Matt Damon’s wife noticeably absent from Elsa Pataky’s birthday celebrations amid speculation the best friends have drifted apart

DAILYMAIL • 1h ago

By MONIQUE FRIEDLANDER, ASSISTANT SHOWBUSINESS EDITOR, AUSTRALIA 06:46 29 Sep 2026, updated 06:57 29 Sep 2026

They have been thick as thieves for years.

But eyebrows were raised last week when Matt Damon’s wife Luciana Barroso was noticeably absent from BFF Elsa Pataky’s lavish 50th birthday celebrations.

The Spanish actress, who is married to Australian actor Chris Hemsworth, celebrated her milestone birthday in the Maldives surrounded by her closest gal pals, sharing a string of enviable holiday snaps to Instagram.

The photos showed the women posing in bikinis as they lounged around the ultra-luxurious Soneva Fushi resort, where one night at a premium villa can set you back a whopping $30,000.

‘So grateful for life and my amazing friends!’ she captioned the post.

Luciana’s absence has added fuel to speculation that she and Elsa have drifted apart in recent months.

The women first became friends through their husbands, Chris Hemsworth and Matt Damon, and their friendship quickly extended beyond their famous spouses.

The two families have holidayed together around the world, with Elsa and Luciana becoming particularly close as they raised their children.

They even took their friendship to the next level by getting matching tattoos.

Elsa, Luciana, Matt and Chris all had three small dots tattooed on their pinkies after spending Christmas together in 2017, with the design said to represent ‘today, tomorrow and forever’.

‘A few friends, we got together and we felt like we had to have something to remind us of those great moments we stayed together, and we decided to get a little tattoo all together and we say, “We’ll have to do one every year,”‘ Elsa told PEOPLE.

Elsa has also spoken warmly about her friendship with Luciana, telling PEOPLE that their shared Spanish heritage helped bring them closer.

‘[Matt’s] wife is Argentinian so we speak Spanish. So for me, it’s a relief, yes, somebody I can speak Spanish with! We’ve become very good friends.’

Luciana’s curious absence from Elsa’s birthday celebrations comes amid persistent rumours that their husbands have also drifted apart.

After striking up a friendship through the Marvel films and beyond, the actors regularly holidayed and partied together, often joined by their wives and children.

In recent months, however, the Hemsworths had been conspicuously absent from some of Matt and Luciana’s biggest social milestones.

In January, the Hemsworths raised eyebrows when they were a no-show at Melbourne radio star Lauren Phillips’ glittering birthday bash in New York – which was attended by her close friends, the Damons.

The soirée, hosted at a chic Manhattan restaurant, drew some of entertainment’s biggest names, including the Damons and Pia and Patrick Whitesell.

Chris and Elsa were also missing from the London premiere of Matt’s latest blockbuster The Odyssey back in July.

Just days after the premiere, the group jetted off to Paris for a celebratory getaway – again, without Chris and Elsa.

Lauren’s blitz of group photos during the trip made their absence even more obvious.

Eyebrows were raised again when Matt, Luciana, Pia, Patrick, Lauren and her fiancé Paul O’Brien were spotted together at the World Cup final, with the Hemsworths missing once more.

Adding to the intrigue, the group was joined at the match by Oscar-winning actor Adrien Brody – Elsa’s ex-partner.

The last public sighting of Chris and Matt together was in February, when the two were pictured heading out to dinner in New York, joined by Luciana.

For years, the friendship between the two couples seemed unshakeable.

Chris and Matt first became close more than a decade ago, with the Thor star describing the Oscar winner as someone he admired professionally and personally.

Speaking to GQ in 2014, Chris said: ‘We became friends around the time I started to work, and I’ve really benefited from watching how he handles himself.’

‘Matt’s just a normal guy who has the movie-star thing figured out.’

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