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‘Hacks’ Star, 74, Thanks New Beau After Losing Husband

Jean Smart’s husband Richard Gilliland died in 2021.

Jean Smart gave her new boyfriend Joe Pacheco a big shoutout when she accepted her second Golden Globe for Hacks on Sunday.

Smart, 74, walked the red carpet before the awards with Pacheco before winning (for the third time, and second year in a row) Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series. She also won in 2022 and 2025 for her role as Deborah Vance. This time, she thanked “Joe” for being part of the “support” surrounding her.

“I’m one of the luckiest people in—not this room—in this entire business, and it does not go unappreciated,” Smart said as she accepted the award. “I have the best bosses, I have the best shorunners, I have the best cast, led by the brilliant Hannah Einbinder, and I have… my kids, Joe, I mean, I am just surrounded by so much support,” she said.

Pacheco, who most recently played Bart Daley on The Morning Show and does not have a publicly listed age, seemed to make things social media-official with Smart when he marked his Facebook status as “in a relationship.” The couple has been dating since at least late 2024, according to Instagram posts of the pair together. Pacheo has also accompanied Smart to several other awards shows for the past two years.

The Hacks star was married to actor Richard Gilliland for 35 years before his sudden death from a heart condition in 2021 at the age of 71. They share two sons, Connor Gilliland, 36, and Forrest Gilliland, 17. Smart called his death “such a shock” when she opened up about his “unexpected” death in 2024. “Losing your mate of 35 years—I mean, literally half my life I lived with him is just kind of indescribable,” she said on Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?

“And it just, you go through this period of thinking it’s just not real,” she added. “It’s just this isn’t real. You know? This just doesn’t make any sense.”

Smart is enjoying her relationship with Pacheco nearly five years later, as she told CBS Mornings in June, when she gushed about dating the “wonderful actor.”

Eboni Boykin-PattersonEntertainment Reporter

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