I’m not doubting all the other stories about Ben, but I do think there is a kind side there.
Yay!