Hollywood couple Witherspoon, Phillippe split

From our provider:

Rate This Article

0 Comments

(Reuters) - Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon and "Flags of Our Fathers" star Ryan Phillippe are separating after more than seven years of marriage, their representatives said on Monday.

Witherspoon, whose marriage reportedly had been on the rocks for some time, is the latest best-actress Academy Award winner to suffer marital woes.

"We are saddened to announce that Reese and Ryan have decided to formally separate," their publicists said in a joint statement. "They remain committed to their family and we ask that you please respect their privacy and the safety of their children at this time."

Witherspoon, 30, and Phillippe, 32, reportedly met at her 21st birthday party before working together on the 1999 film "Cruel Intentions." They married in June of that year and have two children, 7-year-old daughter Ava and 3-year-old son Deacon.

The publicists gave no more details about the split but the celebrity Web site TMZ.com, which broke the story, reported that Witherspoon has contacted the divorce lawyer who represented Jennifer Aniston, Roseanne Barr and Lisa Marie Presley.

TMZ quoted one unidentified source as saying the breakup was not triggered by any single event but rather by "cumulative" circumstances.