In February of this year, Benjamin Millepied suddenly resigned from his artistic director position of the Opera de Paris. Many of us wondered if that piece of news wasn’t the first piece of a larger breakup/divorce story for Benjamin and Natalie Portman. Benjamin, who is French, took the position at Opera de Paris a few years after Natalie gave birth to their child, Aleph. They decided to move to Paris full-time (or thereabouts) and Natalie made a really big deal about the move in interviews. And then suddenly, it felt like the Opera de Paris was the biggest mistake. Millepied was not well-liked by the dancers or the bureaucracy of the institution, and he only made it 15 months in total. It felt like he was “all hype” with very few results. So was that the beginning of the end? Star Magazine thinks so:
Remember when Natalie Portman and her husband Benjamin Millepied were young and in love? Well, that may not be the case anymore. Portman, 35, was spotted at London’s Chiltern Firehouse, sans wedding ring, on June 24. “She was trying to have a good time, but it seemed like her mind was somewhere else,” says an eyewitness. “She kept rubbing her empty ring finger. She looked really sad.”
Natalie’s hinted in the past about the “disappointments” in her marriage to Benjamin, 39, to the press. In 2014, they moved to France with their son Aleph after the French choreographer was named director of dance at the Paris Opera Ballet, a position he left just 15 month later to return to his traveling troupe, the LA Dance Project.
“It’s been stressful,” says a source. “Their lives have been completely uprooted, and their relationship has taken a hit because of it.”
[From Star Magazine, print edition]
I always find it remarkable that Star Magazine manages to find so many people witnessing celebrity women doing the exact same thing: rubbing their ring fingers after taking off their wedding bands following a secret split. That being said, I found the photos of Portman leaving Chiltern that night (below), and it’s true, she wasn’t wearing her wedding ring. And she did look miserable. Hm… I wonder if they are going to split this year?
Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.
“Natalie’s hinted in the past about the “disappointments” in her marriage to Benjamin, 39, to the press.”
I find this story believable because, well, look at her face (though she does look like that most of the time anyway), but what disappointments? They’re leaving me hanging here…
They weren’t seen together since a moment so I can believe it
i think they saw the pics and then wrote that story.
so it could be true or not but Star does not know.
also never heard of this:
“Natalie’s hinted in the past about the “disappointments” in her marriage to Benjamin, 39, to the press”
what are they talking about?
I agree that’s the tabloids M.O. See a picture make up a BS story in hopes that what they printed was right.
That’s how they do the majority of stories.. they get pictures and created a narrative around the picture. If there isn’t a picture they go back in the past and pull pictures that have nothing to do with the situation to match the narrative. I have seen over and over people that work or worked for tabloids reveal how they create stories..
I had a fight with my BF this morning.. no one was around. So again how do the “INSIDERS” know what was done and said. They don’t..
Bingo.
I can’t remember specifics, but I do not remember being impressed with him. There haven’t exactly been glowing reports of him in the press and I got the general feeling he was controlling and a jerk.
I hope she’s ok, always liked Portman. I remember seeing The Professional and thinking she was such a strong actress even as a child. She’s very talented.
He’s also a cheater – he was living with a girlfriend when he got together with Portman. And as for Portman she has a history of chasing after men in relationships.
She does? She has always seemed so perfect to me. Like not of this world perfect. I honestly, and I say this with no snark, can’t imagine anything going even slightly wrong in her life. Even the Star Wars movies….they were bad, but she made a ton of money and went on to win an Oscar. I doubt she’s getting divorced. Maybe her 5 pound ring was being cleaned?
+1. I thought he was married though when they started up, buy it could be a gf. Ive always been ‘meh’ about her since then and he’s always had a rep as difficult and controlling. If they are split, well……
I’m always dubious about how people are represented in the press, but I do remember that almost nobody but Natalie had anything good to say about him. Everyone else had a range of feelings from lukewarm to outright disdain and scorn. So there’s that, for whatever it’s worth.
I, too, was not impressed. I always got the impression that he hooked up with Portman to boost his own image.
as for Portman, I used to really like her…I think she’s talented (the Professional is a GREAT movie), but over the years, there have been things that turned me off. like her support of Roman Polanski, and her equating the morality of eating meat to rape.
I know, I know, she tried to “clarify” her comments, but she comes across as so darned pretentious sometimes…eh, still think she’s talented but not someone I’d go out of my way to see in film.
@doofus- I totally agree with you! I used to love Portman so much. She really is quite talented and apparently she is incredibly smart(when she was at Harvard, she did a semester overseas in Israel and a friend of mine was at the same uni and had only glowing reports of her) but her public stance on many issues has caused me to dislike her. The two incidents you reference specifically.
As to her husband, I remember after the initial flush of them being together, there were several unfavourable reports about him- everything from his motives and his work ethic.
Who knows if this report is true .. I am inclined to believe it because I have always gotten an opportunistic vibe from her husband.
“t over the years, there have been things that turned me off. like her support of Roman Polanski,”
This is the primary reason why I mentioned in the Blake Lively thread that I didn’t think there was much difference between Lively and Portman when people were talking about how much smarter Portman is than Lively.
@perplexed – I think, at their core, they’re both clueless privileged white ladies but I feel like Portman has some genuine interest in being more articulate or knowledgeable for the actual merits of being that way, rather than for the attention she could get off it (which is the vibe I get off Lively).
Let’s put it this way – Lively is the one who will make noises in an interview about taking a job only so she can go to an Ivy League college (code for: smart people go there! ergo, I am smart!) in New York part-time, while Portman is the one who put her money where her mouth was and actually, you know, WENT to an Ivy League college.
I’m not saying going to an Ivy League college makes you smart, but one of them can string a sentence together while the other appears to have cotton wool for brains. Though neither of them is as smart as they think.
@sunny
A friend of mine was at Harvard with her. Apparently she consistently cut the line in the cafeteria and it used to piss him off. For some reason, that always made me giggle.
“@perplexed – I think, at their core, they’re both clueless privileged white ladies but I feel like Portman has some genuine interest in being more articulate or knowledgeable for the actual merits of being that way, rather than for the attention she could get off it (which is the vibe I get off Lively).”
She did sign a petition in defence of Roman Polanski, so while I think she can crack open a book and study it mechanically, I don’t necessarily think that she’s an astute critical thinker. She’s educated and accomplished, but not more wise than everyone else in Hollywood. That’s all I’m saying.
I can understand Portman’s support of Polanksi – at the time, the general population had forgotten the extent of his crimes, and even his victim was in support of the legal battle being dropped (which we now know was because it was a traumatic incident that she can’t move on from when it’s brought up again and again, but that wasn’t so well known at the time). Not to mention, Portman is well known as being incredibly proud of her Jewish faith, and Polanski is a Holocaust survivor. I’m just saying, I get how she ended up signing that petition, because a lot of people signed without really knowing what happened in the case (like Emma Thompson). Aside from Ms. Thompson, no one recanted their signature on that petition, they just let it fade from public consciousness.
“I can get Portman’s support of Polanksi ”
I still don’t get it. The girl was 13. That, at the very least, was known.
She also said paps taking her picture is like rape as well. Oh that Harvard education!
Do you guys remember that NYTimes profile of him, where he kept the reporter waiting multiple times and generally acted the fool?! I don’t know if we’re allowed to do links, but look it up – you will not be disappointed! Then there was the whole shadiness with the live-in, long-term girlfriend he supposedly ditched for her. Giiiiiiiiiirl……
Well shiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.
I obviously just ignored the bad stuff about her. Sorry, supporting Polanski is not ok. *exes Portman off the diwndling list of celebrities that aren’t assholes
I always kind of felt like we were all waiting for her to realize that he is a giant douche and leave him.
Exactly!! Who didn’t see this coming?
She was wearing the ring at Wimbledon this weekend.
You’re right. Her ring looks big too.
Maybe the ring was itchy..
That’s what I was wondering…was he with her there?
No,he was not there
It’s not like Portman is known for her cheerful and bouncy nature. I mean, I look mad, when I go grocery shopping and find people switching mangoes from one case to another, so they only get ripe ones. Thankfully, there are no cameras there to capture my disdain when I mentally raise a plethora of middle fingers meant for the offender. Maybe, she started eating dairy and gaining weight,so the ring doesn’t fit anymore?! Who knows?? Marriages break up and it’s not a happy affair. All I am saying, it’d be weird if she did break up and looked over the moon.
You would have had fun watching my ex husband switching out bad strawberries from one container to another! “Why should I pay for the bad ones?” he asked. I must admit he had a valid point.
He does have a valid point and he is right. I wouldn’t want bad produce either. There is a difference between bad and ripe produce though. This guy was taking all the ripe mangoes from one box, exchanging them and was overstuffing his own box. Anyways, I used that moment of being pissed off in the public place as an analogy to Portman being “miserable”.
I’m getting almost inexplicable enjoyment from the mango and strawberry escapades. Thank you!
You’re right. She does always look miserable.
I look like Portman does in these photos when some stranger on the street yells at me “Smile, honeeeeey!!!!”. I cringe to think what audio accompanies these pap shots.
And Portman has a very firm stance on being papped during personal time with family/friends.
Most people do not smile going down the street. People that do, always look psychotic to me. Just saying….
I’ve been described as being a “wall” when I walk down the street, I have my music on and I’m going my own way and I don’t see anyone else. However, I do sometimes laugh or smile to myself, I’m hilarious in my own mind.
Marie–ugh, do people actually do that in your corner of the world? I would kill. With my death glare.
@Snarky. Yes – here in the states it is very common thing, and a pet peeve that got a good dose of internet attention. Women going about their business being approached by men – total strangers – who instruct them to “Smile!” Happens in the grocery store aisle, in line at the ATM, in elevators, rushing to catch the light rail.
Jessica Williams did a “snarky” rebuttal for John Stewart’s The Daily Show back in 2014 – complete with death glare. Look for “The Masters of Sexism” episode
She looks …. different in these photos. A lot more angular.
Re: relationship issues: it could be the normal ups and downs in a marriage, who knows.
I think she had another nose job a few months ago. It makes her face look a lot different. Plus, she’s getting older.
I don’t think she’s ever had a nose job tbh. Her face hasn’t ever looked surgically tampered with to me, and considering she’s been in the spotlight since her tween years, it’d be really easy to spot if she did get one.
There are side-by side photos where her nose looks smaller now than from her teenage years. I have no idea if she actually did some tweaking or if her nose just got smaller and thinner from weight loss, but her face looked more interesting when her nose was slightly larger (like when she was 15 or whatever). She’s one of the few people who was more unique looking as a 15 year old than as a woman in her 30s.
She looks rough, but I feel like it’s a reflection from the inside…
Teacakes, she definitely had one early in her career. Her nose changed shape almost entirely. And it looks thinner and sharper now than it did even a couple years ago.
@Samtha – now that you say it, I notice her nose does have a slightly pinched look here, possibly a post-pregnancy nose job since I hear pregnancy can make the tip of the nose wider/larger.
But idk what kind of crazy person would look at her and say she of all people needs a rhinoplasty – her face was perfectly proportioned even as a child/teenager.
@teacakes:
This is so for real. The tip of my nose has always been a little bit tilted and very defined, and post pregnancy, it isn’t huge, but it is not as defined. I actually contour it when I have to be in pictures/give presentations/ lead large group meetings because it bugs the F*CK out of me.
I didn’t believe it until I saw the photos. I mean tights with shorts?!?!?
That was my “to go” look when I was 15, exactly 15 years ago. Lol
I hope the rumors aren’t true. Breakups specially when children are involved are always very sad.
But wasn’t the rumor that the child might be Darren Aronofsky’s? I know that Millepied has been the father (figure at least) Aleph’s whole life, so it would still be painful, but I wondered if that old rumor still holds water.
I know! And frayed jean shorts at that!
the 90s fashion is truly back. unfortunately.
I know. It’s hilarious because my nieces are now wearing all the same things I wore back then.
Don’t judge but I don’t mind if the tights with shorts thing comes back. I’m 44 and self conscious about my legs but I would feel safe wearing shorts if I could wear tights with them. I loved it back in the 90’s, even when I had nice (young) legs, so, yeah, I don’t mind if they are back.
Agreed Cindy and Val! I’m relieved some 90s fashion is coming back. The naughts were were a decade of homogenous, badly designed fug IMO.
This is pretty normal around Europe!
Is that supposed to make it less ugly?
Yeah, her outfit sort of took my focus away from the story. If you are going to do tights with shorts, do it right. It just looks like she hasn’t done laundry in a while and she grabbed whatever was clean.
BTW – I heard from a dancer, that Milliped is not very well liked in by dancers in LA. I thought that was interesting.
I am pretty sure I’ve seen shorts with tights in Europe, or maybe it was in London. London is cold. So I assume this outfit is normal there.
But I think the tights weren’t sheer. That is the only thing that looks strange.
It was actually a popular look in the early nineties. A fad that never needs to come back.
This blind item is about them then:
The whispers that this leading actress may be splitting from her husband are getting louder. Are they true?
Yes!
However, we are not surprised. The original purpose of the marriage was to convince people that her husband is the father of her baby. He’s not, but they did stay married for a couple of years, so… purpose served. Now they can both move in a new direction.
Does this mean that she will now get together with the baby’s real father? Maybe! He is available again, too. Purely a coincidence, right?
—————————
The rumours about her and Darren Aronofsky were there since the beginning of this relationship.
Maybe she’ll get with Sean Penn. Just kidding.
She has a classy image, but she’s always seemed a little “flighty” when it comes to men.
Classy in public but lot of encounters say she’s very rude and snobbish. Also she stalked Gael Garcia Bernal in Argentina while he was already with another woman.
She’s already been there – rumours where she was one of the many starlets that he was doing on the side while still married to Robin Wright. Sienna Miller was another one.
I hope he didn’t go for it, I love Gael Garcia Bernal so much… it would break my heart.
She and GGB were together for a while.
Portman also carefully crafted a brainy girl image…except she seems to shoot it to pieces nearly every time she opens her mouth. Her classy image always struck me as the same.
AIt’s a PR concoction.I doubt she is really that much more brilliant than the average, and I doubt she is that much more classy than the average.
As soon as Black Swan was nominated and her pregnancy/engagment was announced those rumours disappeared. However the Portman/Aronofsky affair story was doing the rounds from the time of pre production and his infidelity was cited as why he and Rachel Weiss broke up.
The rumors started with her pregnancy http://blindgossip.com/?p=28147
Gael Garcia Bernal is muyyyyyy caliente and has been a dreamboat of mine since I was a young teen girl watching Y Tu Mama Tambien… But that’s pretty weird, where’s the story on that??? This outfit says to me: “I have given up today.” So. I don’t know. Never heard the Aronofsky rumors but Rachel Weisz did okay on the rebound there. Nice one Rachel. She seems a bit uptighty to me but she has a baby and this has to be upsetting if it’s true. She looks severely… Something…
http://www.peopleenespanol.com/article/gael-garcia-bernal-y-natalie-portman-juntos-en-buenos-aires
Gael and Natalie. I saw a YT video of her when she went to Argentina to see Gael , and it is shameful how paparazzis treated her.
I almost forgot about that. Didn’t he and Rachel Weitz breakup the year Black Swan came out?
She certainly upgraded…
don’t forget that Weisz worked with Craig during Black Swan’s filming or in same moment
…They made a horror movie, and they had been friends for a long time. After that, he also dumped Satsuki for Rachel.
Both of them dumped their Significant Others who were practically de facto spouses, for that new love. Funny thing, they did not get the “Cheater” scarlett letter tattooed on their foreheads.
“Funny thing, they did not get the “Cheater” scarlett letter tattooed on their foreheads.”
I think the only reason that people speculate about Darren possibly cheating with Natalie is because she got pregnant with a kid who looks so much like him. And then married a ballet dancer that she emphatically said during an award speech likes to sleep with her. Had the kid not been conceived (by whoever — him or the ballet dancer) and popped out looking so much like Aronofsky, I don’t think any rumours would have come about.
Yes about Nat, even while he ws with a long tme gilfried who had to move after he was openly being with Portman. ..but I was referring to Daniel and Rachel.
I always thought that Aleph looked a lot like Darren Aronofsky!!
The blind can be about Scarlet Johansson and her husband .They are married for 2 years whereas Nathalie Portman is married since 4 years
How could that blind be about Johansson?
I don’t think Scarlett had been with a director. And I don’t think there were rumours of Scarlett marrying someone to save her image. And no one thinks Scarlett’s baby resembles another guy who isn’t married to her.
No. Scarlet’ baby daughter looks exactly like her French husband.
This. If they haven’t been able to work through the parentage issue around their son by now, the relationship is likely over.
What in the name of Yayweh is she wearing????????
LOL that made me snort. Yeah it’s like she wanted to get dressed for going out emulating a normal French girl, then remembered that she misses LA so threw the shorts on top of it
Why are we not asking Yahweh about the shoes?
Sad when Natalie Portman appears to have borrowed from Avril Lavigne’s closet. Yuck!!!!
Holy F**K. Thank you someone else for mentioning the horror of this ensemble! Plus the shoes! I cannot even concentrate on her marriage until I get over this fashion don’t.
HAH! 🙂 appreciate this post.
That said, I sincerely hope none of this is true.
(The tights are true.) What? I don’t think they’re that bad! Just too sheer.
On Kate Moss, that outfit probably would have looked fine. Natalie is beautiful, but her fashion sense has always been pretty bad.
@perplexed maybe 10 years ago. Now? nope, kate’s lifestyle is catching her up
Kate still looks good in clothes though even if her face looks not as great.
Natalie has always been stunning in the face, but when you look at her street style it’s always been bad.
It’s like she raided my 90s high school closet.
People have to get rings fix all the time. You have to remove them and give to jeweler for this to occur.
Agree. And some people just don’t wear rings. I’m paranoid I’m going to lose the center stone – it’s already happened to me once. And for some reason, the only place I can lose weight is my fingers. Too scary wearing it.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they split.
Is it just me or is she aging terribly? I know she smokes like a chimney but yikes…
I don’t know if it’s the smoking or her diet. She’s never looked the same since she dropped all that weight for Black Swan, it really aged her.
Smoking will do a number on the skin. It amazes me that so many actresses smoke considering how much aging it causes.
I think it might be a combination of her not wearing the ring, the (usual) cranky look on her face….and that tragic outfit she’s wearing which probably would have looked fine on her when she was 15.
I agree, the weight loss for Black Swan really aged her. Collagen and just general radiance doesn’t always bounce back from the skeletor look on some actresses. Kate Bosworth and Nicole Richie have similar problems, they both look 100 years old sometimes. Can’t be good for the skin/hair/teeth/life/overall sanity to be 80 lbs every now and again. To me, she’s never looked the same since.
Sean Penn seems like such a pretentious ninny, for all his stellar acting moments.
Mila Kunis said that after the weight drop for her role in Black Swan, her body was never the same once she gained it back.
I was initially taken aback to learn Natalie smoked, but then I’m not surprised. She spoke on Charlie Rose that, when working with director Mike Nichols, he was sending her to vocal coaches with the mandate to “get rid of your little girl voice”. Smoking is a device many actors use to that effect. Benedict Cumberbatch had a very different voice early in his career. Smoking definitely helped him reach his signature tone.
I find ring watch to be bizarre. People take off rings for a variety of reasons that have nothing to do with a split. The presence of a ring is the last thing people should be looking for when it comes to signs of a split.
For all we know she decided to wash the dishes before she left and just didn’t put the ring back on.
It’s weird to me, too. I don’t ever wear my wedding ring, since with a baby and a toddler running around, it would probably just get washed down the drain or stuck in a dirty diaper.
celebrities are not people ! LOL Half kidding, bc they know they’re scrutinized and that’s something the more they’re on top of the A list the more they know how to make statements without saying a word. She knows what’s she doing and she knows her missing ring would be noticed
Plus the hamster hands showing it wasn’t there. Translucent tights, shaggy shorts, smoker flats, pinched looks. Those particular shots make her look like she’s in pain. Maybe she really didn’t want to go out so just threw on anything.
It’s especially odd in this case, considering neither of them are American. I admittedly don’t know if wedding rings are common where she’s from, but I doubt it–most of the rest of the world views them as American nonsense.
If you’re talking about Natalie, she is American. She’s a dual citizen, and grew up in America. Her mother is American-born, I think, too.
I’m not sure how religious or non-religious Jewish people view rings, though.
I’ve always thought she was a fairly one-note actress who coasted for years on her looks and image (brainy Harvard actress, super studious and intellectual and doing all the Oscar bait) and one genuinely good performance as a child (Leon).
But even her incredible face isn’t enough to distract from that, er, outfit. Maybe she’s too sad to get dressed in something that doesn’t look dully deranged?
ITA!!
I also totally agree. The only good performance she ever gave (in my opinion) was in The Professional.
Agreed re the one-note acting. The expression she kept making in black swan (furrowed brow, feigned anxiety) was the same one she kept making in the other Boleyn girl when she was getting attacked by Henry VIII… Yawn.
Haven’t liked her since she left NYC for LA.
It is strange that she’s not wearing the ring. She’s a celebrity so she knows it will be noticed. She was trying to make some kind of a statement, whether it be marriage trouble or looking to stir up gossip to boost her image. Hard to say what, but she’s up to something.
Also, tights and shorts!?! Clearly something ain’t right in her world.
Natalie Portman is a total turd in person. We ran into her and her Jack Russell in the SoHo Marc Jacobs. It was just me, my visiting friend, Natalie, dog, and salesperson. I begged my friend not to talk to her and she went and asked for an autograph, pic, anything. Natalie told my friend she should have listened to me and then asked that her things be delivered. Bitch!
Rumours stem from somewhere. This wouldn’t surprise me at all if it were true. First, it’s a celebrity marriage…….Eh, that’s all I got.
That’s not true, Tabs make stuff up out of thin air all the time.
I still remember that she hooked up with noted turd Sean penn while he was still married. And the fact that she officially denied it kinda confirms it.
Natalie taught me that no matter how accomplished or beautiful an entertainer is, there’s no reason to genuinely look up to them. Between Penn (married at the time), Millepied (engaged and living with his gf at the time), and the rumors with Aronofsky? Three strikes and all that.
The fact she never commented on rumors but did with Penn was the end of me seeing actors as their public persona.
He must have found out the child she delivered isn’t his bio child. That will create a break in any relationship.
Yep there is a Blind Gossip item like this recently
If he found out now, as opposed to being in on the alleged “hoax” from the beginning, that would make way more sense.
She looked ecstatic at her wedding so the idea of her getting this guy to far being the father and looking thrilled about being married to a guy she didn’t truly want seemed off based on how happy she looked marrying him.
She hinted that to us few years ago. I am glad she getting off. I get to see my favorite Natalie again.
Shocker. They got pregnant after a short relationship, and since there was so much attention on her at the time, they became engaged. I got the impression it was a hot and heavy relationship between two narcissistic perfectionists which can’t be easy to maintain long-term.
Well that’s what happens when you start dating someone who was already taken. It’s called Karma and it comes back to you eventually.
I thought it was a hook up that became marriage because she got knocked up.
Pretty sure he had a girlfriend at the time.
And Portman was/is a bit like a lowkey Swifty just with her public image on a better lock. I remember when she turned down playing a nun because she couldn’t grasp the concept of taking a vow of chastity. She’s not like her image presents her but people hear it so much they absorb it by osmosis. Her people are good, I mean she got an Oscar for Black Swan (Closer would have been a better pick but Black Swan? No), come on.
So, not surprised she might be bored now. Don’t think she intended or wanted to marry him, this isn’t like Bennifer 2.
Natalie shouldn”t have married him anyway. Shouldn”t date a co worker anyway if they are going to use you. Blake lively does has talent as she does work. No one mention Rachel bilson who do not have any talent but use people. She haven”t work since she had her child in 2014. So people should say nothing about Natalie or Blake lively. Both are hard working actresses. Star magazine should do a story on Rachel bilson and how her relationship is. Hope Natalie can get pass this and move on with her life.