Meryl Streep might be embroiled in one of Hollywood’s hottest – and most under-the-radar – relationships, but fans forget she is still technically married to her husband of 50 years.
Meryl Streep and Martin Short, both 76, surprised the world when they were first seen canoodling back in 2024, and have kept their love private ever since.
The pair star as on-screen lovebirds Loretta Durkin and Oliver Putnam in the Hulu series Only Murders in the Building, but continue to avoid confirming their real-life relationship.
It is not a surprise to her fans, who know the Oscar-winning actress is famously private. In fact, she only revealed in October 2023 that she had secretly separated from her husband, sculptor Don Gummer, in 2017.
The former couple were first introduced through Streep’s brother in 1978 and married later that year in a romantic garden ceremony at her family home.
Now, an insider has exclusively revealed to the Daily Mail how Streep’s husband of 50 years really feels about her new relationship, telling us: ‘Don has come to terms with the end of his marriage.’
Meryl Streep and husband Don Gummer were first introduced through Streep’s brother in 1978 and married later that year in a romantic garden ceremony at her family home
The A-lister and her artist husband were last seen together at the Academy Awards in March 2018
‘They were together for such a long time and will always be connected through their children,’ our insider said.
The separated couple share three adult daughters – Grace Gummer, 40, Mamie Gummer, 42, Louisa Jacobson, 34, and son Henry Wolfe, 46. Wolfe, who is a singer/songwriter, showed his support by staying by his mother’s side when she ventured out for the first time after announcing her split from her husband.
‘Don was especially worried about how the kids would take it, because seeing him with Meryl was the only version of family they had ever known,’ the inside source revealed. ‘The split shattered that “together forever” image, and that’s a tough reality for anyone to process.’
However, ‘after years of honest conversations, the family has come to understand that the change was necessary’ and has ‘reached a place of mutual respect, which definitely didn’t happen overnight.’
‘It hasn’t been perfect, but keeping up constant tension and stress with Meryl would have been far more damaging in the long run,’ they continued.
It helps that Streep did not start her new relationship until years after the split, with the source confirming ‘if she had moved on with Martin right after the breakup, it really would have hit Don hard.’
‘If this relationship with Martin had started immediately after the split, it’s something he probably never would have gotten over,’ the source spilled. ‘But enough time has passed now that he’s genuinely at peace with it.’
Instead, ‘so much time has passed since they stopped being a couple that his perspective has changed.’
Meryl Streep and Martin Short, both 76, surprised the world when they were first seen canoodling back in 2024, and have kept their love private ever since
Streep and Short fueled dating rumors when they were snapped stepping out together at the celebrity-beloved Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica
The Kentucky-born artist, 79, has ‘accepted that he shared some of the best years of his life with her, and now he’d rather cherish those memories than be torn apart by what happened.’
Our insider quipped that ‘Don isn’t going to be having any Three Amigos and Only Murders marathons on repeat at home… but he is happy that she seems to be in good spirits and isn’t using their relationship as a weapon.’
But the real reason these two have not officially called it quits comes down to their finances. According to Parade, the Devil Wears Prada star is worth a reported $100m.
The source confirmed that Streep has not ‘officially moved forward with a divorce largely for financial and logistical reasons,’ because they ‘share significant assets, and it’s simply far easier to remain legally married than to go through the complicated and expensive process of dividing properties, investments, and everything tied to their lives together.’
Luckily, ‘there is still a strong level of respect between them, and they would rather navigate their situation privately and amicably while remaining married than spend enormous amounts of money on a divorce, only to then spend even more time and resources untangling shared assets and responsibilities afterward.’
Short understands it all, with the insider spilling that ‘there is no issue with Martin over this at all’ because ‘he gets it.’
While Streep and Short are notoriously keeping their relationship quiet, it is certainly not top secret, as they regularly step out at celebrity hot spots like the Chateau Marmont hotel and Giorgio Baldi in Los Angeles.
The Hollywood icons were spotted dining in the garden there earlier this month and were seen by an eagle-eyed insider ‘holding hands under the table’ and ‘acting like teens’ while ‘whispering to each other,’ making it ‘obvious they’re more than friends.’
‘What was interesting is that they’ve both been denying they’re in a romantic relationship. But seeing them inside the Chateau there’s no doubt they are in love,’ the source previously confirmed.
