Tina Fey and husband Jeff Richmond have quietly been one of Hollywood’s long-standing couples.
They have been married for over twenty years and have achieved much professional success, both separately and together. Most recently, the pair collaborated for the new Mean girls film, which premiered in January.
While Fey was the screenwriter for the updated version of her original 2004 hit film, her composer husband reworked the film’s songs. Mean girl‘s musical, which ran from 2018 to 2020, in the 11-song film soundtrack.
Fey and Richmond have been working together for years and even reached career heights Saturday evening live at the same time. When it comes to getting married and sharing office space, Fey explained that she’s happy to have someone she trusts in her corner. During their time SNLFey led the entire staff as head writer, while Richmond worked in the music department for the sketch show, eventually becoming musical director.
“We’re not literally together all day. That would drive anyone crazy. But it is a good situation because we are working towards the same goal,” she said earlier O Magazine about her and Richmond’s work dynamic in 2009. ‘Although maybe I’m the one who says it works because I’m the boss! You should ask him. Last year he had a problem with a certain story for the show. He said, ‘Listen, I’m going to tell you something, because no one says no – I don’t like this.’
Fey and Richmond have a lot of history as romantic and creative partners. Keep reading to see their full relationship timeline.
1993
Richmond worked as a resident pianist at Del Close’s ImprovOlympic Theater in Chicago after graduating from Kent State University, where he studied music theory and composition. The pair crossed paths because Fey and coworker SNL icon Amy Poehler took lessons in the theater.
“I’m the guy who sits there at the piano and watches everyone audition, and Tina and Amy were among the very best,” Richmond recalled to the New York Post in 2018.
1994
Fey auditioned for the iconic improv theater Second City, where Richmond would also eventually land a gig as a musician. By then the pair was a very solid couple.
‘We met when I was 24. He’s nine years older than me,” Fey said Women’s health in 2007. “It was actually a very big age difference, because he was much more mature than someone my own age. There was no playing games or “I’ll call you tomorrow.” It was a very easy, respectful relationship from the beginning, and it became quite solid very quickly and easily.”
1997
Fey and Richmond moved to New York City after she scored a role in Saturday evening livewhere she worked from 1997 to 2006 as a cast member and eventually as head writer. Richmond, in turn, also became the musical director of the sketch show.
June 2001
After seven years together, Fey and Richmond married on June 3 in a Greek Orthodox ceremony.
September 2005
The couple welcomed their first child, daughter Alice.
2006
Fey and Richmond left SNL together for the Mean girls writer’s vision comes to life with her NBC sitcom 30 Rock.
“On 30 Rockwe wouldn’t necessarily always occupy the same creative spaces,” Richmond shared The Hollywood Reporter in 2018. “She would write the script, and then I would be in another room writing the songs… It was a lot of fun!”
August 2011
Their second child, daughter Penelope, was born.
2018
Fey and Richmond teamed up to adapt her hit 2004 film into a Broadway musical, which earned twelve Tony nominations and grossed $17 million in its first twelve weeks. THR.
2024
The couple again combined their talents for their Mean girls remake, which hit theaters in January. This time, bringing the script to life was a whole family affair.
“Sometimes I would run things through the kids,” Fey said Entertainment tonight at the film’s premiere in New York. “Like casting, or you know, like [asking], ‘Should the burned book remain a book, or should it be a private Instagram account?’ And they say, ‘No, it’s a book, it’s a book.’