Alert – Meryl Streep’s last public appearance with ex husband Don Gummer – one year after their split – as couple reveal they ‘separated six years ago’

Meryl Streep revealed she had separated from her husband Don Gummer ‘more than six years ago’ in a shock announcement on Friday. 

The former couple, who married in 1978, were last pictured together at the 90th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood in March 2018, one year after their split. 

During the event the actress, 74, received her 21st nomination for her leading role in Steven Spielberg’s The Post, with her husband supporting her. 

Meryl put on an elegant display in an eye-catching scarlet gown by Christian Dior, with a plunging neckline and waist belt. 

Standing beside her, Don, 76, looked smart in a black suit with a white shirt and satin tie. 

The pair were seen smiling on the red carpet, with Don wrapping a loving arm around his wife’s waist.  

In a statement shared to Page Six, a spokesperson expressed that The Devil Wears star and the sculptor ‘have been separated for more than 6 years, and while they will always care for each other, they have chosen lives apart.’ 

The pair initially tied the knot in 1978 and share four children: Henry, 43, Mamie, 40, Grace, 37, and Louisa Jacobson, 30.

The former couple were first introduced through Meryl’s brother in 1978, and said ‘I do’ later that same year in September during a romantic ceremony in the garden of her parents house. 

The nuptials took place six months after her late boyfriend and fellow actor, John Cazale, passed away in March 1978 following a diagnosis of lung cancer.

One year after his death, the Mamma Mia! star reflected on the loss, and told People at the time, ‘The death is still very much with me. It has forced me to confront my own mortality, and once you do that, you look at things differently.’

Following his death, the actress needed to move out of the apartment she had shared with Cazale, and received help from her brother and one of his friends – who happened to be Gummer.

Meryl and Don became close and he let Meryl sublet his apartment in New York City when he was not in the Big Apple. The pair began to exchange letters, and a friendship soon turned into something more serious.  

During the course of their marriage, Meryl and Gummer – who has his MFA from Yale University – welcomed four children, and also have five grandchildren. 

Back in 2002, the star opened up about her relationship with the artist, and informed Vogue that the secret to their long-lasting marriage was, ‘goodwill and willingness to bend – and to shut up every once in a while.’ 

She further explained, ‘There’s no road map on how to raise a family: It’s always an enormous negotiation.’

‘But I have a holistic need to work and to have huge ties of love in my life. I can’t imagine eschewing one for the other.’