Amy Poehler and Will Arnett were the ultimate comedic couple.
Will had a crush on her years before they even started dating,
and things seemed perfect … until they weren’t. In a recent interview, Will confessed that he
had to pull over his car on the way to work and cry on the side of the road because the divorce
was so painful. While the couple have never confirmed the real reason behind their split,
it seems like fans managed to put the pieces together and figure out the truth for themselves.
Stay tuned Juicers, because in this video we’re going to
take a deep dive into Amy and Will’s marriage.
Amy Poehler and Will Arnett only started dating in 2000, but they actually met back in 1996.
Will first laid eyes on Amy during one of her improv performances with Upright Citizens Brigade.
Even though he had a girlfriend at the time,
he was so smitten by Amy that even his girlfriend noticed his attraction to her.
"I went with my then-girlfriend, and she was like, 'You have a crush on that girl!'"
Will shared, adding that Amy stuck out from all the other women;
she was "fantastic and obviously really cute." He gushed.
They officially began dating four years later, and in 2003, they said their "I do's." Things were
going well at the beginning of their marriage, with Amy sharing how safe Will made her feel.
The couple even worked together on screen, starring alongside one another as the
incestuous brother-and-sister villains in Will Ferrell's comedy, Blades of Glory.
Poehler also played Arnett's wife in Arrested Development,
and Arnett was featured as Poehler's love interest in an episode of Parks and Recreation.
Five years into their marriage, the couple welcomed their first son, Archie,
and a few years later, they had another son, Abel. The couple did their best to keep things private,
despite their fame and did a reasonably good job at it too. However, in 2014, they suddenly filed
for divorce after being separated for two years, leaving fans completely gobsmacked.
Amy and Will had been the dynamic comedy duo, and then out of nowhere, poof … it was over.
Both Will and Amy kept silent when it came to the reason for their split.
Naturally, the silence only allows for tabloids to stir up as much information as they could to find
out what the real reason was. An insider close to the couple shared that their romance just
"fizzled out" and that the pair felt "more like best friends" than a couple in love. The insider
added that the romance in their marriage had "died," and neither one of them was happy anymore.
Something had to be done, and that something was a divorce.
"They drifted apart, like a lot of couples do, but there's no malice in the split,
nor was anyone else involved." Another source explained.
While there weren't many scandals that revolved around the time of their divorce,
years later, some information came to light that may have explained what really happened.
Arnett confessed to The Hollywood Reporter that he relapsed into alcohol use after years of sobriety
in 2012 — the very same year he and Poehler separated. It wasn't a surprise to fans when they
realized that the time of his relapse correlated perfectly with the end of his marriage to Amy.
Naturally, neither Arnett nor Poehler has ever indicated that Will's relapse was what
led to their divorce. In fact, the former couple had always been open about their
previous "experimentations" with substances before they got married. Amy explained that
becoming a parent changed everything for them because it makes "that lifestyle" impossible.
In her memoir, Yes Please, the actress admitted that she experimented with cocaine and ecstasy
back in the day. She also opened up about her occasional marijuana usage. But she noted,
"How do you explain to a four and six-year-old that you can't play Rescue Bots because you
have to spend all day in bed eating Cape Cod potato chips and watching The Bicycle Thief?"
Despite the fact that the couple never admitted that Will's drinking was what caused their split,
fans couldn't help but wonder if that was the real reason.
They may not have wanted to talk about it, but the answer was clear.
In a recent interview, Will confessed that at the time of their separation, he was shooting the
fourth season of Arrested Development, and it was "almost excruciating…Just brutal, brutal, brutal.
I was driving to the set one day and I pulled over to the side of the road and cried for an hour."
On the other hand, he also credits the show's creator, Mitch Hurwitz,
with helping him transform the pain of his divorce into something "hilarious and cathartic."
Arnett went on to explain that being in the public eye only makes things more difficult. His personal
life was plastered all over the news, everyone knew about his divorce, and it only amplified
his pain. People spoke about him as they knew him, as they knew about his relationship.
Meanwhile, they actually have no idea what's really going on.
He went on to add, "It's brutal with any relationship, and we have kids,
and without getting into specifics, you then see stuff online, like,
this one journalist wrote: 'I'm Team Amy.' I'm like: 'You're a grown person. What
are you talking about? This is a breakup. This is a family. This isn't some game.'"
So, Will knew he had no choice but just to "go on with it."
Even 10 years after their split, he had nothing but good things to say about his ex-wife.
He said that his kids are so lucky to have Amy as their mother, and he's so lucky that they're
all such a huge part of each other's lives. They're closer than they ever were before,
and he couldn't be more grateful for all of it, even though things with Amy didn't work out.
On the other hand, Poehler took a lot longer to open up about her divorce. Her reasoning was that
there shouldn't be a specific time on how long it takes to get over a long-term relationship.
Even in her memoir, Yes Please, the actress was resistant to speaking about her split from Will.
She wrote, "I don't want to talk about my divorce because it is too sad and too personal.
I also don't like people knowing my shit," she said.
However, she did say a few things. She expressed that she was so proud of her ex-husband and how
they've taken care of their children together. She added that she was "beyond grateful" that
he is their father, and just because their marriage didn't work out, that didn't mean
that it was a failure. She concluded, "That being said, getting a divorce really sucks."
She described getting a divorce with a very creative metaphor.
"Imagine spreading everything you care about on a blanket and then tossing the
whole thing up in the air … and worrying what stuff will break when it lands."
Despite it all, she holds no grudges against him. They've remained very amicable, if not good,
friends after their split. They agreed on joint custody, and they've always put
their children first. Will even claimed that he found his true happiness in his kids. In fact,
it was reported that neither Arnett nor Poehler is expected to pay spousal or child support.
So when it comes to messy Hollywood divorces, it seems like these two made a clean break.
They've been so determined to raise their kids together that during the pandemic, the former
couple even quarantined together. They wanted to make sure that their kids weren't separated from
either of them for a long period of time, so when the time came to lockdown, they did it together.
Will's girlfriend at the time, Alessandra Brawn, was even pregnant with his child.
So they were all living together as one blended family,
making sure to put their kids first. If you ask us - that's pretty inspiring.
Arnett and Alessandra welcomed a son, Alexander, in 2020,
and Amy also did her best to move on with her romantic life.
Not long after her divorce, she had a "short-lived fling" with Nick Kroll, known for his roles in Big
Mouth. Perhaps it was her thing for funny guys because Nick is pretty hilarious too.
The couple mostly kept mum on their relationship, but Poehler did share,
"I have a boyfriend who knows how to settle me … On one of our first nights together,
I woke up apologizing for my snoring, and he pulled out two earplugs he had worn to bed
so he could hear what I was saying. It was one of the most romantic gestures I have ever seen."
They dated for about two years, but it seems that they struggled to make things work with
their busy schedule. Since then, the actress has remained single. While we can't know why for sure,
Amy did share a little insight into what it's like dating in her forties.
"I find my relationships at 40-plus are really emulsified, juicy relationships
because you have more of a sense of who you are and who you want to be around.
Talented men are not threatened by talented women. They welcome them."
Perhaps she's hinting that other men have been intimidated by her talent? She is an
incredible comedian, and her work speaks for itself. Or, maybe, as she had mentioned before,
getting over a long-term relationship shouldn't have a time limit, and she's still working through
the painful feelings of her divorce. Whatever the case may be, we just hope that she's happy.
When it comes to turning fifty this year, the actress shared,
"Not going to lie: 50 feels older than 40. But I like being the age I am,"
At least she and Will have no hard feelings and are doing their best to raise their boys
together and be good parents. We can't help but tip our hats to them and acknowledge
the fact that they did everything without the messy divorce or disastrous scandal.
No doubt to protect their kids from any drama. They've always put their boys
first and maintained respect for one another through it all - and that's all that matters.