Jon Hamm has been promoting the last episodes of Mad Men for several weeks now. Something strange happened though – his partner Jennifer Westfeldt hasn’t been to any of the Mad Men events. It’s strange in the sense that, historically, Jennifer was almost always at Hamm’s side for every major (and many minor) events. Page Six’s source said last week that Westfeldt was MIA because someone in her family was sick. I also theorized (to myself) that Westfeldt wanted to give Hamm some space following his stay in rehab, perhaps to let him figure out who he was now that he’s sober. But The Daily Mail/In Touch Weekly says something else was going on. Their sources say Jennifer dumped him. Whoa.
It’s the end of an era for Jon Hamm, whose AMC series Mad Men has come to a close after seven seasons. Now comes word that the 44-year-old actor’s 18-year-long relationship with actress Jennifer Westfeldt has also reached an end.
(DailyMail.com reached out to the actor’s representative on Wednesday, but did not receive an immediate response.)
Jon, who recently completed a 30-day stay for alcoholism at Silver Hill Hospital in New Canaan, Connecticut, was reportedly given the boot before he entered the treatment facility. And according to In Touch Weekly, Jennifer, 45, broke up with Hamm due to a lack of commitment on his part.
‘She told it was over before he checked into rehab,’ a source told the publication. ‘She was tired of waiting for a commitment from Jon.’
The break-up was apparently amicable and the two remain on friendly terms, In Touch reported. Jon, who completed his rehab program sometime in late March, continues to hold a torch for the blonde Kissing Jessica Stein star and wishes to rekindle the relationship. Despite the belief that neither one wanted to get married, Jennifer did want the wedding ring, according to In Touch.
‘Jennifer wants a life that Jon can’t give her. Jennifer was tired of it,’ the source said. ‘People are happy for her and hoping she never takes him back.’
Eh. IF they did break up and IF the breakup happened before Hamm went to rehab, why not go with the obvious explanation? That Jennifer dumped him as some kind of tough-love because he was drinking too much and she didn’t want to watch booze destroy his life? That she thought breaking up with him would be the wake-up call he needed to get his life in order? Doesn’t that explanation make more sense?
Alternate theory: Hamm cheated on her while he was a boozy mess and she finally had enough of that.
Oh, and late last night, Jon’s rep issued this statement: “The story that appeared in this week’s edition of In Touch magazine is not true. The only gentleman Jennifer visited regularly in Connecticut was Jon, while he was in rehab. They continue to ask for the public’s understanding and sensitivity during this challenging time.” Is ALL of it untrue? Like, let’s parse it – it’s untrue because In Touch gave the wrong reason for the split? Eh.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I’m sure they either took a break or are on the rocks or totally broke-up. Addiction is hard on a relationship. But these details seem kinda…meh.
Addiction is hard on relationships, but so is constant cheating. Hamm has never been very circumspect about it, and I think Westfeldt had just had enough. Actually, their relationship lasted longer than most Hollywood marriages.
“…continues to hold a torch for the blonde Kissing Jessica Stein star…”
No mention that Westfeldt and co-star Heather Juergensen *wrote* that screenplay. Just that Westfeldt “starred” in it. She’s an actress, but she’s also a screenwriter and a highly successful one. She wrote, produced and directed “Friends with Kids.” It bothers me that this article portrays her as little more than arm candy to Hamm.
If the roles in this piece were reversed, the studly man would be described as actor and director/producer/King of the Western World and his long-time partner would be some version of lucky vagina. Makes me crabby.
Thank you Cannibell! I think Jennifer is an amazing writer and she doesn’t get enough credit.
She is a great writer. And personally, I thought Friends with Kids was great!
“lucky vagina” made me laugh out loud…but, I do agree with your post, too.
Same here (on both counts)!
I agree with your post as well, but I think Justin Theroux has gotten the lucky dick treatment over his relationship with Aniston as an example.
original G, I agree.
not his biggest fan, but people who say he was “a nobody” before he hooked up with her are just uninformed.
sure, he didn’t have the name recognition that Aniston does, but I knew who he was. so did a lot of folks.
That’s the Daily Mail for you. Always taking the most sexist view of women possible. How many articles a DAY on that site are about a women’s looks or figure, not to mention they frequently use the most retro, idiotic language to describe it all. That they would use a reference to Jennifer’s career that’s 20 years old when she’s accomplished so much more is just par for the course.
Lucky vagina….how I love that…I didn’t know she was a writer
Well if half the rumors of his philandering are true good for her. My gut feeling is that it’s a codependent relationship that isn’t really good for either of them but what do I know?
His parents divorced when he was two and he lived with his mom, he lost his mom at 10 and went to live with his grandma and dad whose business was struggling, then right when he entered college he lost his grandma then his dad at 19. He has abandonment issues as well as perhaps a need to fit in but also a hatred for that need. He has issues he hasn’t dealt with–perhaps those very things that compelled him to take hazing to another level.
He’s a bit too much like Don Draper in a sad way.
I think it’s ending. She’s been not showing up to his events for weeks, citing ‘family issues.’ Divorce is a family issue? I bet she’s just fed up with the booze and alleged cheating.
if it’s true it’s about time. clearly it wasn’t a very happy relationship for either of them anymore.
The “waiting for a commitment” thing sounds like total BS – 18 years together and they both spoke about not getting married. Unless one changed their mind, they seem like they were always on the same page.
If they did break up (I hope they didn’t, I like them together and hope all the rumors aren’t true) then I’d definitely believe her doing it to push him into getting help.
It always seemed like saying no to marriage and kids was Jon’s decision due to his childhood. Jennifer seemed to want those things, but stayed with him.
I absolutely believe her deciding marriage was finally a dealbreaker is plausible. It’s not crazy to want to marry your longtime love. Most people want to.
And I bet in a year he will be married with a baby on the way with someone else who is 15 years younger.
I agree. She felt it was time to take the next step and he is likely too emotionally stunted to do so [most alcoholics are].
HadlyB
Lol, mark the date on your calendar for this comment because I’m sure it’ll cpmbe true. Then the worst part will 18 years of her life wasted while the new woman has a ring and baby within 5 years.
Just a familiar pattern.
hadlyB,
YES I totally see it, too, Men pull this stunt all the time. They steal the best years of a woman, always claim to not be interested in marriage and kids. Then comes the breakup and oooh, hi new wife and baby.
Yep, I came here to say the same thing and you beat me to it. He will marry the next woman and have kids. Now, who will she be?
hadlyB and Birdie,
You guys said it well. I feel sorry for Jennifer. I hope she can move on quickly from this douche.
I hate when men date a woman for YEARS only to quickly marry and knock up the next woman! All this posts about their “true love” on social media. His family and friends cheering on the new marriage, adding insult to injury while the longtime girlfriend is ignored..
hadlyB, I’d bet on it, so sad because she’s in her early 40s, and I think anyone could sense that she waited too long for him…
Although they both said they were happy unmarried and without children, I read an interview with her in which she sounded ambivalent, even wistful or sad. And it seemed like she was just hanging on in the hopes that he’d change his mind, while he hung on to her out of guilt, obligation and, well, because 18 yrs is an investment.
I’m afraid that in no time, he’ll realize it wasn’t marriage and children but HER that he didn’t want, then probably find that w/someone much younger in another year.
He’s too much like Don Draper now, it almost makes sense that it’s time for the show to end.
I almost believe this? Maybe she dumped him and he decided to try rehab to prove himself to her and win her back, it’s strange that she hasn’t been to any events with him since rehab. I hope he’s not single, I like then together!
Didn’t she once say she never thought she wouldn’t be married with kids at this point in her life? I always got the sense she wasn’t as into the no marriage and kids plan as he was. The lack of commitment, rumored infidelity and drinking might have finally been too much for her.
Yep, agree!
It’ll be worse for her when this fool knocks up a 20-something model/actress or one of those young comediennes he likes so much.
So true!! After I found out that I was with a serial cheater, I couldn’t muster the courage to dump him. Then I realized it was only a matter of time until he humiliated me by knocking up one of his side pieces. Wouldn’t you know it? A year after I told him to hit the bricks, he knocked up a woman 20 years younger than him and ended up marrying her. So glad I dodged that bullet.
Might sound bad, but I really hope this is true!!
Jon has taken her for granted and cheated on her so many times! She is a talented writer and actress in her own right. But even if she wasn’t, no woman deserves to be treated that way!
I hope she has a whirlwind romance with a solid guy who is really into her, and they get married and have babies right away (a la Stacy Keibler!).. My assessment of their relationship is Jennifer spent 18 years of her life with a guy who she loved more than he loved her. She dealt with his issues, went with his decision not to marry or have children together, and put with his many infidelities — just to keep him because she loved him. She wasted years she can’t get back on this selfish man. One who I always thought would eventually go on to marry a younger woman once his relationship with Jennifer ended!
Jennifer deserves better! Jon and Justin Theoroux share similar qualities as they both New York actors who had decades long relationships with women they refused to marry and eventually cheated on. Building a life with a guy who doesn’t view you as a wife material is soul-crushing because he’s just prolonging the break up since that he’s decided you are not the one for him. Look out how Justin did, after all those years with Heidi left for a shinier prize. She was forced to move out of their apartment, and got a much smaller settlement than a divorce would have awarded her. While it remains to be seen if Justin actually marries Aniston, he popped the question to HER. He will marry someone one and likely have kids, and that person won’t be Heidi..
He was really lucky to have her. He traded up and frankly it’s time for her to have better. It’s so insulting watching this whole thing play out. As he started getting attention, people began describing her in very insulting ways. Shades of the current cumberbatch situation. She is very talented and capable.
In pretty much every way OPPOSITE to the (current) Cumberbatch situation
1. they have been together for *eighteen* years, not eighteen minutes
2. therefore she was with him long before he got rich and famous
3. also, with him all that time w/o marriage/kid to “seal the deal”
4. she is talented and has a career of her own
Jennifer has much more in common with Olivia Poulet
I only mean that the hate on for her was similar to the hate on for the cumberbatch wife. Not comparing the dynamics. Just the way both women were described and disliked. It was to a much smaller degree for Jen though.
I am not buying this. She seems the clingy type to me. After all these years together, it seems odd that she would leave after he gets sober. UNLESS she found someone else.
relationships often end after rehab though. not saying this is their case, but it’s far from being impossible.
I agree, I don’t think the marriage issue would be a reason to split after 18 yrs. 18 yrs!! The cheating or addiction seems more likely to explain a break up, if it happened.
Ha. And the next woman he dates will have a ring on it in no time.
I’d believe she was waiting on a commitment not necessarily in the “marry me” sense but in the “rein in your wandering dong” sense.
Lainey at Lainey Gossip has that blind item that she’s essentially identified as him saying that he cheats on Jennifer all the time.
When I’d heard he went to rehab my first thought was “I bet Jennifer finally had enough of his cheating and left him and he’s using rehab/’it’s just because I’m a drunk; I’ll get help and change!” as the ploy to get her back.
That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a true problem with alcohol or that he’s not committed to sobriety. Maybe something like losing this relationship was the wake-up call he needed to get help. I hope he stays sober and this does keep him from (allegedly) cheating.
But I admit I’m cynical any time a person checks into rehab to save a relationship. It just rarely seems to work out when it’s done for that reason, regardless of how real the problem is (or maybe because of it). If Jennifer is giving him another chance because he promised to get sober and change, I hope he does just that, whether his problem was just booze or booze and cheating.
(Yes, this is all my speculation. But it just screams this kind of situation to me.)
I think since alcohol is a drug that allows for increased inhibition, abuse of it may play a role in cheating. I’m not saying the person wouldn’t have the propensity to cheat in the first place, but being inebriated can certainly make someone less cognizant or concerned about consequences. Feeling bad about the actions/consequences may then result in them drinking more to avoid experiencing this. And lather, rinse, repeat. It’s not an excuse, just that one can play into another, KWIM?
He’s 44?!?! Surely they mean 54? He looks rough.
well, he had a drinking problem and that ages you a lot.
It always surprises me to read his actual age. He’s always looked 5 – 10 years older.
Maybe he came clean to her (regarding cheating or whatever) and she couldn’t handle it. Years ago when my boyfriend went to rehab he was instructed to “make things right” which meant being honest with how he hurt the people around him. He revealed so many things to me that I had to step away from the relationship. We maintained a friendship and I supported him but it marked the end of our relationship. In the end it was for the best …..he stayed sober and met a beautiful girl who got to know the truly kind person he was, without the horrible addiction.
THIS!!!
18 years…whistles.
Commitment is different for everyone and if you and your partner are absolutely on the same page then your status, whatever it is, is great.
If, however, you are someone who wanted the ring and kids and your partner doesn’t and since you really want them you’re willing to adjust…yeah that story plays out like this more times than not. Add in the cheating and I suspect in under 5 years he’ll end up engaged with someone and a baby on the way. Don’t waste the years of your lives ladies. IF you want it and it’s not happening within a reasonable amount of time then move on. Don’t sacrifice yourself.
I’d like to think its not about marriage and babies and more about his wandering eye. Why does everyone want everyone to get married and have children? My partner and I (he is 38 I am 34) do not want babies and do not plan to marry, if we broke up, I would be thoroughly shocked if he got someone pregnant or got married. He is the type who doesn’t even like hanging out with couple’s with children, much less even married couples. I never ever want children. No man could convince me otherwise either. Why is that so hard for people to grasp?
That’s the thing, with YOU he is one way. With the next woman, you never really know. She could evoke something in him or she takes matters into her own hands.
You’re vigilant with birth control because you want to be child free. Whether by accident or intentional negligence, future girlfriend could wind up pregnant and instead of being horrified, he finds happiness in becoming a dad.
Really, this is a song as old as time. A woman, okay with risking pregnancy, takes a chance on a guy who is ambivalent or actively says he doesn’t want kids. Most kids are not planned.
If he had kids with someone else, I wouldn’t be bothered, as long as I am not the one having the children with him or anyone. My ex said he didn’t want kids and married and had kids with the next woman he met. He had a lot of self esteem issues and insecurity issues and he was nearly 40, if someone was willing to put up with that, have at it. LOL
With what the hazing in college says about him, I hope she did leave him. He sounds like bad news.
I think she was perfectly aware of the philandering and just decided to put a brave face on and try to deal with it quietly. However the boozing aspect undoubtedly exacerbated it. Fame can do weird things to your head, as can alcoholism – it can make you feel omnipotent, indestructible, infallible – when in reality it just makes you look ridiculous, and hurts those closest to you. She gave him a leg up in his career many years ago when they were still just friends. He was a penniless unknown and she was achieving screenwriting success, so there’s a lot invested in their relationship, but at some point her trust in and respect for him must have evaporated. She seems like a classy lady and doesn’t deserve that kind of backhanded treatment for all her support and devotion.
So… they aren’t broken up? He’s still unavailable? Bah.
I definitely see him getting married and getting a younger woman knocked up within a few years. He reminds me of all the other guys out there “not ready’ for marriage. Meaning, “Not ready to marry you” I do feel somewhat sorry for Westfeldt. Children or not , she did give up her best years on a cheater. If he didn’t commit in 5 years, she should have left and found a man to give her what she wanted. Women do this all the time. We all have done this.
This does remind me of Peter Facinelli who was interviewed many times with Jenny Garth and him saying he didn’t want more children and he was not really ready for marriage even now. And low and behold, he proposes to his young girlfriend whom he was cheating with on Garth. And who I am sure will also be pregnant within a year or two.
Yep. So awful for Jenny, but it’s fortunate she doesn’t have to deal with him anymore.
As far as unmmarried LTRs, 5 years is enough time to know what you want. If you are passing time it’s selfish to string the other person along, especially when women have a much shorter window of fertility.
I have been in a relationship for 8 years with my boyfriend and if anything, I am stringing him along. He doesn’t want to get married or have kids but I do want to get married but leery of it all (we’ve been engaged a long time now; 4 years, i just can’t make the leap even though my boyfriend is willing to). It isn’t always the man who holds back.
The whole “he refused to marry her” angle really bugs me. It makes her sound like she’s just been standing there with her hopes up for EIGHTEEN YEARS. “Oh, will this finally be the Christmas he surprises me with a ring?”
I don’t understand why, when a woman doesn’t want to get married, she is independent and liberated, but when a man refuses to get married, he is a douc#ebag who strings women along. Men don’t owe us wedding rings, the same way we don’t owe them marriage. Freedom goes in both ways, for both men and women.
Could you ask her to write and direct more movies? I love her work, I’ve seen all her films several times over.