This week’s upcoming National Enquirer has a typical attention-getting cover featuring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Micheal Douglas’ alleged split after 12 years of marriage. In terms of the Enquirer’s veracity, well I put less stake in their cover stories as they need to move copies. They have an older readership who would be interested if these two broke up, is what I’m saying. That’s not to say it’s not true, just that they may be making mountains out of regular relationship issue molehills. Or maybe The Enquirer is jumping to conclusions based on Catherine and Michael’s separate public appearances lately. Not that there have been too many of them. In a preview on The Daily Mail, The Enquirer points to the fact that CZJ and Michael haven’t been attending each other’s events. Maybe they’re just trading off time with the kids. Here’s more:
Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones have denied reports that their marriage has been under strain.
The celebrity couple, who have been married for 12 years, were reported by the National Enquirer to have recently been in the midst of a ‘hush hush trial separation.’
However a representative told MailOnline that ‘the story is completely false.’
Indeed, the couple have been looking more in love than ever lately, appearing together on the New York red carpet for Catherine’s latest film Side Effects and at New York Fashion Week.
The Enquirer alleges that the marriage ‘buckled under the pressure of dealing with Michael’s cancer battle, his son Cameron’s incarceration on drugs charges and Catherine’s struggle with bipolar II disorder.’
The publication even claims that 68-year-old Michael ‘moved out’ of the home he shared with the 43-year-old actress and children Dylan, 12, and nine-year-old Carys, moving into a nearby rental property.
‘Michael said something to the effect that he and Catherine were taking a “time out”, and he was looking forward to having an entire house as his personal man cave,’ a source said…
According to the Enquirer, cracks began to publicly appear when Catherine was a ‘no show’ at a special screening of her father-in-law Kirk Douglas’s film Spartacus last year.
‘Michael made some lame excuse, but when she skipped the family dinner, it was obvious that something was not right,’ a source said. ‘I think he felt completely betrayed that Catherine didn’t show up.’
However, representatives for the star insist that Catherine was in attendance at the dinner.
The Enquirer reports that the Welsh actress is ‘determined’ to save the marriage for the sake of the children.
‘It’s because of Dylan and Carys that Michael and Catherine aren’t giving up on each other,’ the source said.’But only time will tell if they can make things work over the long haul.’
The report comes after Michael gave a recent interview to People saying his wife is ‘more beautiful than ever.’
And he said he supports the 43-year-old Welsh star with everything because she is ‘simply the best’.
He told People magazine: ‘Catherine and I are doing well. She is more beautiful than ever inside and out. I support her with everything and she is simply the best.’
The thing that rings falsest to me is that the Enquirer is claiming Catherine didn’t attend that family dinner with the venerable Kirk Douglas while the rep is like “uh, she was there.” So their case seems to be based on some flimsy, and incorrect evidence. We’ll see, but I just can’t imagine these two breaking up.
I have heard that Michael isn’t planning on attending the Oscars, where Catherine is singing as part of some tribute to musical films. (She was in Chicago, I think that’s it for her musicals.) The dude is a 68 year-old cancer survivor. My dad is a couple years younger than that and he’s in great health but he wouldn’t want to sit through the Oscars, either. It’s probably a royal pain in the ass for some celebrities to get dressed up, show up, sit through the long ceremony, act interested, make small talk and then be expected to go to parties afterwards. I don’t blame Michael for skipping and I don’t think it necessarily speaks to any problems in his marriage. I don’t want these two to break up, though! I really like them together.
Thanks to A for the tip!
Photos are from 1-31-13, credit: WENN and FameFlynet
On a slightly unrelated note, did anyone here watch Side Effects yet? I really liked CZJ in that, it’s good to see her in films again. Still a beautiful woman, although I do think marrying Michael did age her quicker than other women in her age group.
I saw it. CZJ’s still beautiful but I wasn’t crazy about her performance in the movie. I thought Rooney Mara was great and that Jude Law was good, though.
That cover illustrates everything that’s wrong with The Enquirer. Idiots.
In certain situations, the Enquirer is spot on. I believe this story is true. The fact that Michael Douglas was announced to be missing the Academy Award show, when his wife is performing seems fishy.
I think the interesting part will be now – will he suddenly attend the Oscars? Will they go out for a romantic dinner?
Some celebrities are just different/like to fly solo. Amy Adams rarely takes her fiancée and the father of her child to events.
I agree. He’s a movie star – this is where they fight to mingle.
Frankly, I’m surprised their marriage lasted this long.
43? (Snicker). I think all the recent blinds about an A list couple on the verge if splitting could be these two. Especially the one about the mom who is just meh about her kids but will ask for full custody and support. She’s always seemed like a pretty sub par actress to me who majored in gold digging.
+1
She used to be almost 5 years old than me. She is now 2 years younger….Everytime I see her age I get all confused because for the longest time, I was younger than her.
I am pretty sure she is the same age. I used to watch her in Darling Buds of May and in magazines they always stated her as younger than me and I am still only 3 years older than her
Yes, her age is always a different number.
Funny, ’cause ever since she started out in the late 90s in that Zorro movie with Antonio Banderas she has been ten years older than me. I don’t believe she’s lying about her age, that’s just a vicious rumour.
I agree. I never liked her.
I always thought she is a gold digger too.
I will never forget when they announced their engagement before his divorce was final because CZJ had started to show. Classy.
ROFL 43 indeed.
I had the same reaction! 43? maybe 10 years ago!
It looks to me as if the cancer took a lot out of him and it is more than likely stressful to have a kid in prison. He is looking rather elderly and ill in that picture however. So maybe, maybe not.
umm…he IS elderly…
Huh! He’ll be elderly until you hit that age then you’ll realise that he’s still quite young!
Dealing with bipolar disorder is no picnic either. The stress of his illness could have exacerbated it. So they have a husband with cancer and a kid in jail, a wife with a mental disorder, and I think one of their children has a learning disorder. Plus I think they were trying to quit smoking. Which failed. No wonder they may have had problems. The bipolar disorder would make Catherine’s reactions really off, too. They had huge amounts of stress in the marriage. I can see where it could have affected their relationship. I hope it didn’t break irretrievably if that’s true. Sometimes space really does work wonders.
I actually like them as a couple and hope they’re okay…
the only time I believe the Enquirer is when the story is political, otherwise I think they’re full of crap.
IO think CZJ and MD are fine, I hope so anyway-they are really cute together.
Michael will be on the RC for the Oscars NE is always wrong on breakup stories.A fewer examples Oprah and Steadman,Dr Phil and Robin,Rachel Ray and her husband.They are good on crime stories.
Wasn’t CZJ also in Rock of Ages? Not that the film was a big success, but technically it’s another musical.
She also won a Tony for A Little Night Music on Broadway. I thought she was too over the top but whatever…
She was, although she wasn’t great in it. She’s been much better in others.
Michael now appears old and frail. Even if his health is good, it’s rare for older cancer survivors to recover the same level of energy that they had pre-treatment. Younger patients bounce back better. It’s possible to recover some degree of pre-illness stamina, depending on the toxicity of various medications, if one undertakes a pretty aggressive physical rehab program. My guess is that the travel + 2-3 days of non-stop partying would be very tiring for him.
Even cancer survivors in their 20s and 30s can take years recovering their previous strength and stamina after treatment. Chemo is hell.
Significant age difference, cancer that has made the older partner age even more rapidly, son by previous marriage in prison, two young children of their own and bipolar disorder severe enough to require at least one in-patient hospitalization. That’s a huge amount of stuff for any couple to deal with and preserve a marriage. Even with their kind of money and status it has to be tough to do. I wish them luck.
Delia, I was about to say the same thing. The stress on this marriage from everything you said is enough to tear any couple apart.
And been in trouble twice in prison. He screwed up once with drugs inside and had his prison sentence increased from five to ten years. It’s Federal prison. You do your time. No reduced time for good behavior. That must weigh heavily on Michael.
My attention went to disgusting headline ‘Bloody Crime Scene Photos’ regarding Mindi McCready. What the heck is the world coming too when people will actually want to see the bloody picts of a suicide?! So gross. 🙁
I am so with you on that!! I hate when I accidentally stumble onto crime scene or casket photos. Last week I was watching Selena’s last concert on youtube and one of the videos on the side was a tribute but the picture was of her in her casket and it really upset me. I was bummed out about it for the rest of the day.
Is she his nurse?
Can’t see that.
Not sure about this story but NE is wrong about the Mindy McCready headline because the reports are that she didn’t leave a suicide note.
FOR ONCE,in their lifetime ,why dont magazines say something different ,like some kind of detox for their own brain “that ppl are not splitting or riippin but are havin a healthy long married life”
She had a number of (mental) health issues as well, so it would not be terribly surprising if they split. Despite the creepy 25 year age difference, I never minded them together because they kept their lives very private (live on Bermuda a big chunk of the year).
There are couples all the time going to events without their partner or spouse, I mean what is wrong with that. I go to events all the time without my boyfriend. And he does too. Neither has anything to really promote other then Michael’s HBO movie. Besides some celebs don’t feel the need to walk every RC. Many go to the Oscars only if they are nominated or presenting. Otherwise they sit it out. Which is why there have not been a lot of Big Named celebs at the awards shows this year.
Catherine and Michael seem to love each other.
Hate being the spouse at events myself. Always bring a separate car, act super gracious during event, then take off and let Hubby carry on post event without me.
They always seem miserable to me, so I could believe this.
They have stood by each other through his major crisis and through her chronic illness with it’s inevitable recurrences. Plus the crisis with his son. If these two aren’t solid, who is?
Agreed on the Oscars. He is Hollywood Royalty-I wonder how many times he has been? He can stay home with the kids (who WILL be bored) and watch Mom on TV.
All I care about is Adele. Oh, and Nora Jones. Love her, and she’ll be a gracious loser (unlike Swifty was at the GG’s).
LOL at people always rushing to throw Swift under the bus..her response is not what everyone made it out to be.
It would be very sad for them to break up after having gone through such hard times with his cancer then her with her bipolar illness. It seems to me they truly love each other to have overcome the worst, I think these two are strong people and they belong together.
It’s true. She was at my job In Beverly hills 2 days ago being very cozy with a mystery man. They left holding hands. She is very pretty (tallish) in person. Sad to say but I think her and Michael will announce split soon.
That’s pretty good evidence! LAGirl – was this in a restaurant? It seems celebs often at first deny a split and then it happens later anyway. They may be leading somewhat separate lives but want to protect the kids from rumors for now. But they lasted a long time for Hollywood, especially considering the age difference and their many issues over the last 5 years.
It reminds me when my husband was told by a co-worker his girlfriend saw me out hanging on a good-looking guy, arms around each other. He burst out laughing. I was out with my two friends, one a female, and the other one was my gay best friend.
I hope it’s something like that. I hate to think of them breaking up, but they’ve had a rough couple of years.
@Jayna…I have a similar story. Two of my husband’s co-workers saw me eating dinner with a gay male friend and were concerned that I was cheating on him…apparently they had a big discussion as to whether or not they should tell my husband that they saw me out with another man. People have a tendency to make assumptions…I do it too sometimes.
In some cases that is very true but from what I saw that was not the case. Body language! I’m sure you weren’t snuggling at the dinner table with your friend and he not had his hand on your thigh… She looked very much smitten with the guy.
Just like Michael wasn’t going to the Oscars with her, and it turns out not only is he going, but he’s a presenter. Talk about getting it wrong.
I don’t think they’ll split up but their marriage has been under an enormous amount of strain for the last couple of years. With Michael’s cancer, his son’s drama, and Catherine admitting to her own battles with mental illness. It has not been an easy road for these two. Despite their fame and fortune I don’t envy their situations.
I hope it’s not true, but with the age difference it’s almost bound to happen.
She is so snobby …she wont admit to this until the ink is dry.What a phoney.
man, he’s looking like a gramps. i used to fancy him! *shudder*
I’m sorry not wanting to go to the Oscars is one thing. Not going when your wife is performing – quite another. I believe this one.
I believe. I read an article a loong time ago saying that the Enquirer used to just make things up, and then found all the law suits too expensive, so they started doing the old fashioned ‘finding things out and breaking them first’ journalism. While they have gotten it wrong a few times, and I agree with the previous poster who said their Hollywood stuff is not as rock solid as their political gossip, I am still pretty comfortable with their hit rate. As has been said- the stresses they have been under as a couple are big. And no matter how many years she is fudging- she is a gorgeous woman whose facial work has been excellent and has held up. When she married him he was still mighty foxy. Its always a risk when marrying older– but when one person ages so much more more and has more serious health battles, its gotta be weird, no matter how much love is there and how much everyone wants to be above that. I think it would be hard for me, maybe on either side of it, but definitely if I was the older, less babely, and frailer half of the couple. It would stress me out!
@LAgirl: So, you saw Catherine Zeta-Jones with a mystery man at your job in Beverly Hills two days ago? That’s funny, because I saw her two days ago having dinner with Michael Douglas at a restaurant in New York City. By the way, they seemed fine.
By the way catherine zeta jones is not tall and in person she looks in her 50’s as she is!
I was in the second row when I saw her perform in her play on Broadway a few years ago(A Little Night Music.) She is about 5’8″ tall, shapely, and has a gorgeous face and figure. She’s definitely still in her forties. The dates of her first television show filmed in England when she was a young teenager debunk any idea that she’s much older than she says.
Sorry, i have good enough sources who can confirm otherwise she is not 43 that is a fact. And she is roughly 5’6 and a half…do you find this tall?
Plus, as a person she is not nice very narcissist.
I believe most movie stars are narcissist to some degree. As to height and age, I believe if you check it out, Wikipedia is pretty close. She may be shaving 3 or even 5 years off her age, but not 10 or 15. Reports have it that she’s a smoker and quite a drinker, so I’m actually surprised her skin has aged as well as it has. Facially I think she has started to look older over the past couple of years since all the strains in her life started.
Sadly, whatever age she is, she still looks like MD’s daughter in these photos…. grand-daughter even 🙁
Yes, Michael was still healthy and good-looking when she married him. Hopefully that’s what she still sees when she looks at him. But between the age difference and all his issues – the ex-wife suing him, the son’s continuing jail problems, and his health issues, Catherine married into a tough deal, in my opinion.
CZJ began her career in France, in the 1990 TV movie “Les Mille et une nuits” (who later was claimed as a theater movie…). She was around 20 at the time… all the TV newspapers talked about her and how she played this sexy role. Let’s say she was 22. It would make her 45 in 2013. I don’t think she’s older.
About how tall she is, I would say her father in law Kirk Douglas was a short man (but damnly sexy and magnetic !), and so Michael Douglas is not that tall neither, because his mother is the same height as Kirk. CZJ is IMO not very tall. Now that Michael is old and sick, he maybe came to be shorter (that’s a biological thing), but CZJ is still shorter than him without heels.
As for their marriage, I think the age difference is now coming to an end. You can’t be on one way a sex-symbol in front of the medias, and in the other way the nurse of your husband and maybe his father who’s in a wheelchair. That’s impossible. Plus her mind problems. I prefer her to split with her husband than in some years to have her hit him in some king of madness or frustration.
I just saw the National Enquirer today and read the full article. The headline is a bit overblown. It sounds like he briefly took some time in a house by himself down the road, then they got back together. He also just bought her mother a $2 million house near them in NY. Doesn’t sound like a couple planning a divorce to me once I read the whole story. I guess time will tell.