CULTURE

Zooey Deschanel and Jacob Pechenik Have Split

They were married for four years.

by Dan Barna

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Barry King

Zooey Deschanel and her husband of four years, Jacob Pechenik, have decided to part ways. The couple confirmed their split via an official statement to Just Jared Friday.

“After much discussion and a long period of contemplation we have decided we are better off as friends, business partners and co-parents rather than life partners,” the couple said. “We remain committed to our business, our values, and most of all, our children. Thank you for respecting our privacy at this time.”

Deschanel and Pechenik became engaged in 2015, after meeting on the set of the Bill Murray comedy Rock the Kasbah. They have two young children together. “To them, I’m just Mom,” she told People. “They don’t really watch TV, anyway. They don’t watch anything. It’s basically books and coloring books and toys and stuff.”

Years before they met, the former New Girl star shared some relationship advice with Marie Claire. “Whether you’re married or not, if you’re in a relationship, you have to wake up every day and say, ‘I want to stay with this person.’ You have to make the commitment every day and every second and every minute,” she told the magazine.

She also shared her thoughts on the notion of soul mates. “[True love] that lasts forever…yes, I do believe in it,” she said. “My parents have been married for 40 years and my grandparents were married for 70 years. I come from a long line of true loves.”

When asked what she looks for in a partner, Deschanel was candin. “I’d be more likely to go for somebody who is like me,” she said. “Well, I like creative people, so whatever that means…Yeah, authentic and creative.”

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