Rachel Zoe and Rodger Berman
Rachel Zoe and Rodger Berman’s decision to call it quits after 26 years of marriage did not come out of nowhere.
“This divorce was a long time coming. There is no scandal or smoking gun, it’s more death by a thousand cuts,” a source exclusively tells Us Weekly. “Their main issues were mixing their personal and professional lives too much. Rodger is the president of her company, so they had to have hard conversations about their marriage and about the business that weighed on their relationship.” (Us has reached out to Zoe and Berman for comment.)
Zoe, 53, and Berman, 55, are co-CEOs of Rachel Zoe Inc., which they also cofounded. The exes also appeared on reality television together for years, both on Bravo’s The Rachel Zoe Project, which aired from 2007 to 2013, and on the Lifetime series Fashionably Late With Rachel Zoe, which ran for one season in 2015.
Despite their close working relationship, Zoe and Berman had been spending less time together leading up to their split.
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“Rachel spent the summer in the Hamptons and Rodger was rarely [there], and they realized that they are better apart than together,” the insider shares. “Also, the kids are older now, so they felt more comfortable separating because of that.”
Zoe and Berman share sons Skyler, 13, and Kaius, 11. While announcing the pair’s breakup via Instagram on Monday, September 9, Zoe noted that she and Berman’s “number one priority has been and will always be our children.” She stated that the pair are “committed to coparent our boys and to continue to work together within the many businesses we share.”
Elsewhere in the statement, Zoe revealed that the decision to separate was “mutual” and said she and Berman are “incredibly proud of the loving family we have created and our countless memories together.”
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Zoe and Berman met in 1991 as students at Georgia Washington University. They tied the knot in 1998. Hours after announcing the divorce, Zoe attended an event in Los Angeles sans wedding ring. She was photographed at the launch for Jeremiah Brent’s new Crate & Kids line with her wedding band noticeably missing.
As the fashion designer adjusts to her newly single status, she has a great support system around her.
“I’m surrounded by angel friends,” she wrote via her Instagram Story on Tuesday, September 10, alongside a video showing several bouquets of flowers. Among those who sent Zoe flowers one day after her divorce announcement were Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy and his wife, Serena Levy.