Two days after Jen Affleck walked into a Provo courthouse and filed to end her seven-year marriage, her husband finally spoke. Zac Affleck needed only three sentences — and they landed on Thursday, November 5, in an exclusive statement to PEOPLE.
Jen, 27, submitted her divorce petition on Tuesday, November 3, in Utah’s Fourth Judicial District Court, along with a proposed parenting plan. The court documents list no reason for the split, and neither side has said what custody arrangement Jen is seeking.
What Zac did say tells fans plenty about where this goes next — and so does what he did not film.
“I Will Always Be Jen’s Supporter”
Zac’s statement was short, warm and strikingly free of blame. “I will always be Jen’s supporter,” he told PEOPLE. “Hope she is happy in this next phase of life. Just focusing on my kids and figuring out what’s next for me.”
A source close to Zac added on Wednesday that he was “doing okay” after the filing. “He and Jen are staying focused on preparing for the baby and supporting their kids,” the source said.
The timing could hardly be more delicate. Jen announced her fourth pregnancy in June, sharing a maternity shoot on Instagram captioned “Chapter Four.” The couple already share three young children — 5-year-old Nora, 3-year-old Luca and 1-year-old Penelope — with a fourth on the way as the divorce moves through the courts.
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He Reportedly Found Out From the News
Zac’s gracious tone sits next to a much messier detail, according to reports. TMZ reported that Zac did not know Jen had filed until he saw the outlet’s own report break the news — sources with direct knowledge told the outlet he learned about the divorce filing from the internet.
Parade, citing the same TMZ reporting, noted that a source said Zac is now focused on their three children and making sure they are doing okay. Neither Zac nor Jen has publicly confirmed how the filing was communicated between them, and Jen has not commented on the divorce at all.
Orange County Will Tell Jen’s Side Only
The biggest consequence of the split is already locked in on television. TMZ reported on November 4 that Zac did not film a single scene for season 1 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County, the spinoff that premieres on Hulu on November 12. Production sources told the outlet Zac was not involved in production at all — so if the couple’s marital troubles come up, viewers will hear about them from Jen, not Zac.
That makes the spinoff’s timing almost surreal. In the season preview, Jen says, “My life was falling apart in Utah. I moved to Orange County for a sense of community… This was not what I was expecting.” Hours after the divorce news broke, Jen attended the spinoff’s premiere party, where her castmates closed ranks around her, and Taylor Frankie Paul left a public message of support under Hulu’s preview clip.
The Court Clock Is Already Running
While the cameras move on, the legal process has its own deadlines. As part of the filing, the court issued a standard injunction covering custody, communication, travel and property, plus a Notice of Required Classes: Jen has 60 days from the filing to complete divorce orientation and parenting classes, while Zac has 30 days after receiving notice.
The family calendar is not waiting for the courts. Nora, the couple’s eldest daughter, turned five on Wednesday, November 4 — the day after Jen filed — and Jen marked the birthday with a post as the divorce headlines broke.
The Warning Signs Were Already on Screen
For viewers of the original series, the filing did not come out of nowhere. In season 5, filmed in early 2026, Jen claimed Zac threatened to divorce her if she took an acting role that involved an on-screen relationship — and Zac acknowledged the exchange, calling it “a boundary I’m setting.” In another scene, he criticized her for wanting to pose for Sports Illustrated.
In August 2026, Jen told PEOPLE the couple were spending “a lot of time working on their relationship” as she battled prenatal depression and medical issues in her first trimester — adding, “I wouldn’t have survived the first trimester without him.”
Three months later, the marriage is over. The question now is not what went wrong — neither of them has said — but what co-parenting looks like when one of them tells the story on Hulu and the other is never on camera.
When Orange County premieres on November 12, Jen will be carrying this storyline alone. Do you think Zac will ever tell his side, or was his three-sentence statement to PEOPLE the last word he plans to say about it?
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