What Is An Emergency Order? The Surprising Reason Behind Mary-Kate Olsen Divorce From Olivier Sarkozy
Olsen filed for divorce today.
Getty Despite being a child star, who became wildly successful thanks to the popularity of her role as Michelle Tanner on the original Full House, Mary-Kate Olsen seemed to have a relatively normal life post-fame. She and her twin sister, Ashley, forged a veritable empire thanks to their wildly popular fashion line, and they even served as executive producers on a number of projects.
But today, she's making headlines for a completely different reason: she's divorcing her husband of five years, Pierre Olivier Sarkozy. And in the process of filing for divorce, she sought an emergency order.
So the question begs itself:
What is an emergency order in divorce?
Why did Olsen file for an emergency order? And what do we know about their divorce so far?
Let's take a look.
What is an emergency order?
The term "emergency order" is a rather broad one, and in New York, it can be used to describe everything from an order from the governor (the "New York On Pause" order is considered an emergency order) to an order to show cause in a Supreme Court proceeding.
In this case, the emergency order was filed by Olsen to speed up her divorce proceedings from Sarkozy.
Why is Olsen filing an emergency order now?
Olsen's reasons for filing an emergency order may b e plentiful. Initially, Olsen filed for divorce on April 17th, 2020. However, thanks to the current COVID-19 pandemic, Olsen was informed that the New York courts weren't accepting any sorts of court filings — including divorce court filings — unless there was an absolute emergency. In demanding an emergency order, Olsen is basically petitioning the court to hear her divorce case, COVID-19 be damned.
What's the rush to divorce?
According to one report, Olsen and Sarkozy's living conditions may have something to do with this newfound demand. Allegedly, Sarkozy is demanding Olsen leave the apartment they share by May 18th — and he terminated the lease without telling her (which is a big no-no in New York, as unless certain specific guidelines are met, a tenant may find it difficult to break a lease without hiring an attorney). Before filing the emergency order, Olsen requested that Sarkozy grant her an extension until May 30th. When she didn't hear back from him, she filed an emergency order for divorce so that "her property may be protected." (In New York, filing a divorce petition prevents Sarkozy from throwing Mary Kate's property and belongings out.)
What else is she asking for?
In addition to the filing, Olsen is asking that the couple's prenuptial agreement be enforced in the divorce proceedings. And Olsen has at least $100 million reasons why: since 2002, she and her twin sister have been on Forbes Magazine's The Celebrity 100 List. They are consistently one of the top-earning women in entertainment today and they have a net worth of over $100 million as of this writing.
Why did Olsen want a divorce in the first place?
Although it's unclear why, exactly, Olsen wanted a divorce from Sarkozy in the first place, her court filing suggests that they've not been living together for at least six months. The last time they were seen together in public was in November 2019. "The relationship between [the two] has broken down irretrievably for a period of at least six months," read a report.
It seems like Sarkozy will comply.
In response to Olsen's emergency order filing, Olivier responded by saying that he has no problem holding on to her stuff — he just wants a list of what's hers so he knows not to get rid of it. "Olivier advises he went to the NYC apartment yesterday and noticed that a number of items of personal property were removed from the apartment. While Olivier has no issue with Mary Kate taking what she wants/needs, he would like a list of what has been removed so that he can keep track of who has what for the overall personal property division," reads his response.
Her request was denied.
A spokesman for the New York courts confirmed, in an exclusive statement, that Olsen's request wasn't considered an essential, or an emergency, divorce matter. As such, Judge Michael Katz denied Olsen's emergency petition and referred the matter to the ex parte judge.
Bernadette Giacomazzo is an editor, writer, publicist, and photographer whose work has appeared in Teen Vogue, People, Us Weekly, The Source, XXL, HipHopDX, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, BET.com, and more.