Emmy Rossum Says Ex-Husband Justin Siegel Gave Her Marriage Ultimatum

What Emmy Rossum Did to Escape The Crowded Room's "Very Dark" Plot

Emmy Rossum experienced a great divide with her ex-husband

Almost 16 years after the Shameless alum finalized her divorce from Justin Siegel, she revealed that the music producer had given her an ultimatum about their relationship, which ultimately led to their February 2008 marriage.

“I started dating Justin, and he worked at Interscope Records that I was signed to,” Rossum shared on the July 8 episode of Call Her Daddy. “And we were dating for maybe a couple months. We liked each other.”

Shortly after they started dating, the 39-year-old booked a role in the 2009 film Dragonball: Evolution, which was filming in Durango, Mexico, for six months.

“I remember the day that I was going away to make the movie,” Rossum recalled, “he said something to me like, ‘I don’t know if the relationship is gonna survive the distance. So maybe we should break up or get married.’”

“I literally had a flight that night to Durango, Mexico,” she continued. “At that moment, I thought to myself, ‘Well, I'm just coming off these two really rough heartbreaks.’ Abandonment is my core wound. I don't want that. That hurts me.”

Plus, as the Phantom of the Opera actress thought to herself at the time, “‘Divorce doesn’t seem that complicated. Like, it’s probably pretty straightforward.’”

Equally straightforward was the former couple’s quick wedding, as Siegel “literally printed out a marriage contract online and got some guy on the internet to come over” to Rossum’s home.

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“I found a white turtleneck that was in my closet and threw it on ‘cause I was like, ‘This is appropriate, right?’” she shared. “Literally not hearing the smoke detector in my head being like, ‘Don't do this. You don't have to do this.’”

“It was my intention not to tell anybody,” the Angelyne actress said, “because I knew in my gut it wasn’t right.”

The two remained married while Rossum filmed in Mexico—though she said Siegel never came to visit her—and once she got home, “it became abundantly clear we weren’t a match in any way.”

And she had been so tight-lipped about the marriage, that her own mother didn’t learn about it until she and Siegel had made the decision to split, with him filing for divorce in September 2009.

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“I told my mom, ‘Hey, I’m breaking up with Justin, and I need a lawyer.’ She was like, ‘You did not.’ I was like, ‘I did,’” Rossum remembered. “And my mom has always been somebody that mobilizes. If anyone is going through a breakup—my mom is not employed right now—so, if you need someone to show up, she'll send you for a manicure and be like, ‘I have the U-Haul. Go take care of yourself.’”

Of course, she was grateful that her mother was able to help her navigate the end of the marriage.

Rossum went on to date Counting Crows singer Adam Duritz from 2009 to 2010 before meeting now-husband Sam Esmail in 2013. The two married in 2017 and share a daughter, 5, and son, 3, whose names have not been shared publicly.

For a look at more surprising celebrity couples, keep reading.

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