’13 Reasons Why’ Star’s Husband Files for Divorce

Tommy Dorfman and Peter Zurkuhlen are calling it quits after more than five years of marriage. The 13 Reasons Why star’s husband officially filed for divorce in Los Angeles, California on Tuesday, Feb. 1, according to online court records, TMZ confirmed. Further details are not available at this time. The former couple first met at a housewarming party in 2005. After becoming engaged in April 2015, they tied the knot in November 2016 in Portland, Maine.

The news comes just months after Dorfman came out as a transgender woman. Dorfman revealed her true self in an interview with Time, telling novelist Torrey Peters that “for a year now, I have been privately identifying and living as a woman – a trans woman.” Dorfman added that it was “funny to think about coming out, because I haven’t gone anywhere.” Dorfman explained that she instead viewed the interview “as a reintroduction to me as a woman, having made a transition medically.”

“Coming out is always viewed as this grand reveal, but I was never not out. Today is about clarity: I am a trans woman. My pronouns are she/her. My name is Tommy,” Dorfman continued, later adding “she has been “living in this other version of coming out where I don’t feel safe enough to talk about it, so I just do it. But I recognize that transitioning is beautiful. Why not let the world see what that looks like?”

In that same sprawling interview, Dorfman explained that amid living life as her true self, she “redefined” her relationship with Zurkuhlen, stating that they decided to become friends rather than romantic partners. Dorfman told the outlet, “the types of romantic partnerships I seek out are different. I was in a nine-year relationship in which I was thought of as a more male-bodied person, with a gay man. So, we’ve had incredible conversations to redefine our relationship as friends.”

After the piece was published, Zurkuhlen took to social media to publicly show his support for Dorfman. At the time, Zurkuhlen said he had “so much love” for Dorfman, who he described as “gorgeous.” Neither Dorfman nor Zurkuhlen have publicly commented on their divorce.

Dorfman is best known for her portrayal of Ryan Shaver in Netflix’s controversial series 13 Reasons Why. Based on Jay Asher’s young adult novel of the same name, the series ran for four seasons before concluding in 2020. Since coming out as a trans woman, Dorfman is “no longer interested in playing ‘male’ characters.” She can next be seen as her true self in Lena Dunham’s upcoming film Sharp Stick.