Jacob Pechenik dishes on his relationship with former wife following their divorce and how he tries to stay cordial while co-parenting and running business together.
- Dec 13, 2023
AceShowbiz - Jacob Pechenik was concerned about his employees after he divorced Zooey Deschanel. The 51-year-old producer was wed to "New Girl" star Zooey, 43, from 2016 until 2020 and has Elsie, seven, and five-year-old Charlie with her, but the pair had founded the Lettuce Grow before splitting up.
"Zooey had done a lot of work in terms of getting people excited. I was a little worried [employees would] be scared, wondering what this meant for the company and me. Would I be heartbroken?" he told Inc Magazine.
"There was a time when I was asking less of her. Part of it was because of our ex-wife, ex-husband relationship and the kids. I didn't want to strain the relationship. And part of it was that the business was taking off without needing to lean on her."
Jacob now oversees the day-to-day running of the company - which sells home hydroponic systems called Farmstands - and Zooey explained that she is enjoying being able to "spread the word" about the kind of work they do. She said, "I mainly enjoy telling people about Lettuce Grow because I'm proud of the company. I think my enthusiasm becomes infectious because it's genuine."
These days, Zooey is engaged to Jonathan Scott - who is known for fronting the renovation series "Property Brothers" - and recently explained why they are "so compatible" as a couple despite being from different walks of life. She told People, "Our personalities are so compatible. It's just that we're from different worlds. We identify as nerds, we'll have you know."
Despite this, Zooey feared that Jonathan was ghosting her at one point in time. He explained, "We talked or texted every single day, I think, and still have every day since we've met, except for the [time] I went up on a packed trip up into the middle of the Rocky Mountains, where there was no cell service. She thought I was just blowing her off because I didn't respond for, what, three days or something."
