Sofia Vergara asks the court to uphold her prenup with Joe Manganiello

While Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello’s split was a surprise, it didn’t seem like their divorce would be all that scandalous. There was a minor briefing war for about a week between the two sides, with Joe’s people insisting that he was walking away from the marriage because he wants to be a father, and Sofia’s side saying Joe was an unsupportive, barely employed loser, basically. There’s probably some truth to both sides. In any case, Joe filed for divorce and I doubt the filing was a shock to Sofia. Her divorce lawyer has already gone to court to say that her prenup must be upheld:

Sofía Vergara is looking to uphold her prenup with Joe Manganiello as the two work to settle the terms of their divorce. According to new documents obtained by PEOPLE, Vergara responded to Manganiello’s divorce filing on July 26, also citing “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the dissolution of their marriage.

The actress asked the court to uphold their prenup, and also confirm that certain assets should remain hers, including jewelry, artwork and “other personal effects.” Vergara also claimed her earnings from before and during their marriage as her assets.

Despite their shared mutual love and respect, a source previously told PEOPLE the Modern Familystar and the True Blood alum “differ immensely in style and what they like to do, although during the marriage, each tried to put the other’s interests ahead of their own to make it work.” The couple had also been going through “ups and downs for a long time,” though they “always put on a good front publicly.”

On the same day that Vergara responded to Manganiello’s divorce filing, a source told PEOPLE that the actress was “doing excellent” amid the divorce news.

“She is sad that her marriage didn’t work out, but she feels very fortunate anyway,” the source said. “She has a great life that she loves. She is staying at her house for now. Joe is living elsewhere.” The insider added that “there is no drama” between the former couple.

[From People]

I doubt there will be any reason for Joe to contest the prenup – they were married for almost seven years, but they don’t have kids together and it feels like they always kept their assets separate, although the real estate issue might get a little bit dicey. They were living in a home Sofia paid for, but I think they also purchased a home together. If I was in Sofia’s place, I would offer a one-and-done divorce settlement to Joe and just walk away free and clear.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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30 Responses to “Sofia Vergara asks the court to uphold her prenup with Joe Manganiello”

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  1. Kitten says:

    This is the Gisele post-split PR technique and it really is flawless IMO. Just shrug it all off, don’t get down in the mud, talk about how you’re going to continue living your best life, and move TF on. Because Sofia’s out here saying the absolute LEAST—by default, it’s making all the stories form his camp look desperate and pathetic—same effect it had on Brady’s image.

  2. SarahCS says:

    I’m here to shout out the specific mention of her earrings in the paperwork.

    • Becks1 says:

      That was my first reaction, but I think it says “earnings”, not “earrings” lol.

      • Moxylady says:

        Wait. It didn’t mention her earrings?!?

        I was like she must have done real bangers to mention them multiple times.

      • Kersplasha says:

        omg I read earrings too LOL

      • Becks1 says:

        It mentions jewelry but I think the line below that is “earNings” not “earRings” lol. Trust me it took me a few minutes too. I was like, wow she really feels strongly about her jewelry, haha.

      • SarahCS says:

        Now I’m just disappointed.

    • Bupkis says:

      @sarahcs. Oh my goodness! I read it as earrings too, and I thought d@mn that b!t€h must love her earrings! 🤣🧐

  3. Heylee says:

    As a legal contract/document are prenuptial agreements not very strong? I guess I feel confused as a non legal person. If no terms within the prenup were violated, or whatever the legal term may be, why do so many prenups seem to get challenged? Is this just a go to legal strategy? High emotions that come with divorce?

    • Concern Fae says:

      The issue is that contracts still have to be within legal bounds. Things change in a marriage. Prenups generally don’t. Someone may sign a prenup with clearly unfair and financially abusive terms. These documents aren’t approved by a court at the time, it happens when it comes time for them to be enforced.

      • Moxylady says:

        @concern fae
        That’s a truly excellent point.

        Many pre-nuptial agreements can be incredibly punitive to the financially weaker partner and can be used as a cudgel during the marriage. Another way of controlling your partner or abusing them.
        “If you don’t like it just leave. You will be homeless and penniless.”

    • Moxylady says:

      I think it depends on the length of the union and sacrifices made by various parties in service of the partners career plus if the prenup was updated regularly to cover changes in the family – kids etc. plus changes in security needs.

      Joe might want alimony. He’s become accustomed to a standard of living etc or he passed on opportunities because blah blah blah not likely but maybe. I really hope he took advantage of Sophia’s money management team to invest his pre marital earnings. And his earrings.

    • Lizzie Bathory says:

      As long as statutory requirements are complied with, prenups generally hold up. It doesn’t matter if things change, if you have kids, if the financial terms are unfair. (Prenups cannot waive obligations to children.) If you waived your rights to your spouse’s separate property, rights to alimony, etc, you’re out of luck unless a boneheaded lawyer didn’t do it properly.

      I think the fact that it’s common to challenge them (what have you got to lose?) gives people the mistaken impression that it’s common for challenges to prevail.

    • Becks1 says:

      Prenups are usually very strong. In my state, it’s POST nups that are not as strong actually because there’s an idea that one partner is emotionally beholden to another (I forget the specific term.) And in a lot of ways that makes sense, right? Before a marriage you can walk if you’re not happy with the terms of the prenup. That’s a lot harder in a marriage and a lot harder if one partner has a lot more control (or is abusive). So when everyone keeps insisting that these people should have renegotiated – that’s not necessarily the answer, again dependent on state law.

      Something else to keep in mind is that a lot of people just don’t take prenups that seriously. You’re told its just a piece of paper, if you’re not going to get divorced it doesnt matter, etc. But then you do get divorced 5, 10, 20 years later and that piece of paper suddenly looks a lot worse. I’m assuming that’s not the case for a couple like Sofia and Joe, who came into the marriage both with successful careers and their own money, but it can be true for the people who got married at 25 and one person had a career that exploded etc.

  4. Lizzie says:

    Well, before he claimed he wants kids he claimed that the problem she drinks alcohol, labeling her not sober.

    • Moxylady says:

      I have a glass of white wine every couple of months. I’m not sober because of that.

      I don’t like how it’s worded. Being “not sober” doesn’t mean she’s a raging alcoholic. It can mean she has the rare glass of wine to she takes thc gummies to help her sleep to she’s a social drinker who is able to limit herself based on what she feels, what she ate that day, the event etc.

      I am able to tailor my drinking to the occasion. I’m lucky in that regard. I know when to stop – because I want to, because I have stuff the next day, because someone else in my group went to excess and I want to keep an eye on them – and I do. Not everyone can. But that doesn’t seem to be the case here.

    • Kirsten says:

      I think that was speculation, not something he claimed. *I believe* that his team came out and said something along the lines that his sobriety was strong and long-term, and that it isn’t impacted when others around him drink socially.

  5. Tree says:

    This makes the case for him filing for divorce. She is throwing him away so easily. Just because they didn’t have kids don’t mean he isn’t hurt. This was his first marriage. She has gobs of cash. She should honor the pre-nup, maybe buy him a house/business he can manage.

    She really trotted him out. I think she got her money’s worth out of him. He helped promote her businesses.

    • Kitten says:

      LOL as if SHE needed HIS money. She has a net worth of $180M, was the star of an insanely successful TV show and famous in her own right. She also scored endorsement deals with several billion dollar companies. She didn’t need him to up her profile–she was the more successful and well-know partner in the relationship. So yeah, she doesn’t owe him jackshit and he can use his $40M net worth to buy his own damn house.

    • Jaded says:

      She didn’t throw him away, he was the one who filed for divorce. We’ve been discussing the fact for weeks now that apparently his desire to have children didn’t fly with Sofia and became a serious issue. She owes him what’s in the prenup and nothing more. She has her own money so she didn’t squeeze him for anything. The only “help” he gave her was walking the red carpet at events. Honestly…say you’re Joe’s PR person without saying you’re Joe’s PR person.

    • Becks1 says:

      This article though is literally about how Sofia wants to honor the prenup. She’s asking the court to uphold it. It’s not throwing him aways so easily, its saying “we had an agreement to help make things easier if this didn’t work out. I’m asking to stick to that agreement as things have not worked out.”

  6. BlueNailsBetty says:

    They don’t have children together and neither of them gave up their careers. I don’t see why either of them should receive a settlement.

  7. Gabby says:

    Did her attorney ask the court to uphold the prenup because that is standard procedure, or did he actually indicate that he would contest the prenup? This may just be a case of fastening your seatbelt before starting the car.

  8. Spillthattea says:

    Why bother if he’s not contesting it? To make him look bad? Dick move.

    • Coco says:

      Or you he is you know contesting it or made a comment about contesting it. He did hire a shady lawyer that is known for drama.

      The dick move would have to go to him with all the BS PR stories he’s putting out.