Will Arnett has laughed off speculation about his current dynamic with ex-wife Amy Poehler nine years after they finalized their divorce.
“People think that they know. Over the years, I’ve read so many opinions people have,” Arnett, 55, told Rolling Stone in an interview published on Tuesday, December 23. “It’s f***ing hilarious to me how much s*** is just made up and they have zero idea. It’s like, ‘Oh, you think you know what my life is?’”
He added, “Look, yes, it’s part of celebrity culture that we all participate in. And by the way, [celebrity] has been good to me.”
Arnett and Poehler, 54, were married from 2003 to 2012 and share two sons together: Archie, 17, and Abel, 15. (The Arrested Development actor was first married to Along Came a Spider actress Penelope Ann Miller from 1994 to 1995, and shares son Denny with ex-girlfriend Alessandra Brawn.)
In April, Arnett was surprised when his “Smartless” podcast cohosts Sean Hayes and Jason Bateman brought on Poehler as a guest.
“That was a great one,” he declared.
Arnett joked that the only “alarming” aspect of Poehler appearing on “Smartless” was that it required their two sons to lie to him. (The concept of “Smartless” involves one host revealing a mystery guest to their two cohosts.)
“That’s the part that unnerved me,” he admitted. “They omitted the truth. My 15-year-old was like, ‘Dad, I’m so sorry. I knew and I just didn’t want to…’ I was like, ‘It’s OK, dude.’”
Arnett revealed that Poehler recently texted him when they were both nominated for Golden Globe Awards. (“Smartless” and “Good Hang with Amy Poehler” were both nominated in the Best Podcast category.)
“Amy texted Sean and me this morning saying, ‘We all got nominated for Golden Globes, let’s party.’ And then she said, ‘I don’t have Bateman’s number, that’s probably for the best.’ That was the text,” he revealed.
During the April “Smartless” episode, Poehler revealed that Arnett truly had “zero” clue that she would be surprising him on the podcast because they’d texted “about something else” hours earlier.
“Our youngest saw my schedule on the kitchen table and said, ‘You’re doing ‘Smartless?’ Does Dad know?’ And I said, ‘No, don’t say anything,’” Poehler revealed.
Arnett met Poehler in 2000 after first seeing her perform with his influential sketch comedy group, the Upright Citizens Brigade, four years earlier. They tied the knot in 2003 in a private ceremony in Los Angeles while Poehler was on a break from Saturday Night Live.
Us Weekly broke the news in September 2012 that Arnett and Poehler had called it quits after nine years of marriage, with a source telling Us at the time that the breakup was “very amicable.” They settled their divorce in 2016.
The former couple’s relationship has seemingly come a long way since their 2012 separation. In a 2022 interview with The Guardian, Arnett admitted it was “almost excruciating” to act in Arrested Development shortly after he split from Poehler.
“[It was] just brutal, brutal, brutal,” he remembered. “I was driving to the set one day and I pulled over to the side of the road and cried for an hour.”
Arnett has since moved on to a five-year relationship with socialite Brawn, which ended in 2024. He is currently dating model Carolyn Murphy.
Poehler dated fellow comedian Nick Kroll for two years after splitting from Arnett, according to People. The Parks and Recreation actress made a rare public appearance with her current beau, Pineapple Street Studios executive editor Joel Lovell, at West Hollywood hotspot Sushi Park in November. (Poehler and Lovell have reportedly been together since 2024.)
