Red Flags In Sarah Jessica Parker And Matthew Broderick's Marriage We Can't Ignore

As of 2025, Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick have been married for 28 years. By Hollywood standards, that's practically a lifetime. Considering they had a celeb wedding that wasn't a total spectacle, that might have something to do with it. After all, various studies found that the more expensive and lavish the wedding, the greater the chance of divorce. "I think marriage has a lot of vitality," Parker told People in 2018. "If you're fortunate, it's like this dazzling organism."

However, as happy as the couple, who have three kids together, seem, some red flags in their marriage are hard to ignore. In fact, the couple has been fodder for the divorce rumor mill more than a few times. In May 2019, Parker took to Instagram to defend her marriage after the tabloid, National Enquirer, asked her to comment regarding a story they were planning to run about the couple allegedly screaming at each other on a London street. Parker said no such thing happened, then questioned why the tabloid would rather stir the pot with lies than celebrate their long-lasting relationship. "Because, despite your endless harassment and wasted ink, we are nearing three decades of love, commitment, respect, family, and home," Parker wrote. "There's your 'scoop' from a 'reliable source.'"

While kudos to Parker for taking a stand, there are still some noticeably odd things. Naturally, this doesn't mean the couple is headed for divorce, but it does make one wonder what goes on in the Parker-Broderick home.

In 2011, Sarah Jessica Parker said something that really caught people off guard: she gives herself 20 minutes a day to hate her husband, Matthew Broderick. When speaking with Bang Showbiz, via Yahoo News, Parker said, "It's all about compromises. You can hate somebody for 20 minutes or two days, but it's still a treat to be in a relationship, if that's the person you want to be with." Parker continued to explain that many marriages work for different reasons, which might be deemed strange. "My reasons can't be anybody else's," said Parker.

When Parker appeared on Ryan Seacrest's KISS FM show not long afterward, she doubled down on what she'd already said when Seacrest asked about her comments, via Daily Mail, saying it was both healthy and realistic. "Some people have it down to 20 minutes a week," said Parker. "Other unfortunate people have it down to 20 minutes per hour." But she also made it clear that she doesn't always need that 20 minutes a day, she's just allotted for it in case.

While it's normal to need to take a break from one's partner, no matter how happy the relationship may be, hating them for a specific amount of time just seems harsh. It would be more productive for Parker to take those 20 minutes to talk to Broderick about whatever he's done to upset or annoy her. Simply stewing in anger so deep that she's labeled it "hate" seems like a waste of energy.

Although Sarah Jessica Parker's black cocktail dress was definitely a stunning celebrity wedding look that was outside-the-box, Parker now has regrets about how she and Matthew Broderick got married. "I was too embarrassed to get married in white, and both Matthew and I were reluctant to have people pay so much attention to us," Parker told Marie Claire in 2006, adding that looking back, that was a ridiculous thought to have because that's essentially what weddings are all about. "We treated it like it was a big party on a Monday night, and I regret it," continued Parker.

In 2016, Parker again addressed her regrets about the dress and the wedding, telling Andy Cohen on "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen," via People, "I just was too embarrassed to spend any time looking for a wedding dress." Because of this, Parker grabbed the first dress she saw off the rack. When Parker talked to "Martha Stewart Weddings" in 2015, via People, she said if she were to do it all over again, she'd have a more traditional wedding dress. "If I were getting married today, I'd likely wear cream ... I would want my dress to have an Oscar de la Renta feel, pockets below the waist, a very fitted bodice, a huge skirt, in taffeta or duchesse satin," said Parker. While there's nothing wrong with regretting how your wedding unfolded, considering how often Parker has brought it up over the years, it's something that's been weighing on her mind.

Although a mutual friend, screenwriter Andrew Bergman, had told both Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick they should meet, it wasn't until a night in November 1991 when Parker went to the movies with her brother that she officially met Broderick for the first time. As Parker told Howard Stern in 2023 on "The Howard Stern Show," both were immediately smitten with each other, but because they were dating other people, they decided to steer clear of each other. "We understood that we had to do right by the other people and break up officially," Parker told Stern. Because of this, the couple didn't have their first date until March 8, 1992. "And we've been together ever since ... we've never spent a night apart since then with the exception of work on location or his mother was ill for a bit, so he went to take care of her," Parked explained to Stern.

While there's something endearing about not spending a night apart over so many years together, usually when people get out of relationships, the next dalliance tends to be a rebound. While some rebounds work — as evidenced by Parker and Broderick — the fact that it started as what's supposed to be a short romantic connection can give the beginning of any relationship a shaky start. However, kudos to them for doing the right thing and not falling into the category of celebrities who cheated on their partners and admitted to it. Or worse, celebs who cheated and didn't admit to it, leading to fodder for a Hollywood scandal.

In July 2000, Sarah Jessica Parker talked to The New York Times about her humble beginnings in Cincinnati, explaining that her family was on government assistance when she was a kid. ”I remember being poor. There was no great way to hide it. We didn't have electricity sometimes," said Parker, adding that bill collectors often called and some Christmases and birthdays came and went without there being any gifts. It's this upbringing that impacts Parker's relationship with money today, one that she calls "super weird." It also probably explains why she and Broderick don't talk about money or have a joint checking account.

”I have a rough understanding of what Matthew can and cannot afford, but there is no reason I need to know how much money he has,” Parker told NYT. Considering there's probably financial inequality in their relationship, with Parker making more than her husband, and money being one of the top things couples fight about, perhaps the two are onto something. ”If I asked him about his finances, he would tell me. But I don't want to know," said Parker. "It is not what keeps me interested in him."

While it's certainly a privilege not to have to discuss money with your partner, as that's simply not an option for many couples, it's still a red flag. Marriages are about communication, no matter how difficult or taboo the subject. So the fact that money and finances aren't being discussed is a bit strange.