separated vs divorced

If the friendship is purely platonic, like having a buddy kind of thing, I don't see why not. I tend to get on better with men than women especially in the workplace due to my interests.

I agree with you. I only have two couples as friends where the wives are completely comfortable with me but then these ladies are my church sisters and best friends.

This is the difficulty when the friend is going through a divorce because the busy-bodies will automatically label a female friend as being responsible. If the papers have only just been filed I guess it might be worth keeping a respectable distance, purely on the basis that people will invariably judge you unfairly.