Zooey Deschanel & Jacob Pechenik Split: Couple Ends Relationship After 4 Years Of Marriage

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It’s OVER for Zooey Deschanel and Jacob Pechenik. The couple has broken up after more than four years of marriage, HollywoodLife can EXCLUSIVELY confirm.

Zooey Deschanel and her husband of four and a half years, Jacob Pechenik, have split, a rep for the couple confirmed to HollywoodLife in a joint statement EXCLUSIVELY. “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 statement said. “We remain committed to our business, our values, and most of all, our children. Thank you for respecting our privacy at this time.” A source also confirmed to us EXCLUSIVELY that Zooey and Jacob have been separated for “several months.”

The former couple got engaged in January 2015, and were married just six months later in June of that year. Sadly, things have recently fizzled out and they decided to call it quits. Together, Zooey and Jacob have two children — their daughter, Elsie, was born in July 2015, and their son, Charlie, was born in May 2017. Zooey also converted to Judaism while she was with Jacob. “They’re both very private people and have been focusing on their family, which is why they haven’t said anything before this, but it’s been several months they’ve been separated,” our source added. “They’e both doing the best they can with co-parenting and are very involved, committed parents and doing the best they can to make the transition smooth.”

Zooey is a popular actress, best known for her role on the hit show, New Girl, and in movies like Yes Man and Elf, while Jacob is a film producer, who worked on Zooey’s 2015 film, Rock the Kabash. Before Jacob, Zooey was married to the lead singer of Death Cab For Cutie, Ben Gibbard. They got engaged in December 2008, and married less than one year later on Sept. 18, 2009. Sadly, two years later, they announced their split in Nov. 2009, and Zooey filed for divorce in December of that year. She cited “irreconcilable differences” as the cause for the split. In Dec. 2012, the divorce was finalized.

Despite her split from Jacob, though, it’s clear that Zooey will remain 100% committed to her two children. She previously opened up to HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY about how important Elsie and Charlie are to her, and opened up about how she makes sure they know it. “Try to spend as much time as possible with them” Zooey told us in 2017. “Like, sometimes you’re really tied and you come home from work and, you know, you just want to go to bed…but just try to spend as much time as possible with them, one-on-one, without, you know, the cell phone buzzing and your television on.”