Over the weekend, we got sent a tip from someone who claimed that Dexter star Michael C. Hall and his co-star Jennifer Carpenter were living apart and that everyone on the set of Carpenter’s new movie knew about it. Kaiser and I debated whether we should repeat it, as the story was a “a friend” kind of source and I could not verify that the e-mail address came from anyone who might know or who was even located in LA or Miami.
A tipster e-mailed us: “[A friend] recently got done [working on] a film called Ex Girlfriends with Jennifer Carpenter and he got to know her pretty well. She didn’t open up to him directly about the state of her marriage, but she was living in an entirely different residence than Michael C. Hall and throwing parties and inviting dudes over, kind of hitting on them from what [my friend] could tell. More worrying, [my friend] saw Michael C. in a club a couple months back, and he entered the club with his wedding ring on but left the club with it off and with 2-3 girls on his arms.”
It looks like that person’s information was accurate, sadly, as Hall and Carpenter have just filed for divorce after two years of marriage. Carpenter, who plays Hall’s sister on the show, was by his side while he went through treatment for Hodkin’s lymphoma, which he has since overcome.
After nearly two years of marriage, Dexter stars Michael C. Hall, 39, and Jennifer Carpenter, 31, are divorcing. An exclusive joint statement to EW from their representatives read: “Having been separated for some time, Jennifer Carpenter and Michael C. Hall have filed for divorce.” Both reps add that the split was amicable. The couple — who met on the set of the Showtime drama, in which she plays his foster sister — married on December 31, 2008. Hall completed treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma earlier this year.
Two years is a very short marriage, but I guess that’s par for the course in Hollywood. It sounds like these two had to spend too much time apart for their careers and that it took a toll on the relationship. Was Hall cheating first, or was Carpenter cheating first or was it mutual?
Also, I haven’t watched Dexter past the first three seasons but Kaiser has been following this season and has not seen the season finale (which aired on Sunday) yet. She’s waiting until it reairs this weekend. So please do not post spoilers for the finale in the comments.
NOTE BY KAISER: Seriously, don’t destroy the finale for me! Also: this is so sad! I love them as a couple. She stayed with him through cancer, for the love of God.
Photo credit: WENN.com
This sucks so bad… :\
But the season finale ripped my heart out, good luck making it through it Kaiser! I downloaded it and had to pause it a few times for a few WTF WAS THAT!!!?!??!?! moments. Argh.
Love Hall <3
Bummer! After this season’s finale, I just want Dexter (and Michael C. Hall) to be happy.
when they first got together, I was a bit weirded-out because of the roles they play on the show. but I grew to really like them as a couple so I agree…sads.
Whoa, what’s wrong with that chick’s face? I don’t think I’ve ever seen pictures of her.
whatever, shit happens
Best season ever. I was so afraid it was going to get lame. The chemistry with Lumen has been amazing. I have to wonder if there was anything more to it offset, you know?
I actually haven’t watched the last two minutes of the finale. There’s probably another twist left!
This is the only series I’ve been a freak for, other than 6 feet under. Dexter has another season left- at least!
i don’t think this season of dexter has been very good. all i can say is in the final scene, watch out for the lady in the pink dress. i swear she has butt implants, it looks so weird.
and i don’t mean to sound cynical but of course she stayed with him through the cancer, for one thing it would have been terrible publicity for her if she didn’t and for another they did get married after all, even if the marriage was failing then she would have at least cared enough about him to help him through it. it is sad though.
Is she having an armpit malfunction in the second photo?
The season finale was fantastic. The writers FINALLY gave me what I was looking for this season. It pales in comparison to last season, with Trinity and stuff, but it was the best episode of the season, by far.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Michael C. Hall. Loved him in 6 Feet Under, and love him SO much as Dexter, but he comes off kind of cold to me in interviews and stuff. I am not really surprised, but it is sad.
I’m surprised, but then again they always seemed like a mismatched couple. Michael C. Hall is not only the star, but the executive producer of Dexter. Which begs the question… How long before Deb is written off the show for good?
Goodness, she scrubs up nice.
LOVE Dexter.
GOOD! Her crooked face is the reason I stopped watching Dexter.
She is really asymmetrical — if you look at her face, one side at a time, they are both nice looking faces, but just really different! I like that about her, it is really unusual for a TV/movie personality to be that asymmetrical.
She looks like a large cat. Something about her face is really pretty and really annoying at the same time. It kinda makes me want to smack her. I don’t know why she invokes such a strong reaction from me…
Seriously. Were her armpits weeping??
It breaks my heart to say this because I truly love “Dexter” and everyone on it, but from what I understand of Hall’s romantic history, this is kind of par for the course. I’m sad but unsurprised about his breakup with Carpenter (and I don’t care who is to blame, nor do I really even think it’s one over the other), but this seems to follow a pattern… which makes me wonder A LOT about what Michael C. Hall is like in a relationship.
LOL
If you were married for “ALMOST two years” and separated for “quite some time”, were you really married at all?
Scrolled past everyone because I’m desperately trying to get caught up on Dexter so I dont want it spoiled. I’ve just discovered it this year and I’m 2 seasons behind. This news makes me SO SAD!! 🙁
@ The_Porscha What’s the pattern? He cheats?
I thought they seemed like really good friends, too bad another Hwood marriage bites the dust
I liked Jennifer Carpenter, because she’s a decent actress and also because she’s an actress who isn’t quite the Hollywood beauty standard.
Sad to hear of them breaking up. It might have also been due to their age difference. There is 10 years between them.
oh man!!
i like them as a cpl.
does nothing work anymore in hollyweird?!
*sigh*
I liked them as a couple, too. I agree with December, a good actress who isn’t the standard Hollywood beauty — I like that she has some quirks and doesn’t look like everyone else. Kind of like Mimi Rogers.
I actually stopped watching the show b/c of her. she was too annoying to watch and ruined the show for me. The show really went down hill after the 3rd season, not sure if its b/c they became a couple then or what but I hope the show continues without her.
@tucsan sun, I noticed that also! Must have been a hot day or else she needs some degree clinical strength.
Do these people have no shame? Don’t they get embarrassed announcing an engagement then a wedding and then a few months later a separation/divorce? It makes them look so stupid.
Urgh I knew it. 🙁 I saw an article on the daily mail where they were drinking coffee together and it just seemed so – civil. That’s the word I thought of. Like when you meet an ex for coffee and you are both being ridiculously polite and civil with each other in an attempt to stay friends/not fuck/kill each other etc.
i don’t think they looked like they “fit”.
I commented to my boy that Michael C. and Jennifer had the weirdest avoidance chemistry ever on the finale. I’m so not surprised by this news; something was very off.
I know a lot of people say gay, but I think he may be having a downward spiral due to his diagnosis. I also agree that he and Julia Stiles might have something going on.
Cancer can be a marriage wrecker,most people don’t count on the sickness part happening in the early days, I certainly didn’t and it takes a lot to deal with it. It’s too bad they didn’t make it, not saying this is why but the statistics are pretty high for couples dealing with it breaking up. It makes you re-evaluate everything, it makes you carer and patient,it is a heavy load to deal with, maybe one or both of them couldn’t handle it. It’s a bit harsh on them both to say they didn’t try I think, plenty of people break up from far less stressful things. It is sad though and I hope they can still work together.
Wow, she is really unattractive.
That’s sad, they went through a lot together and still have to work together.
She used to really annoy me, but this season I started to like her character a lot more. I hope they don’t write her out because of personal stuff behind the scenes, but I guess that’s the risk you take getting involved with someone you work with every day.
I rewound to watch the butt implant chick three times. Bizarre and I couldn’t stop looking.
Deb in red lipstick looks like Paget Brewster. This season was the most enjoyable for me but I got over the Lumen thing quickly when I got occupado rewatching Deb’s scenes to find out when she KNEW. Episode 10. Anyway, I never thought of them as being really married so this news is meaningless. Incest impregnation was a Nazi thing forced on Jewish victims. And Jordan Chase IS supposed to be Hitler whose cohorts blame everything on his hypnotist ability. Also, what real wife would go out in public with MCH’s hair looking like that? That marriage was part of the message behind Dexter and True Blood.
TG – I agree why get married only to separate months later????
Just keep dating so you can easily move on. Marriage is supposed to be a LIFETIME commitment. If you can’t handle “for better or worse” then don’t get married!!!
@Missy – I lost interest in the show early in season 2 and avoided season 3 altogether. I picked back up for season 4 and was not disappointed. Seasons 4 and 5 have been great (mostly), and Deb has been toned down A LOT since season 1 (thank God).
Very sad to read this Love this show!!! And for Pete’s sake ppl, Deb is supposed to be quirky and annoying; she’s an intense and driven character. I love the way Deb is written and think Jennifer does a superb job in making Deb both believable and endearing.
I cant believe that all you Dexter fans didnt’t mention how incredibly skinny7 she got this season!!! She has always bee thin, but in last nights episode, when she was in jeans and a tucked in button down, it was scary. i think thin is pretty, i usually think people complain way too much about thin actresses, but she literally looks like a someone who needs to be committed to one of those eating disorder centers.
There again, once a boyfriend broke my heart and i lost 30 pounds so fast cuz I just couldn’ t eat. So i don’t wanna be a bitch, she’s going through some tough times.
@shelley
you are the first person ive ever heard describe deb as endearing. Everyone else finds her annoying and extremely hard to tolerate. if that’s what the writers were going for, give jennifer the Emmy!
Very sad. I hope everything is settled amicably.
Am I crazy or was it reported that they were expecting a baby at one point? I thought I saw it reported but then nothing.
When she is dressed up I find her ugly as shit, (maybe it’s that weird ass face she makes), but when she is in her jeans she looks normal.
Aww, this sucks. I think Jennifer C. is one of the best actresses working right now, to be honest. Better even than Michael C Hall, who is no slouch himself.
And I, too, find the Deb character endearing. I think Deb and Masuka are my favourites, for different reasons.
@ shelly @ becky
In my opnion, Deb’s constant cursing and “tough” persona were toned down this season. The swearing was less gratuitous and more emphatic which made her more tolerable to me.
However, every season we see Deb face a “heartbreak” where the character opens up, and shows the viewers her emotional, soft side by becoming an emotional wreck. Each season, her pity party gets more and more annoying. From the first season “I was engaged to a serial killer!!!?!” (which – no you weren’t. He asked you to marry him with a dead prostitutes ring and tried to kill you 5 seconds later) to this whole “I’m suddenly in love with Quinn. No, now Quinn betrayed me” (when the alleged “betrayal” happened they were just f*ck buddies)….
In general, the romantic liasons on Dexter are weak. The strongest/most realistic relationship was the one between Rita & Dexter, and everything since then has been a big fail in my opinion. We’re just supposed to believe that Deb goes from thinking Quinn is a dirty cop, and a gross misogynist to falling head over heals in love with him? We’re supposed to believe this romance between LaGuerta & Angel who are the most mismatched, bizarre couple to ever be thrust on my television.
I thought this one would last awhile.
Sounds like they went a level too far way too fast and now their relationship’s struggling to stay out of the toilet.
I read one version that Jennifer was airing too much dirty laundry on set. She needs to be careful about that. MCH is Dexter after all, he’s hardly going anywhere. But they can’t afford to kill off Deb. She’s the one constant in his life. Unless of course they want to send Dexter off the rails, and killing off his sister would be perfect.
The Deb comments have been interesting. I don’t find her endearing but I don’t find her annoying either. Amusing though. I enjoy her straight forwardness and the way she manages to swear several times in every scene.
I will have to re-watch the finale with new eyes in light of the break up. It’s as good an excuse as any.
that’s what happens when you date someone from work.You see each other 24\7 and it does not take long before you get on each others nerves.
they might have put there differences aside during the cancer but it can last only for so long before the problems of the relationship show up once again.
how can u guys tell that jennifer is a good actress? with michael c. hall we have many performances to compare and it b ecomes clear that he is a gifted actor, especially when you comopare dexter from his character in 6 feet under – they almost seem phisically different, their demeanors, evrything. But what else has she ever been in? Nothing big that comes to mind… for all we know that’s just the way she is, or she had no range.. I dunno I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt because I think the writers made Deb super annoying.
@lisa turtle
I totally agree with your take on romantic relationships on the show. Ugh specially with Angel and laGuerta.
I, too, like Deb’s character. She and Masuka are what makes that show special for me.
That’s a bummer.
This is surprising news. I thought they made a cute couple. I’m wondering now if the marriage was strained before he had cancer and she stuck by him for moral support but when the crisis was over they tried to make it work/resolve their differences and found they couldn’t? Christ! I could speculate all day but I guess we’ll never know what really happened. Then there’s the bitch in me going yay! Michael C. Hall is single!!! (Yeah, like I have a chance in hell)
This isn’t a soap opera. Of course her character is not always likable. That’s what makes it a real show vs. some fakey network show. Jennifer is a very good actress. As for the length of their marriage, you all do know they were living together for yrs before they married, right?
@Mrs. I agree. Cancer can kill more than people, relationships are in danger too. It’s a horrible thing that attempts to destroy everything it comes in contact with.
Good luck and best wishes to all the survivors and their loved ones.
Becky, Jennifer is a good actress. Watch her in The Exorcism of Emily Rose.
Kaiser – I love how we’re not supposed to spoil the finale because you haven’t seen it, but you used to spoil all kinds of Lost developments in your headlines (e.g. Sun and Jin dying).
Too much time apart? I would go with the too much time together scenario, personally. Working on TV with your partner after the intensity of cancer would snap most marriages like a twig, for sure. Dealing with cancer is so ugly and draining; the uncertainty just kills you every day and if a relationship survives, its just never the same afterward. The survivor’s priorities often do a 180 as well.
Watching my mother and father go through it really opened my eyes to all the stuff you don’t hear about or necessarily suspect. Im not at all surprised.
@becky – Use your Google. JC has been in like 3+ feature films and other TV aside from Dexter.
She is a good actress, IMO. Quite good. Perhaps even underrated. I love her on Dexter, she’s very real….
I read this yesterday. Bummer for them.
I love Deb’s character, having been in law enforcement my whole life, she epitomizes the jaded, hard, war-torn take no prisoners gal. I love her line, ‘I’d rather put a fucking campfire out with my face…’
Love Dexter, who’d a thunk they could have written an endearing serial killer?
Staying with a partner with cancer does NOT make you a saint, I speak from personal experience. You stay either for the consuming love for that partner (me) or because WHO THE F&*& CAN LEAVE SOMEONE WITH CANCER??? I would think you would pray hard for their quick recovery so you can beat a hasty retreat sans recriminations.
Sorry for their break up, they will survive. More like a short college relationship than a marriage.
She looks prettier in these pics than she does on the show. I liked them together tho. I Love Dexter and Michael C. Hall. Jennifer is a great actress and love her character on the show, potty mouth and all. LOL
Second short marriage for him.
Oh my God! I had the most fun reading all the posts and comments!
I adore Dexter, and I think Michael C. Hall is the best frigging actor there is, he actually changes persona from one character to the next unlike people like George Cloney for example, who plays himself over and over in all the movies
At the beginning whe I first started to watch Dexter, I also found Deb to be super annoying
Laura put it so well on a post earlier whe she said that something made her want to ” punch her face” I felt the exact same. That being said after the many seasons she grew on me and I accept her now, she seams to be a good actress
I have to admit that when I first read this I got so exited, I feel bad about that cause i am sure Iit was not nice for them that things didn’t work out….. Still part of me is happy that he is single, he is so hot and I think he can get better than her…. ME! LOL
Season 5 was not up to par, honestly, but Season 4 set a VERY high bar. Even on it’s worst day, Dexter is way ahead of most crap on tv. I’ll always relate more to the first and second seasons when Dexter was struggling to appear human and feeling disconnected from everyone. Mirrored my personal experience at the time – minus the killing, of course!
I’m glad he got rid of manface.
‘Two years is a very short marriage, but I guess that’s par for the course in Hollywood. It sounds like these two had to spend too much time apart for their careers and that it took a toll on the relationship’
Uh, are you for real? The worked on the SAME set! In the SAME drama! How much closer do they have to get? When the people on this board always say the same excuses for shit going bad or wierd in Hollywood, it makes everyone seem like mechanical robots droning the same song and dance. Blah. They split. Not the first, wont be the last.
Ugh I totally hate this but dlisted has a blind item up about a recent celebrity divorce with the cause being the male went to a lot of strip clubs and had an affair.. Which the person who sent in the tip above mentioned. I hope that’s not true, I really like him.
Ps, I find Deb incredibly endearing too. I love her little smirk.
This depresses me. I love the show, their characters, and I thought it was wonderful that they had started dating and eventually got married. I’m sad that it’s over. Can’t anyone make a marriage work??
There is a reason you don’t sh1t where you eat.
This is the only website where people think they are a nice couple or that she is attractive. Every other website, people have commented about how odd they looked together, how skinny she it, and how unattractive she is.
Love MCH, think he’s a tremendous actor, and JC is competent, but I never “got” them as a couple. Separately they’re great, but together so weird.
The Finale rocked – and I actually liked her this Debra this year in Dexter. She used to bug the crap out of me literally
Well, that sucks. It will be super awkward for them to work together after this…Or at least it would be for regular people who get married and divorced. I’m not sure that marriage is the same concept for people in Hollywood.
Also, I am in the minority…I think Jennifer Carpenter is pretty and I like Deb. Well, I don’t hate her.
It feels really weird to know that right after I tipped in that email with the info I had, they announced their split. I know it’s not because of my info, but I had not heard a single rumor about them before “my friend” the actor told me what he saw. It was such a bummer because I am obsessed with them both.
I’m really not worried about my anonymity, I’m just glad my source wasn’t named in the article [I provided it in the email to give verification], but I am indeed not located in Miami or LA, NYC is where I got this info. It was really a coincidence, but extremely valid in terms of who my source was. He has a vested interest in not pissing people off in the industry as he is a medium profile actor himself, he wouldn’t make up crap, this was just a story he related to me and bam, like a day or 2 after I emailed CB they announce the split. So trippy. Still makes me sad. No, Michael C. is not gay, he very definitely left that club with a mini-harem of women. That was the part I was shocked to hear, I didn’t picture him like that, but my friend told me he very much is like that.
Woah this weblog is fantastic i love studying your posts. Stay up the good paintings! You realize, lots of people are searching around for this information, you could aid them greatly.
Usually I don’t learn post on blogs, however I wish to say that this write-up very compelled me to take a look at and do it! Your writing style has been amazed me. Thank you, very great article.
You actually make it appear so easy along with your presentation however I find this topic to be actually something which I think I’d never understand. It kind of feels too complex and extremely large for me. I’m taking a look ahead to your next put up, I’ll attempt to get the cling of it!
Hello There. I discovered your blog the usage of msn. That is an extremely neatly written article. I will be sure to bookmark it and return to read more of your helpful info. Thanks for the post. I’ll definitely comeback.