The Real Reason Jim Carrey & Jenny McCarthy Split
Actor and comedian Jim Carrey first met actress and former Playboy model Jenny McCarthy in 2005. The couple spent five years together and appeared to define happiness, so family, friends, and fans when shocked when the duo announced its split in April 2010.
The separation seemed amicable. McCarthy told Us Weekly in a statement that she was "so grateful for the years Jim and I shared together. I will continue to be in his daughter's life and will always keep Jim as a leading man in my heart." Carrey echoed her sentiment on social media, tweeting: "Jenny and I have just ended our 5yr relationship. I'm grateful 4 the many blessings we've shared and I wish her the very best! S'okay!"
But according to insiders, not all was as peaceful as it seemed, and rumors soon surfaced about problems behind the scenes. What really catalyzed this surprising separation? Let's take a closer look.
Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy's relationship stopped being 'fun'
As speculation surrounding the couple's sudden split made headlines, it was Oprah Winfrey who finally asked McCarthy about the breakup during a 2010 interview. And Oprah bluntly asked what everyone else was thinking: "Tell me, when did you know it was over?"
Placed on the spot, the self-described "warrior mom" revealed that the relationship had lost its luster over time. "The first thing is, when it's not fun anymore, you need to start investigating and do an inquiry into the relationship," she said. Asked if she might get back together with Jim Carrey, the actress replied, "I didn't even think about that."
Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy's personalities were worlds apart
Although the split may have come as a shock to even those closest to the couple, one of Carrey's friends told People that the former lovebirds' personalities were at odds with one another from the start—something that may have caused tensions to mount over time.
"She is really 'Go get 'em!' when it comes to publicity, and Jim is nothing like that," the source told the mag, pointing out that his friend is "a hard guy to date. Jim can run hot and he can run cold. He is someone who desperately needs to be with someone, then just as desperately needs to be alone. But at the same time, he can be a very loving, very compassionate guy."
"Really, they are such different people," the insider said. "When he is not working, he wants to lie low. I was surprised they made it work as long as they were able to. Jenny can be really aggressive and ambitious."
Jim Carrey's struggle with depression created a rift with Jenny McCarthy
The actor has been open about his battle with depression, telling 60 Minutes in 2004, "I was on Prozac for a long time. It may have helped me out of a jam for a little bit, but people stay on it forever. I had to get off at a certain point because I realized that, you know, everything's just OK," he said." There are peaks, there are valleys. But they're all kind of carved and smoothed out, and it feels like a low level of despair you live in. Where you're not getting any answers, but you're living OK. And you can smile at the office." Carrey said he eventually swore off all drugs, even coffee.
People magazine's senior editor David Caplan said (via ABC News) the legendary comedian's mental health may have impacted his life with McCarthy: "Jim has suffered from depression and that might have taken a toll on the relationship."
Raising a child with autism increases divorce rates
Carrey was very loving and hands-on with McCarthy's son, Evan Joseph Asher, whom she had with her ex-husband, director John Asher, in 2002, but according to the experts, the pressures of raising a child with autism could have contributed to the couple's split.
According to Lori Warner, director of Michigan's Beaumont Hospital's HOPE Center, "Popular estimates of the divorce rate of parents of children with autism are 80 percent and above." The reason: "Parents of children with autism are at higher risk for anxiety and depression," she said. "Evan's condition has always been very public and out in the open, it's just not your typical parenting situation."
Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy butted heads over McCarthy's son
In 2012, McCarthy lashed out publicly at her ex on Howard Stern's radio show, slamming the funnyman for not staying in touch with Evan. "I've tried to ask [Jim] numerous times [to see Evan], because my son still asks," she said two years after their split, claiming Carrey had refused to do so every single time.
Carrey fired back. "I will always do what I believe is in the best interest of Evan's well being," he said (via TMZ). "It's unfortunate that Evan's privacy is not being considered. I love Evan very much and will miss him always." A Carrey insider claimed McCarthy never even contacted Carrey about spending time with her son.
It's safe to say this couple wasn't on the same page in terms of parenting style—yet another valid reason to part ways.
Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy never seemed excited about marriage
Despite all of their red carpet appearances and confessions of love (Carrey once hired a plane to write "J Hearts J" in the Los Angeles sky on Valentine's Day), whenever talk of marriage came up, the couple seemed to avoid the topic.
In 2010, Us Weekly interviewed former Playboy model McCarthy at the 8th Annual World Poker Tournament in Los Angeles and asked her if she was thinking of taking a walk down the aisle with her beau. Her response? "We say 'never,' but I don't know, maybe for tax purposes, someday, when we are old," she said.
Could it be that, deep down, they knew they weren't meant to be?
The spark between Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy disappeared
Onlookers reportedly began to sense trouble between Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey during an autism fundraiser at a neighbor's home in Pacific Palisades, Calif. One attendee told People, "He was at ease, but Jenny rarely smiled and looked serious. There wasn't that spark between them. They didn't seem to be in sync." That being said, when less than a month later the couple came out and publicly announced the end of their five-year relationship, the news came as a shock. As another source told the mag, it "was a huge surprise to even those of us who are close to them. Everyone around them is sad."
Less than a month later, when the couple publicly called it quits, many were still caught off guard. An insider told People the split "was a huge surprise to even those of us who are close to them. Everyone around them is sad."
Moving on and finding new love
Following the split, some supporters were still rooting for Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy to reconcile, but the stars went their separate ways and continued their individual quests for love.
Carrey has generally tried to keep his love life private, but in January 2019 his rep confirmed to the press that he was seeing actress Ginger Gonzaga, according to People. They starred together in Showtime's Kidding, and Gonzaga also had a role in I'm Dying Up Here. (Carrey was an executive producer.)
McCarthy, on the other hand, made a big splash when she married actor and former New Kids on the Block member Donnie Wahlberg in August of 2014. The newlyweds even filmed a docuseries called Donnie Loves Jenny.
Jim Carrey used painting as a way to heal from the split with Jenny McCarthy
Few understood the toll Carrey's breakup with Jenny McCarthy took on the comedian until the release of his 2017 mini documentary, Jim Carrey: I Needed Color. In the 6-minute film, the 55-year-old revealed that he turned to painting, sculpting, and mixed media as a coping mechanism for "trying to heal a broken heart."
"When your heart is in love, you're floating, weightless," he says in the documentary. "When you lose that love, you have to reenter the atmosphere and it can get pretty rough, because you're just bouncing off one molecule and onto the next, rippin' through them at such a pace that they just ignite and explode."
During that time, Carrey says he created so much art and became "so obsessed that there was nowhere to move in my home. Paintings were everywhere. They were becoming part of the furniture. I was eating on them."
Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy have built a strong friendship...
After Carrey poked fun at Shia LaBeouf during the 2014 Golden Globes, the latter took to Twitter and made things personal, writing, "At least I don't get arrested for indecency on major LA highways! Or abandon love child's."
McCarthy, then a co-host on The View, was having none of the diss, and she publicly stood up for her former flame. "Jim and I have become friends now since our breakup," she declared on national TV. "We dated for five years and I got to know his daughter, Jane, who is a lovely, lovely girl. It's completely uncalled for and wrong. Jim is a great father."
Fast forward to 2016 and, once again, McCarthy made it clear that she cares deeply for her ex-boyfriend. Just one day after White took her own life, paparazzi caught up with McCarthy at LaGuardia Airport and asked her to respond to the heartbreaking news about Jim Carrey's on-again, off-again partner. McCarthy mostly kept mum, but did take the opportunity to send her friend: "Prayers. Just prayers."
...And it's making Donnie Wahlberg very jealous
According to Radar Online, McCarthy's husband, Donnie Wahlberg, whom she married in 2014, does not approve of his wife maintaining close ties with her ex. A source claimed, "Jenny and Jim are always on the phone talking and it's starting to bug Donnie. Jenny pretty much dismisses his irritation, but it's putting things on dangerous ground."
The insider claimed Wahlberg "knows Jim has a hold over her and he's not happy about this renewed contact. Donnie is very paranoid about Jim Carrey trying to win her back and is under no illusion that he has the charms to do it."