Mary-Kate Olsen Gets Bad News on Divorce Filing

Emergency request to hasten her split from Olivier Sarkozy was turned down in New York
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted May 15, 2020 10:52 AM CDT
Judge to Mary-Kate Olsen: Your Divorce Isn't 'Essential'
Mary-Kate Olsen and then-boyfriend Olivier Sarkozy are seen in the audience at the Cutting Room on Nov. 7, 2013, in New York.   (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Money really doesn't buy everything, including a quickie divorce during a pandemic. No one can attest to that more than Mary-Kate Olsen, who filed an emergency divorce petition earlier this week to end things with Olivier Sarkozy, the half-brother of France's former president. New York court system rep Lucian Chalfen tells CNN that Olsen's petition has been rejected by a New York State Supreme Court judge, because it's not considered an "essential" need during the coronavirus outbreak. In fact, it sounds like Olsen tried a couple of times to file the petition: Chalfen notes that an initial filing was turned down "because they did not follow the essential matter procedure," and when Olsen's team refiled following proper procedure, it was simply decided her request "is not essential, so they can't file anything at this point."

New York is accepting only emergency filings for divorces amid the pandemic. Olsen, 33, had filed the emergency request because she says Sarkozy, 50, is trying to boot her from their apartment by next week, but legal experts told Yahoo Entertainment that requests like hers getting nixed isn't a surprise. "Motion practice for new actions must be emergency related, such as [for] domestic violence," New York attorney Ken Jewell says. "Otherwise the motion is highly unlikely to be entertained." Christopher Melcher, a California celebrity divorce attorney, says her ask seemed like "a rich person cutting in line." The couple married since 2015. (More Mary-Kate Olsen stories.)

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