Busy Philipps and Marc Silverstein have split up after nearly 15 years of marriage. During the most recent episode of her podcast, “Busy Philipps Is Doing Her Best” on May 27, Philipps revealed that she and Silverstein have been separated since February 2021, more than a year. “It’s been a really long time that Marc and I have been separated, and our kids know, our families know, our friends know,” she says. “It’s a journey. Jour-ney. It’s been a journey.”
Philipps and Silverstein were married on June 16, 2007, and share two children: 13-year-old Birdie Leigh and 8-year-old Cricket Pearl. Over the years, Philipps has been open about their relationship, candidly discussing how she almost divorced Silverstein on several occasions due to disagreements. Speaking about their separation, Philipps explained they chose to keep the details of their relationship private over the last year to protect their children during this sensitive time.
“The surest way that Marc and I have been able to ensure the privacy of our kids that we love so f*cking much was by not involving the public,” she said, choking up. “There’s a conventional idea of what a person in the public eye is supposed to do when their relationship ends, and it’s been very well established, right? You make a statement; you’re committed to remaining friends; ‘Please respect our privacy and our family’s privacy in this time.’ But the truth is, who made that rule up — that that’s how you do it? I’m serious.”
“You can only do what’s right for you and your family.”
She continued, “And if anything, the last several years has shown me it’s a little bit that, like, you can only do what’s right for you and your family, whether or not you have a public-facing life or you just post on Facebook or whatever. Because we all at this point have a public-facing life. You don’t have to follow a conventional idea just because it’s been done before. I really do believe that.”
When Philipps’s co-host, Caissie St. Onge, pointed out that they seem amicable from an outsider’s perspective, the “Girls5eva” star explained that she and Silverstein are still there for each other. “Well, we love each other — very much! And we have these beautiful kids together, and there are a lot of things that really work about our relationship . . . I really wanted to be able to see things clearly before I spoke publicly about [the separation], and I do see so clearly now how grateful I am that I have kids with him and that he is the person I get to parent my kids with.”
Over the years, the couple have experienced many ups and downs, including several arguments about the uneven division of parenting responsibilities. “[Marc] was not understanding how to be a dad and, in fact, didn’t try. I was parenting by myself,” she told Parents in 2018. “When I told him I wanted to have a second child, he said, ‘Fine, but it’s all on you.’ That was so heartbreaking . . . You’re going to go through periods when you’re not into [parenting], but there always has to be one person willing to fight. I went to Marc several times and said, ‘I cannot do this anymore. Something has to change, and it’s you.'”
“We’re a work in progress but trying our best, and that’s the most you can do.”
In her 2018 memoir, “This Will Only Hurt a Little,” Philipps explained that this lack of emotional support spurred her to confide in another man. “There was a man I was friends with, another dad. We’d been having lunch and stuff. Texting. Talking on the phone a lot,” she said. “Honestly, I had a crush on him. I like him. Maybe I even loved him? He clearly liked me too.”
When Philipps told Silverstein she wanted a divorce, he was shocked. After consulting her best friend, Michelle Williams, and her therapist, Philipps and Silverstein began couples therapy. “This time, Marc got his own therapist. And we started to work through it,” she said. “But I also kept talking to my emotional boyfriend (for lack of a better term). I know. That part is so sh*t. I’m sorry. I really am. I really truly am.”
In her Parents interview, she added, “We’ve had a lot of serious discussions and counseling, and he’s incredibly participatory now in a way I don’t think he could’ve imagined before. We’re a work in progress but trying our best, and that’s the most you can do.”
Philipps and Silverstein have not shared additional comments about their separation at this time.