Efron Family Trauma: Zac and Dylan’s Silent Struggle and Friends’ Concerns

It was the picture-perfect set up: a family united in their support for TV star Dylan Efron as they cheered him into the Dancing with the Stars finale earlier this month.

His older brother, actor Zac Efron, beamed as he sat alongside their divorced parents, David Efron and Starla Baskett, in the audience with his half-sister, Olivia, perched in his lap.

But what might have appeared like one big happy family during the dance competition has seemingly not always been the case. 

In fact, the united front at the Dancing with the Stars semi-finals marked the first time exes Baskett and David had been seen together publicly in two years.

Little is known about what happened between David, 65, and Starla, 76, but David quickly moved on with Jennifer ‘Jenny’ Hnatov, a woman 29 years his junior. 

David and Baskett’s divorce was finalized in November 2017. By 2019, the former engineer had tied the knot with Hnatov, with whom he shares children Olivia, five, and son Henry, four.

According to marriage records obtained exclusively by the Daily Mail, David and Hnatov married at a private ceremony in San Luis Obispo, California, officiated by a reverend from an American Fellowship Church.

Meanwhile, Baskett appears to be single and living in a $1 million ranch-style home in Santa Maria, California, about 45 minutes from her ex-husband. 

Baskett – who met David when they were working in the same power plant, she in administration and he as an engineer – filed for divorce in 2016 citing ‘irreconcilable differences.’ They were together for nearly 20 years.

Court documents exclusively obtained by the Daily Mail have revealed disagreements between Baskett and David before they officially settled. Baskett, for one, noted their separation as March 8, 2015, while David noted it as February 1, 2014. In the final judgment, Baskett’s date was recorded.

And, in David’s response to the divorce, he noted that spousal support would be determined in the future regarding payments to both him and his ex. In addition, he requested attorney’s fees and costs be payable by Baskett.

It appears their issues were hashed out over a matter of months, but according to the marital settlement, Baskett won a major victory.

David was ordered to pay his ex a large sum of cash and the final order for monthly spousal support is still in effect today.

Per the court documents, he agreed to pay her spousal support in the amount of $3,700 per month, including retirement benefits, which began October 2017 and are to continue ‘until either party’s death, the remarriage of Wife, or modification or termination by further court order, whichever occurs first.’

Since it appears Baskett has not re-married, David is seemingly still paying her monthly spousal support. It is unclear what her job is today or whether she’s retired, but in 2016 she reported she had ‘zero income.’

David also agreed to keep her as a beneficiary on his life insurance policy for the sum of $250,000, and cover her attorney costs in the sum of $5,000, which he initially requested she pay herself. 

At the time, Baskett had also received their marital home and David was removed from the property’s title, but she has since sold the house in Arroyo Grande where the Efron brothers had grown up. 

The total settlement for the property was $185,520, but David agreed to increase the amount to $196,000 to facilitate closure.

In January 2018, after a request from David was filed, a judge granted him the right to pay the equalization payment of $196,000 as follows: $126,000 in cash and the remaining $70,000 balance from his retirement savings plan.

Zac, 38, was reportedly crushed by his parents’ divorce, and at the time Radar Online claimed the family strife had ‘shaken Zac to his core.’ Friends, the outlet reported in 2019, were ‘very concerned he’ll fall off the wagon,’ fearing that his parents’ divorce ‘could push him toward a relapse.’

In 2013, he went to rehab amid his battle with alcohol and drug addiction. It was later reported that he had completed another stint later that year.

He told the Hollywood Reporter in 2014 that he was ‘drinking a lot, way too much,’ while acknowledging there were drugs also involved.

Publicly, however, the Efron siblings have not addressed their parents’ divorce, but there appears to be no hard feelings.

Talking to People at his Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony, where his parents reunited in 2023, Zac said: ‘My mom and dad, they’re the reason I’m here today. They believed in me when I don’t know how they did. 

‘It must’ve been difficult to drive me back and forth to auditions when I was 15, three hours from the Arroyo Grande out here, just to have such a small shot.’

‘And I think they sacrificed a lot to support me throughout the years.’ 

Meanwhile, Dylan, 33, who was a finalist on Dancing with the Stars, got choked up while discussing his relationship with his father on an October episode of the Office Of podcast.

‘My dad is a ride or die for sure,’ he said. ‘I’m going to tear up, you’re going to kill me. I was finding baby photos for Dancing With the Stars and my dad sends me all these.

‘Some of the photos of my dad holding me as a kid, I see myself in him. He’s always looked after me.

‘I was very much raised by him. He took me to all my sports games growing up. We’re just very similar. He’s been my rock my whole life. I used to call him every day after work,’ Dylan shared, adding that his father is ‘for sure’ proud of him today.

As for their step-mom, fans have only had blink-and-you’ll-miss-it glimpses since she’s rarely seen in photos with the Efrons. But her daughter Olivia stole the show during Dancing with the Stars when she appeared in his dance for Dedication Night, in which Dylan paid tribute to Zac.

During last week’s finale, however, Dylan placed fourth in the dance competition. Meanwhile, Robert Irwin and his partner Witney Carson took home the Mirrorball Trophy as season 34 champions.