Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen‘s chance meeting at a 2002 event in Australia led to a nearly 14-year-long marriage.
“I knew instantly. I don’t know if she did. It’s taken her about 20 years to know,” Cohen told The New York Times in October 2020 of meeting Fisher.
Two years after sparking romance rumors, the couple got engaged, but Fisher admitted that she preferred to keep her relationship with Cohen as under the radar as possible.
“I’m not really comfortable talking about my private life and Sacha and I are probably very similar in that we hide our feelings behind humor,” the Confessions of a Shopaholic actress shared with the Daily Mail in August 2008.
Before tying the knot in 2011, the pair welcomed their daughters, Olivia and Elula, in 2007 and 2010, respectively. They completed their family with the 2015 birth of their son, Montgomery.
The duo announced via their Instagram Stories in April 2024 that they had split one year prior.
Scroll down to relive Cohen and Fisher’s relationship:
Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen's chance meeting at a 2002 event in Australia led to a nearly 14-year-long marriage. “I knew instantly. I don’t know if she did. It’s taken her about 20 years to know,” Cohen told The New York Times in October 2020 of meeting Fisher. Two years after sparking romance rumors, the couple got engaged, but Fisher admitted that she preferred to keep her relationship with Cohen as under the radar as possible. "I'm not really comfortable talking about my private life and Sacha and I are probably very similar in that we hide our feelings behind humor," the Confessions of a Shopaholic actress shared with the Daily Mail in August 2008. Before tying the knot in 2011, the pair welcomed their daughters, Olivia and Elula, in 2007 and 2010, respectively. They completed their family with the 2015 birth of their son, Montgomery. The duo announced via their Instagram Stories in April 2024 that they had split one year prior. Scroll down to relive Cohen and Fisher's relationship:
The duo tied the knot in a private ceremony in Paris. Prior to their nuptials, Fisher revealed that she had converted to Judaism to honor her then-fiancé.
“I will definitely have a Jewish wedding just to be with Sacha. I would do anything — move into any religion — to be united in marriage with him,” she explained to the Evening Standard.
The pair worked on their first movie together, The Brothers Grimsby, in 2016.
"He’s such a perfectionist. He’ll do everything and anything to get the best joke possible into the movie, so it was definitely inspirational. He’s so funny on set and it was a lot of fun," Fisher gushed about Cohen at the time.
The movie made headlines again in March 2024 when Cohen's costar Rebel Wilson accused him of threatening her. Wilson, who previously teased her Rebel Rising memoir, claimed a former costar was trying to prevent her from releasing the book due to excerpts about her experience on a toxic set.
Wilson subsequently named Cohen as the person in question, writing via her Instagram Story that same month, “I will not be bullied or silenced with high priced lawyer or PR crisis managers. The ‘asshole’ that I am talking about in ONE CHAPTER of my book is Sacha Baron Cohen."
A rep for Cohen addressed the accusations, telling Us Weekly in a statement, "While we appreciate the importance of speaking out, these demonstrably false claims are directly contradicted by extensive detailed evidence, including contemporaneous documents, film footage and eyewitness accounts from those present before, during and after the production of The Brothers Grimsby."
In a rare interview, Fisher acknowledged that her decision to keep her life private has only added to the intrigue.
"It feels like now it’s an interesting news point that I don’t want to talk about it. Yet when I started out, it was interesting that people wanted to talk about their private life. No one could believe it," Fisher told Today in October 2017. "Everyone was like 'Oh, my God. Can you believe she is talking about her private life, whoever it was.' Nowadays, we are used to everyone sharing everything that I’ve become an interesting news story for keeping a secret."
Although many think Fisher prefers her privacy, she clarified that she does get many visitors due to her faith.
"But I do have an open-door policy and people come over all of the time. I do big Shabbat dinners. Everybody gets access to my family time once a week," she noted.
"Married to one of the GQ Men of the year, unfortunately not John Legend," Fisher joked via Instagram in September 2018.
"So proud of the Hubs @sachabaroncohen getting a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a limited series," the author wrote alongside a video of her husband working out via Instagram. "He worked so hard transforming for his role in The Spy - not just getting rid of his dad-bod (see video) but learning three dialects, including Syrian and living in Casablanca, mainly in character for 4 months while shooting. This honor is shared with Eli Cohen‘s family, thank you for letting him bring the story to screen and to the HFPA 🌟."
Fisher celebrated her husband by gushing about him in a sweet Instagram post, writing, "Happy Birthday boo 🎂. You have had an amazing year as an activist, actor, father and husband. Thank you for trying as hard as you can to make the world a better place 💕❤️"
After making the move to Australia as a family, the Tag star reflected on feeling "so safe" again.
“I’m the happiest when I’m home," Fisher told Stellar magazine. "I miss it when I’m not here. I don’t feel any pressure when I’m in Australia. I don’t have to say or do or be anything. I mean, I don’t even have to wear shoes.
The Definitely, Maybe star revealed that Cohen's advice changed the trajectory of her career.
"Sacha was the reason I got into comedy. I was actually auditioning for a lot of dramatic roles and having no success at all," she told The Examiner. "I was losing confidence in my abilities when he recommended that I do comedy. He felt I was really funny, so when someone as funny as him recommends that, I listened and actually auditioned for Wedding Crashers, which ended up being my big break."
"So proud of hubby for tying the record of the most Golden Globe nominations in a single year - best supporting actor, best comedy actor, best comedy.. What a great birthday present. Thanks to the Hollywood Foreign Press," Fisher congratulated Cohen via Instagram in February 2021.
After Cohen's film, Borat: Subsequent Movie Film, received two Golden Globe awards, the comedian thanked his wife during the virtual show.
“Thank you to my incredibly patient wife Isla, who has put up with all my madness," he mentioned at the time.
“Happy Anniversary ❤️ 20 YEARS,” the Borat Subsequent Moviefilm star wrote in a sweet Instagram tribute to his wife. “‘If there ever comes a day when we can’t be together keep me in your heart. I’ll stay there forever,’ Winnie the Pooh. Happy Anniversary my love. I’m writing this rather than getting you a card. Our duration is largely due to our location - after all Hollywood is the bastion of lengthy marriages.”
While promoting the animated movie Back to the Outback, Fisher discussed one of her favorite things about Cohen: his sense of humor. “I feel very grateful to have fallen in love with someone funny,” the actress told Page Six, adding that their life at home “is definitely filled with laughter.”
The couple who helps Courteney Cox hit on her future partner together, stays together? The Friends alum told Howard Stern that Fisher and Cohen helped her snag boyfriend Johnny McDaid, whom she's been dating since 2013.
"I remember seeing Johnny and going, 'Oh, wow. He's really intense.' He's got the eyes, and he's playing the piano," the actress recalled telling Fisher at a get-together. Fisher quickly relayed the message to her husband, who wasted no time in letting the Snow Patrol musician know about Cox's crush.
"Sacha walks up [to McDaid and Gary Lightbody] and says, 'Hey! Courteney wants to f—k one of you from Snow Patrol. And it's not you, Gary,'" the Scream star revealed.
“I get nervous talking about it because I feel like, by not having my relationship in the public domain and not having spoken about how we met or really talked about our marriage publicly, it's remained something private and valuable to me,” Fisher told the Australian Women’s Weekly of the couple’s marriage. “I don't know if that's the secret.”
She added: “Having a shared ability to find humor in the sharpness of life is always going to bring connection ... And otherwise, I just think it's nice to keep some things for yourself.”
Cohen and Fisher announced in a joint statement that they had parted ways after nearly 14 years of marriage. “After a long tennis match lasting over twenty years, we are finally putting our racquets down,” they wrote alongside an Instagram Story pic of them posing in matching white tennis outfits. “In 2023 we jointly filed to end our marriage. We have always prioritized our privacy, and have been quietly working through this change.”
They continued: “We forever share in our devotion and love for our children. We sincerely appreciate your respecting our family’s wish for privacy.” *screenshot attached is from both their IG Stories
Fisher and Cohen confirmed that they reached a divorce settlement.
"Our divorce has now been finalized. We are proud of all we’ve achieved together and, continuing our great respect for each other, we remain friends and committed to coparenting our wonderful children,” they wrote in a joint statement. “We ask for the media to continue to respect our children’s privacy.”