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Before Mary-Kate Olsen filed for divorce, her husband's ex-wife moved into their house.

Mary-Kate Olsen has fled New York City, to spend time with her twin sister Ashley and friends outside the city, after her emergency divorce request was denied by a Manhattan court.

Earlier this month, news broke that Mary-Kate Olsen and her husband of five years, Olivier Sarkozy, were seeking a divorce, but in the middle of a pandemic, it wasn’t an easy thing to do.

The 33-year-old former child star and fashion designer signed a petition for divorce on April 17, according to US Weekly.

At the time, however, New York City courts were not accepting divorce filings due to the COVID-19 crisis.

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Therefore, Olsen was seeking an emergency order to allow her to file the legal paperwork to end her marriage, but Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Michael Katz denied the request, as it was not deemed an essential matter.

Before submitting the request, Olsen’s attorneys received an email from 50-year-old Sarkozy’s attorneys, giving her a May 18 deadline to get her stuff out of their NYC apartment. She claimed he is trying to force her out, because he terminated their lease without her knowledge, according the TMZ.

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“This application is an emergency because my husband expects me to move out of our home on Monday, May 18, 2020, in the middle of New York City being on pause due to COVID-19,” her case said, Page Six reported.

“I am petrified that my husband is trying to deprive me of the home we have lived in and if he is successful, I will not only lose my home but I risk losing my personal property as well,” the court papers continued.

She had requested an extension to May 30, as she could not meet the deadline due to New York’s strict quarantine guidelines, but claimed he had not responded.

Olsen also sought to be able to continue to use the couple’s Hamptons home and two Manhattan apartments, and for a judge to uphold their prenup, which protects her business interests and fortune.

According to an E! source, the proceedings had “gotten very ugly”, adding that the divorce had become “heated”.

mary kate olsen olivier sarkozy
Image: Getty.
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On May 28, Page Six reported the pair's divorce was sparked by Sarkozy's decision to move his ex-wife, Charlotte Bernard, and their two children into their $5 million Bridgehampton home.

One source told the publication, "Olivier was concerned for the safety of his family in New York during the pandemic. He insisted to Mary-Kate that he wanted to bring his ex-wife, their kids and his mother from the city, to their Bridgehampton home."

"Maybe French people culturally have a different view of marriage, and while Mary-Kate loves his children, it was too much to have his ex-wife living with them during the pandemic. Would you want the ex-wife living with you for an unforeseeable amount of time in the middle of a crisis?" they added.

Another source claimed that Bernard and their two children moved in immediately after Olsen left to spend time with her twin sister.

However, the source shared there is "no romance" between Sarkozy and his ex-wife.

"It was not uncommon for Charlotte to be around and stay in a separate bedroom in the Hamptons on holidays or birthdays. They have two kids and have always put them first. In their French way, family comes first, even with a divorce. Charlotte was even at Olivier’s wedding to Mary-Kate," the source said.

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As for the problems in Olsen and Sarkozy's marriage, the source claimed there was "no cheating or betrayals".

"Sometimes couples just run their course. The plan to move in his family was his way of moving on, and the final straw for Mary-Kate," they said.

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Mary-Kate Olsen and Olivier Sarkozy in 2017. Image: Getty.

Olsen met Sarkozy, a US-based French investment banker and the half brother of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, in 2012.

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After getting engaged in 2014, the pair, who share a 17-year age difference, were married in 2015 at a private residence in New York City.

At the time, the wedding was at the centre of much media attention when it was reported the reception featured bowls of cigarettes on each table. "Everyone smoked the whole night," a source claimed, according to Page Six.

With their marriage, Olsen became step-parent to Sarkozy's two children with ex-wife Charlotte Bernard; Julien, 18, and Margot, 15.

Over the years, Olsen has kept their relationship extremely private, except in a rare 2017 interview about how she balances her personal life and fashion businesses with sister Ashley.

"I think we're lucky [working hard] comes quite naturally for us. We don't need so much time to sit and think and ponder. But then I have a husband, two step-kids and a life; I have to go home and cook dinner," Mary-Kate told The Edit in 2017.

"I ride horses on the weekends. You find the thing that helps you relax and if you don’t have it, you have to look for it. Or you get burned out and then you're not productive."

Three decades on from Full House, the Olsen twins both live incredibly private lives without a social media presence.

olsen twins 2019
Image: Getty.
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"We've spent our whole lives trying to not let people have that accessibility, so it would go against everything we've done in our lives to not be in the public," she told Vogue in 2011.

"We don't dive into that world [of social media]," Ashley added.

"We don't have Instagram or Facebook. So we've never been connected to our customers or our fans in that way. We've stayed quite sheltered."

Since diving into the fashion world, the Olsen twins haven't appeared on screen together for over 15 years.

Feature Image: Getty.

This post was originally published on May 14, 2020, and updated on May 28, 2020.