Finally Coming Up for Air After Jenna and Channing’s News
It’s been nearly 48 hours since we all learned a very upsetting lesson: that love doesn’t always last forever (hold up, I’m being too nice… love is lost). Jenna Dewan and Channing Tatum have separated, and we’re actually having trouble articulating that. Mayyyyybe it’s just a nightmare and we’ve been living in it for too long - well, it’s time to WTFU. Because we’re at a total loss and having trouble figuring out what to do with our lives next.
To be quite honest, I remember Monday night vividly. I slid past Jenna’s Insta post very cavalierly before realizing what was happening. And then I felt a flood of déjà vu feelings: wait what? Haven’t I seen this before? Yep. About 8 months ago. When Anna Faris posted a similarly out-of-the-blue, WTF confession that she and Chris were calling it quits. I guess it’s the cool thing now to announce your marriage is over with a social media post that leaves everyone reading it shook AF.
Phew, just venting. One of my favorite celebrity couples is dunzo, and I have too many feels about it. 1) Who is going to replace these two and their #couplegoals on every red carpet from here on out? 2) Wait, when did it all go south? When we we were spreading rumors and speculating that Jenna was pregnant with babes #2 late last year? Maybe it was all just wishful thinking 😥. 3) Can I watch Step Up ever again without wanting to throw the TV out the window? And 4) Is Channing going to go back to stripping (seems like the only logical step, right)?
Well, with the gossip mill alive and well, we’ve been getting a lot of theories on what went wrong - from relationship experts to lawyers, friends and hardcore fans - but according to Chan+Jenna’s matching posts, if it doesn’t come from them, it’s complete and utter fiction. So, we’ll just have to sit back, relax and breathe a sigh of relief that there wasn’t any salacious, scandalous secret precipitating their parting. And keep our fingers crossed that this pair of besties, and parents to Everly, will approach things as amicably as possible. Otherwise it can get hella tricky.
Again, we’re trying to bide time and not make any judgments on the Tatum’s troubles, but it’s hard not to question whether Channing’s crazzzzzy fast rising star had anything to do with it. Both of them were still getting their feet wet in fame when they got together in 2006 and married three years later. And since then, Channing’s career has blown up - from Magic Mike to 21 Jump Street (which I can watch any time, any day) - and all of the sexiest man alive acknowledgements, he’s kind of the much bigger deal out of the two of them.
Even the episode of Hollywood Medium last summer was pretty telling… Tyler loved reading Jenna, but didn’t quite know who she was upon meeting her. He did; however, perk up when she revealed she was Channing Tatum’s wife. He obvi knew him… and even said afterwards that he hoped Channing would be in the market for a reading sometime soon.
JENNA, WE MEAN NOOOOO DISRESPECT, YOU ARE AN ANGEL!!!! AND OUR MUSE IN LIFE.
So we put together a few tips for dealing with career challenges in a relationship. Whether you’re a total power couple and both have work lives that rule your world, one of you does more of the breadwinning, while the other handles everrrrrything else, or you haven’t really navigated your professional and personal life balances yet...
Here are a few things to keep in mind:
Your partner is your person, and you should always strive to support each other endlessly - even more important if you’ve made a commitment in marriage.
Be each other’s biggest cheerleaders as much as possible, and talk out all of your career opportunities, new directions, promotions, relocations, etc. When you get married, you share your career goals, and you can’t keep each other out of the loop - decisions need to made together, in the best interest of your family
If expectations change, and you’re feeling out of sync with your wife or husband - whether you’re the one who wants to fly or the one who feels left behind - you need to communicate. Discuss your wants, your fears, and come to some kind of understanding.
Respect each other and the roles each of you takes in your relationship. You both need to feel valued, because at the end of the day, financial+career imbalance doesn’t have to be an issue if you can get into a groove and never feel any sorts of resentment
Don’t discount your successes and career high points, they’re important milestones and should be celebrated (if they bring you happiness, of course), but consider how your moves can affect your homelife. Check in with your spouse every so often, make sure they’re feeling good about things. If not, make a concerted effort to ease their worries or make up for time spent away.
Revel in the time that you DO share together - outside of work - and as a family. Especially if projects or travel occupy a lot of your time, when you have a break, put all of your energy into re-engaging with your lover, enjoying each other’s company, and remembering why you love and admire each other.
And although we didn’t necessarily need one of our favorite celebrity couples to breakup to learn about postnuptial agreements. It IS something to consider, especially when there’s soooo much $$$$ at stake. We talked with family law attorney, Jennifer Guimond-Quigley, who gave us the scoop on this new trend.
What is a Postnuptial Agreement?
The postnuptial agreement is nearly identical to the prenuptial agreement, as they both stipulate how assets are allocated should there be a death or divorce. What differentiates the two agreements is the timing of their creation: the postnuptial agreement occurs after the wedding and the prenuptial agreement takes place beforehand.
Why Sign a Postnuptial Agreement?
Many postnuptial agreements are used as a life raft for a sinking marriage. Even if it simply pushes back a divorce, it can be a valuable agreement as it gives the couple the opportunity to build the stipulations for separation while they are still on good terms. This lays the groundwork for a much smoother process during divorce proceedings.
Another reason married couples seek this type of document is that they didn’t have time to create one before the wedding. The postnuptial agreement keeps the window for talks open so that all parties involved are happy with the final document.
Who knows whether the Tatums executed one of these docs, but considering how much Channing’s got in the bank, it might save the two a wholeeee lot of hardship in the aftermath of their separation and the road to a hopefully-healthy divorce.
In the meantime, we’re drowning our sorrows in a whole lot of Justin Timberlake-Jessica Biel, Eric-Jessie James Decker and Luke Bryan-Caroline Bryan love - and refreshing ourselves on the things happy couples do.