Deborra-Lee Furness Considering Tell-All Book on Hugh Jackman Split: She’ll ‘Stand Up For Herself’

Nearly two years ago when Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness announced the shocking news that they’d split after 27 years of marriage, their tone was cordial.

In a joint statement given to People, they wrote about feeling “blessed to share almost three decades together” in a “wonderful, loving marriage,” sharing how they were separating “to pursue our individual growth” on “shifting” journeys and vowing to “undertake this next chapter with gratitude, love and kindness.” Further, they insisted, “this is the sole statement either of us will make.”

Until now. On May 23, Deb finally filed for divorce. Four days later, the 69-year-old issued a statement of her own to The Daily Mail. This time, she was taking a clear swipe at the Deadpool & Wolverine star.

Five months earlier, the 56-year-old had gone public with two-time Tony winner Sutton Foster, 50, amid claims they’d fallen for each other while costarring in The Music Man on Broadway in 2022.

“My heart and compassion goes out to everyone who has traversed the traumatic journey of betrayal,” Deb began, calling the split “a profound wound that cuts deep.”

After remaining quiet out of respect for their kids, Oscar, 25, and Ava, 19, and during tricky divorce negotiations with Hugh over their reported $387 million fortune, the former actress is ready to tell her story. “Now that their divorce deal is done” — and only awaiting a judge’s sign-off, a source tells Star, “if she wants to speak out, she can.”

Telling All

Hugh’s publicly stayed silent but “is in knots” over Deb’s scathing statement, says the source. “He wasn’t expecting that and has been complaining about how betrayed he feels, which Deb thinks is pretty rich.”

After gushing about each other for months, Hugh and Sutton, friends since the early 2000s, confirmed their romance in January 2025, walking hand-in hand in NYC. Months later, they were spotted moving her boxes into his apartment. “He’s right to be worried,” adds the source. “Deb’s holding all the cards.” And she’s started to play them.

In the wake of her statement — in which she pointedly talked about “living within your own integrity, values and boundaries” — Women’s Day, a news outlet in the former couple’s native Australia, reported that she’s been keeping a “divorce diary” — and is considering a tell-all book detailing her heartbreaking split and the drama that’s followed.

Star’s source confirms offers have been pouring in. “Friends are urging her to do it. It would provide closure and also send a message to the world — and her kids — that she’s going to stand up for herself.”

She’s tired of being accommodating. “Hugh moving on with Sutton so quickly was the last straw for Deb,” says the source. “It confirmed all her worst suspicions and changed the entire dynamic of their split.” While initially planning to keep things amicable, she snapped, continues the source. “He’s treated her like garbage and acted like a fraud — at least, in many of her friends’ eyes, considering his good-guy reputation, and it’s hard for her to disagree.”

Messy Origins

Hugh and the Bunheads actress — who last October ended her 10-year marriage to Ocean’s Eleven screenwriter Ted Griffin, 54 — grew close during The Music Man’s yearlong run. “We hang out in my dressing room before every show and just catch up,” Sutton said in 2022 appearance on Live with Kelly and Ryan. “That’s been one of the best parts of the whole thing, that I’ve made this wonderful new friend.”

Complicating matters, their families had become close. In an interview with Vogue the same year, Sutton, who shares 8-year-old daughter Emily with Ted, revealed they often gathered on days off, even spending holidays together. “[Hugh’s] now become one of my best friends,” she said.

After so many years of marriage, Deb, says the source, “chose to think the best of Hugh.” According to reports, the X-Men star has maintained that he and Sutton didn’t get together until after his marriage ended, but that’s “still a gray area for Deb,” says the source.

When Hugh and Sutton began stepping out in a series of PDA-filled outings this year, Deb revolted. “Seeing them gallivanting around was a real kick in the teeth,” says the source. “She suffered so much heartache when she and Hugh split, it’s only natural to want to hit back.”

It’s not just the way the marriage ended that upsets her. “It’s also the way she’s been cast aside and painted as this fringe figure in his success story, when she actually propped him up for decades,” adds the source.

Indeed, when they met on the set of the Australian drama Correlli in 1995 — they wed less than a year later — Hugh was fresh out of drama school while Deb was the bigger, established star. But her ambitions took a backseat, the source confirms, as the Logan actor broke into Hollywood and saw his star begin to rise. “She gave up so much for him,” says the source. “She sacrificed her career for this man and their kids, and this is how he repaid her?”

Plagued By Rumors

There were challenges during their marriage, too — including years of rumors about Hugh’s sexuality, which tormented Deb. “If he was gay, fine, he would say he’s gay. It’s annoying because it’s not true,” she told Australia’s 60 Minutes in 2013, according to  according to the Huffington Post. Some believe the speculation took off after he shared an onstage kiss with Tony winner Jarrod Emick, 55, in 2003’s The Boy From Oz, in which he played openly gay singer Peter Allen. The two-time Tony winner chose to brush off the claims but admitted in the interview with 60 Minutes that they they were upsetting for his wife. “I get frustrated for Deb,” he said, “’cause I see Deb go, ‘Ah, this is just crazy!’”

Knowing some people believed she was part of “some arrangement, some glorified beard arrangement,” was “humiliating,” for the mom of two, adds the source, “and she had to live with that for many years. It affected her self-esteem and was insulting beyond belief.”

Also a source of agony during their marriage: snickers that as Hugh’s 13-years-older spouse, she didn’t measure up to her buff, gym-rat husband. The truth, says the source, is “she was invested in this marriage for all the right reasons.”

Moving On

Hugh’s childhood friend Gus Worland tried to be diplomatic during a May 29 episode of Australia’s Ben Fordham Live breakfast radio show. The actor, he said, “is going along well. He’s moving on with his life and I hope that Deb does as well.” Now, knowing Deb has more to say, Hugh is “terrified,” says the source. A tell-all book “is his worst nightmare. He’s such a private figure” and doesn’t want their kids “caught in the middle.”

He also wants an uncomplicated future with Sutton. “She’s doing her best to keep Hugh calm and not allow him to get too upset or wound up by all this. She’s trying to settle her own divorce, too, and is encouraging him to stay positive and look to the future,” says the source, who confirms the couple are now living together. “She’s confident they’ll get through all this drama together soon enough.”