Jenna Dewan clarifies Channing Tatum comments: 'My words have been distorted'

Jenna Dewan says comments she made about parenting with ex-husband Channing Tatum were "distorted."

On Tuesday, the actress and dancer, 40, used social media to clarify comments she made on the Dear Gabby podcast that made headlines. She made it clear she wasn't bashing her 8-year-old daughter Everly's father when she said he "wasn't available" after the birth of their daughter and felt her words were spun into "salacious gossip."

The World of Dance alum wrote, "It's unfortunate that countless media outlets have taken an important conversation on a woman's experience with postpartum issues and pulled quotes to make it appear that I was slamming my daughters' father, something I would never do."

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— Jenna Dewan (@jennadewan) August 3, 2021

Dewan continued, "As two working parents, we both faced challenges at the time, but I speak only for myself and not about him. Anyone who actually listens to the interview, something I encourage everyone to do, will clearly see that my words have been distorted for clicks and to push false, salacious gossip with no regard for the actual people involved, or the message intended."

On the podcast, Dewan compared the early days after the births of her two children. She said her son with fiancé Steve Kazee, Callum, was born in March 2020 — and because of the pandemic, the family had months together at home to bond. However, when she had Everly in 2013, she went back to work right away and her then-husband was also working in another location.

It was big news when the Step Up co-stars welcomed Evie in London — where Tatum had been filming Jupiter Ascending — in May 2013. While things looked picture perfect in that famous first photo they shared in June, just weeks after that, in early July, Dewan set off to shoot Witches of East End in Canada. Having a newborn, working and being apart from her partner was difficult.

"I had to travel with her and at the time, Chan wasn't available to be with us for the most part," Dewan said because his film took him from London to Chicago throughout that summer. "So, it was me, my doula, and Evie all by ourselves traveling at six weeks."

Dewan recalled the challenges of keeping up with a production schedule in addition to the baby's schedule of sleeping and feeding — and everything in between.

"That was really hard because [of the] long hours," she said. "I did have her on set with me constantly. It was just really difficult."

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A post shared by Jenna Dewan (@jennadewan)

Dewan said it led to her suffering from "a lot of postpartum anxiety," explaining, "I just never stopped. You're up a couple times in the night and then you're working all day. I was breastfeeding. I was pumping. I was without a partner. I mean it was just craziness."

The quotes that Tatum "wasn't available" circulated wide on Tuesday — and sources close to the Magic Mike star defended him in a TMZ story. It was that six weeks after Dewan gave birth, she was needed in Vancouver to shoot Witches of East End, a project she booked while pregnant. The outlet reported Channing chartered a private plane for Jenna, Everly and a doula — and rented out a nice home in the city — to make sure everyone was safe and comfortable.

Once Jupiter Ascending production moved from London to Chicago, he traveled to Vancouver as much as he could, "sometimes making less than 24-hour trips just to get in as much time as possible with Jenna and their newborn." (Old photos show Tatum traveling in Vancouver with Dewan and their baby girl in July 2013 to get them settled.)

Tatum and Channing split in 2018 and she found love again with Kazee, who she started dating that October. Dewan and Kazee announced they were expecting in 2019 — and Callum arrived in March 2020. 

On the podcast, Dewan said she felt "grounded" at the time of Callum's birth — despite the pandemic.

"Even though the world was crazy, I was home and in this love nest and it was different," she said of parenting with first-time dad Kazee.

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A post shared by Jenna Dewan (@jennadewan)

As for Tatum, earlier this year he released the book Sparkella, inspired by Everly, and it became a best-seller. 

While promoting it, he said that when he got divorced, he had "a lot of fear" about being a single father and "connecting to Everly in every way that a little girl might want. I didn't wear nail polish or know how to braid hair." However, he started joining in on the fun, making Everly happy and having fun in the process.

In a recent Instagram post, he called their daughter his "everything" — "my world and my heart."

This story was originally published on Tuesday, August 3 at 2:58 pm ET and has been updated to include Dewan's most recent comments.

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