Jerry Seinfeld and Jessica Seinfeld (then Jessica Sklar) met in 1998, married on December 25, 1999, and went on to have three children. Their early courtship drew tabloid attention because Jessica’s first marriage was ending around the time their relationship began; accounts differ on the precise sequence, so the chronology is best understood through attributed reporting and the couple’s later recollections.
1998: They meet as Jessica’s first marriage is ending
Jerry met Jessica Sklar at a gym in 1998, according to TIME’s 2007 profile. Jessica had married theatrical producer Eric Nederlander two months earlier, TIME reported.
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An Associated Press report published by CBS News in November 1999 described Jerry and Jessica as having begun dating in 1998, after she returned from an Italian honeymoon with Nederlander. The AP said Nederlander filed for divorce shortly afterward. TIME’s later account summarizes the sequence differently, saying Jessica’s earlier marriage ended before the couple began dating. Taken together, the accounts place their courtship amid the breakdown of that marriage, but do not establish an exact legal separation date.
November 1999: Jerry proposes
The AP reported that Jerry proposed at a New York restaurant on the preceding Saturday night. The engagement account was contemporaneous press reporting, rather than a first-person announcement in the sources available here.
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December 25, 1999: They marry in New York
Jerry and Jessica married in New York City on December 25, 1999. A CBS News report dated December 26 said the ceremony had taken place the night before and described it as a simple Jewish ceremony with 30 to 40 guests, attributing those details to the New York Post. Reuters, republished by The Guardian, also characterized the wedding as quiet. Comedian Mario Joyner, quoted in that report, said: “It was very funny and very beautiful, and they’re obviously both very in love.”
2000–2005: Their family grows
TIME’s 2007 profile says Jessica showed Jerry a home pregnancy test about two months after the wedding. It identifies Sascha as their first child, born in 2000, followed by Julian in 2003 and Shepherd—also called “Pepper”—in 2005.
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| Year | Family milestone |
|---|---|
| 2000 | Their daughter, Sascha, is born. |
| 2003 | Their son, Julian, is born. |
| 2005 | Their son, Shepherd, also called “Pepper,” is born. |
These birth years and the pregnancy-test anecdote come from TIME’s retrospective profile; the article does not provide exact birth dates.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.2007: They reflect on the attention and on family life
In TIME’s profile, Jerry recalled the public and tabloid attention around the relationship: “I couldn’t believe anybody thought it was anything.” He also said, “I had trouble understanding how painful it was for her,” and acknowledged, “I think I made some mistakes in that period as far as helping her through it.” These are Jerry’s reflections on the period, not an independent account of every claim made at the time.
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Jessica described her own experience this way: “I had left a relationship where I was sort of supposed to be someone I wasn’t. That relationship was never going to work, and I met someone who was heaven and earth to me.”
In a November 1, 2007 CNN interview, Jerry spoke about marriage as revealing parts of himself he had not realized were dormant. Asked about being a father, he answered: “Fatherhood is the best thing in the world.”
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