I’ve always thought that Colin Firth and Livia Giuggioli had a perfect, classy marriage. They met and fell in love quickly, they got married and had two sons (who are never used for publicity). Livia and Colin split their time between Italy and England. He’s an Oscar-winning actor, she’s a Vogue writer and advocate for sustainable fashion. They seemed to have it all – money, respect, admiration, and oh right, they just seemed perfectly suited for each other. But Livia got bored with perfection, and she had an affair. The reason we know about this is because the guy with whom she had an affair is now stalking her. This sounds like the plot of a gender-reversed Fatal Attraction, but apparently it’s real.
Colin Firth and his wife revealed she had an affair with the man she has now accused of stalking her. Livia Giuggioli accused an Italian journalist of harassing her with “frightening” messages and police are now investigating, according to British newspaper The Times. The 48-year-old film producer, who married the Oscar winner, 57, in 1997, claimed journalist Marco Brancaccia, 55, was stalking her, although he denied the accusation telling the publication that she was lying to hide their relationship which occurred between 2015 and 2016.
Firth’s rep did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment. In a statement obtained by The Times, the couple confirmed the relationship, saying, “A few years ago Colin and Livia privately made the decision to separate. During that time Livia briefly became involved with former friend Mr. Brancaccia. The Firths have since reunited.”
The statement continued, “Subsequently, Mr. Brancaccia carried out a frightening campaign of harassment over several months, much of which is documented. For obvious reasons, the Firths have never had any desire to make this matter public.”
The couple shares two sons together, 16-year-old Luca and 15-year-old Matteo.
“The reporting this week on this case is understood to be the consequence of a leaked court document. This is greatly to be regretted,” the statement concluded. Italian prosecutors requested Brancaccia’s indictment, according to ANSA, the publication that Brancaccia remains employed by. Brancaccia, 55, denied the allegations to the newspaper, saying they were “romantically involved…She wanted to leave Colin for me,” he said, adding that the marriage had “been over for years.”
He continued, “My ‘stalking’ consisted of two messages via WhatsApp after she ended our relationship in June 2016, and an email. I wrote an email to Colin about my relationship with Livia, which I now regret sending, and she filed a complaint against me for stalking out of fear that I could go public with what she had revealed to me about her marriage and work.” Brancaccia said, “In a year she sent me hundreds of messages of love, photos and videos, even a diary,” adding that Firth had shown “understanding.”
Holy sh-t this is messy. To me, it sounds like Livia and Colin were never really officially separated or anything, and Livia just straight-up had an affair. And then she came to her senses or got bored, and she ended it with an email. And then Marco Brancaccia went all Fatal-Attraction on her, contacted Colin Firth and sent threatening and/or harassing messages, emails, whatever to Livia. I mean, I feel bad for Livia – it sounds like this whole thing has been awful, and God knows, no woman deserves to be “punished” for a sexual indiscretion by being harassed and worse. That being said… I really feel sorry for Colin Firth, because OMG.
(Also: If you tweak this story a little bit, it could be the plot of the next Bridget Jones movie.)
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Just reading the header makes me lol. Sorry. 😁
IKR! I love me some Mr. Darcy, but damn. I don’t even want to know what kind mess goes on in his personal life. I’m giving this story a hard pass.
Colin is the man of many woman’sdream (all thought the reality of day to day marriage may be a different story) . This means anyone can cheat! World is upside down, the sky is falling!
Yep just goes to show that women cheat too but somehow gets less shit then men for it.
how is she getting less shit for it? the guy is stalking and dragging her in public and ruining her life.
But when a woman is the ‘other woman’ in an affair with a married man, she gets more shit for it. More than single men who sleep with another man’s wife, and more than men who cheat on their wives. So men don’t exactly get the short end of the stick when it comes to cheating.
Lizzie please understand the comment before you reply. It’s a general statement of how men who cheat gets ripped apart, esp by women but when a woman cheats she doesn’t get much criticism. This has nothing to do with her stalker.
For all we know they separated because he had an affair, and she had a rebound thing with an old friend. We have literally been told nothing except that they briefly separated. We have no idea why.
I would say she ruined her own life by cheating
Colin showed “understanding “?! This Livia is not good enough for him. She had publicly said she never got the whole love for Mr.Darcy type of guy, because he is boring and brooding. Of course she had an affair with an Italian journalist 😀 My, god, Firth needs to dump her ass.
I second that. No man or woman should tolerate cheating and someone as catchy as Colin can do so much better
For some people, cheating isn’t their hill to die on. A lotttt of people work through infidelity. I think it’s a little different here because it’s been made so public and she’s constantly made it seem like she’s above him, so that alone would be the nail in the coffin, you know?
Stars, they’re just like us!
They say they were separated at the time though.
But the guy says they weren’t .. she probably trying to save face
So you are going to take the word of the guy that WASN’T a party to the Firth marriage over the word of the woman who was a party to the Firth marriage? Only Colin and Livia know the ins and outs of when/if they were separated.
They’re trying to save face.
Ytbtet
Nope. The guy says they were separated.
There are literally tons of photos of them out together in public during the time they are claiming they were separated. Google search the evidence is there. They were out in public all the time together; perhaps separated and covering it up? Possibly.
More likely they had an open-type marriage, or in fact she just straight up cheated. Which she should not be harassed for either way.
But “the guy” had frightened them enough to make them go to the police over this and have their private lives made public to be picked over. I wouldn’t call him a reliable source…
TheOtherSam, they have children together. Are you expecting them never to be in public together if they are separated? That isn’t realistic.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they separated because f Firth. I love him, but I don’t think it’s easy to be an actor’s wife.
Ehhh…separated could mean 100 things. Maybe they just needed some time apart to figure out where they are at and didn’t agree to see other people. Therefore, by technicality, it’s still cheating. Unless you ask Ross.
I heard from people who worked on the first The Kingsman film that he showed up drunk on set. It could be a reason for or result of this mess. Who knows?! I just feel sorry for the kids.
Whoa! What a mess! Yeah I’m not sure I buy the “separation” portion, but the decision to reconcile and forgive (and try to make her look slightly better) is obviously Colin’s business. I won’t judge that.
And while cheating is gross period and I think less of her for it, no one deserves to be stalked and harassed. That’s inexcusable.
I’m with you Mia4s. Cheating is absolutely awful, but people live their marriages as it suits them. I know several couples where one partner has tried to forgive snd frget. It worked for some, but not for others.
My daughter is being stalked and harassed daily via text and phone. It is the partner of one of her female friends from school. They wanted her to be in a polyamorous relationship with them. She made it clear at least two years ago that she wasn’t interested. They kept visiting, trying to sweeten her up, but in the last 6 months he has become utterly obsessed, probably because my daughter went public with her relationship with a gentleman who has loved her for years. He is a lovely man who treats her like gold, but the stalker insists she should be with him (and his female partner) and will not tolerate her cheating. She has deliberately not seen them, and has not replied to any text messages. She has blocked their numbers and deleted them from social media, but now he calls on a private number, which she does not answer after beng caught out the first time he did this. Today he bombarded her with scary and threatening messages and she and her partner had to go to the police to report him. I believe new laws were recently introduced in our state (Australia) regatding using a carriage service to threaten, intimidate, incite, harass etc., so we’ll see what happens. What I’ve said is the bare minimum, but this guy does have mental health issues, as does his girlfriend. My daughter and her partner just want to be left alone.
How scary. I’m so sorry that’s happening to your daughter and I’ll be thinking of her. Things can get really messy with couple-friends. I ended up, sort of unwittingly, dating one of my friends and her boyfriend. It wasn’t something I did by choice, it just happened. She began to treat me like I was her sister-wife. Things got really weird, and they still are. I’ve done my best to distance myself. No stalking, though. I hope the best for your daughter.
I’m very sorry Annakist. Stalking is terrifying for all involved with the victim. I hope you all are able to resolve this issue soon so you can live in peace.
how terrible. i hope law enforcement is able to take some steps to keep her safe.
Oh my goodness, I hope the police are able to do something about this guy. That has to be so terrifying. I’m glad your daughter has your and her partner for support.
I am so sorry your daughter is going through this, that would be terrifying. I really hope the police can do something.
“the stalker insists she should be with him”
I can’t handle it when men insist they know who is “best” for a woman. It is the classic technique for predators who disguise themselves as “nice guys” to the rest of the world. I’m going to order you around, but I am going to pretend I am thinking of your best interests.
Thank you, all of you, for your concern, support and good wishes.
Yes, Tiffany, that’s exactly ly what he’s like – *Mr Nice Guy and sure, I’ll put a new globe in your headlight, and now you, my girlfriend and I are a threesome*. On February 13 he knocked on our door, holding a large plastic bag. He insisted on going to my daighter’s room. (She and her partner live with me.) I refused to let him m in there. He said he’d spoken to her and she’d okayed it. I didn’t believe him, because I knew she’d been avoiding them, and hadn’t seen or spoke with them since October. I called her at work and she said that under no circumstances did she want him in the house, much less her room, and that she had not spoken with him nor responded to his numerous texts that day. He finally left, leaving the bag with me. In the bag was a large box, full to the brim with red, pink and white rose petals, a fizzy bath bomb, a huge, Valentine’s Day bar of chocolate and a note. The note was addressed to “our darling, dearest girlfriend”, and instructed her to place half the petals in the bath, along with the fizzy ball and the rest of the petals were to be strewn on her bed. She could eat the chocolate while bathing or whilst in bed. THe had it all figured out. He/they completely gored the fact that she and her partner were now living together. We don’t know where/how his girlfriend of 6 years sits in this. She was texting my daughter, but not doing what this creep is doing.
As I said, she’s known his partner since school, and then, as a couple when he came on the scene. A couple of years ago his girlfriend even jokingly (?) referred to my daughter as their “other third”, at which time I made a point of telling them, “Nah-uh. We are accepting and inclusive people, and don’t judge people, but when it comes to that, she is straighty-180, completely hetero, and not interested in polyamory for herself.” It obviously made no difference, to him, at least.
Once again, thank you all for your kind words. 😊 🙏
I’m so sorry to hear this AnnaKist. While I was reading it I was wondering if you’ve heard of Paladin, a UK anti-stalking organisation? I only know about it because the woman who started it has a podcast where she talks about changes to stalking laws in the UK (like you mentioned in Australia). On her website she has a DASH risk assessment form, which is a really comprehensive checklist that victims of stalking can fill out (and bring to police). It has been designed to alert police and other agencies about the risk level that individual stalking victims have.
emma33, you listen to Real Crime Profile? I find it to be very interesting! I am so glad there is a resource for women that addresses the dangers of stalking.
The story of the separation has been confirmed by the guy. A two-years separation, he says.
Famous people with break babies and break hookups! LOL.
I never knew middle aged adults did breaks. Teens and 20’s yes. Interesting.
Sometimes they do? Like, I know lots of married people who undergo a period of separation and then depending on how things work out they either get back together or proceed with the divorce. It’s not exactly a “break” but like, it’s not unheard of either?
That’s what this reminded me off the break baby D wade had on Gabrielle union, I’m very suprise
Wow. Quite a story.
they took a break or really separated and she ended up in this guy’s arms. If it’s the first it was an affair, if the latter it is not. I think she tried to spin the story when her ex lover was spilling the beans and it didn’t look good for the picture perfect couple facade.
That sounds about right.
I was thinking that too – was it really an affair, or did she have a fling while separated? I’m guessing the separation is a cover story.
Either way, no one deserves to be stalked, and this has to be scary for their family. If they’ve been able to work it out and move past this, good for them. Hopefully this guy leaves her alone now that it’s all public.
They could both be telling the truth about having privately been separated (after all, if Colin was cheated on, he would be the one being betrayed). But even if she had an affair, stalking and harassment aren’t more acceptable just because cheating is wrong.
She either cheated and picked the wrong guy, or they have an open marriage and she picked the wrong guy. The fact that this guy is a journalist adds an extra layer to this story. I’m not sure who to believe.
Stalking via email seems even dumber than regular obsessive tendencies.
Her poor kids, they’re going to have to deal with this at school for sure.
Oh no – I was rooting for this couple…
Never expected this one, who else thinks this “separation” is to cover the fact that he took back a cheating wife. If they were separated for a year wouldn’t someone from his team notify the media about it?
he’s pretty private so I don’t think so and their kids would have been around 11 or 12 around there so they maybe wanted to protect them if they were still trying to work it out. I kind of believe it because in 2015 he was promoting Kingsman: The Secret Service and she was pretty absent, I think she came to about 2 premiers.
I’m not saying they didn’t struggle (Obviously they did if she had an affair) but I’m just calling BS on the separation claim. They’ve never hinted at a separation before, it seems odd to admit to the separation now just as this is coming out.
Either way, I hope Colin got to get it on with a nice chick while promoting his movies in 2015/16. Cause it’s not cool at all if she got to have her fling and he didn’t get any during that time period.
What DiligentDiva said.
This story broke in the British press afew days ago except it was framed as straight up stalking. Nothing about separations or marital problems. It was framed as ‘ her childhood friend started stalking her that police had to be called in’. It read like he was a random stalker whose connection to her was a long time ago in childhood and no more.
He gave his side of the story to the courts and suddenly the story from her side changed to ‘she had an affair with him during brief separation from her husband’. That immediately changed the tenor of the story because he wasn’t a random stalker.
I’m expecting the coverage of this story to get worse before it gets better. IMO, Firth’s publicist (Luke Windsor) isn’t very good at spinning any stories about the personal lives of his clients, especially if they are even remotely sensational. He does the bare minimum and then has to play catch up every time a new piece of info hits the press. Plus, he’s going to be fielding questions about Emma Watson and that guy from Glee at the same time, so it’s going to be a busy a few days. Then again, maybe he learned a few things from the gossip buzz saw that was Hiddleswift.
I don’t buy the separation. If so they wouldn’t have framed it that way. A rough patch sure. It’s a save face PR move but I agree with the above who thinks there may be more sordid details coming.
I don’t buy this guy is stalking her by sending an email. I think she is using the stalking to cover her tracks and make her look better. I’m speaking from experience of being stalked too. A stalker just doesn’t do email, they go to great lengths to make your life miserable. The email is a jaded lover. Sucks…but happens all the time. The guy probably felt used and retaliated ( doesn’t make it right though but also doesn’t sound like she was owning up to her actions either.).
I agree with Mo… considering the follow-up details appearing in british tabloids, it seems more complex/messier situation that the stalking claims alleged by Livia. It does seem like a jaded lover who did a regrettable action by emailing Firth (and recognized it afterwards) and I think -although who knows, I may be 1000% wrong- Livia may have freaked out and who knows how the situation was described to the authorities. I guess we’ll find out more in the next weeks (I don’t even want to pry into this pretty private matter… but it’s blowing up so much in the british papers….!)
Timeline of the ‘separation’ was also the same time he applied for his Italian passport. Not the actions of someone separating / separated from his wife and requiring stronger ties to *her* home country.
My theory is that she straight up cheated and the jump-off sent email to Colin after the fact (fatal attraction!!), which she explained away as stalking causing police to be called in. After the jump-off produced evidence of their year-long affair the story changed to her admitting to the affair, but explaining it away as ‘separation’ in a PR coverup to spare everyone’s blushes.
That said, no matter who did what to whom, no one deserves a bunny boiler / stalker or to be stalked at all.
Simultaneously, if she’s lying about him, he has every right to be aggrieved because stalking carries a lengthy custodial jail sentence in Italy.
She totally doesn’t deserve to be stalked or harassed. If she’s lying to cover her cheating ass then shame on her.
I feel bad for Colin Firth, I hope he got to have his fun as well. It’s only fair.
Except that presumably he would still want to be around for their children?
I’m just speculating here, but maybe they were going through a rough patch, and she was cheating. And then they decided to actually work on their marriage and she ended the affair as a result and that’s why they’re together right now. I don’t like that she cheated, I think that’s awful, but maybe he got the Italian passport to become closer to her roots as a result of them trying to patch things up. I mean, this is all just speculation, but I honestly don’t think that they would still be together today if the case was that she lied to him and kept her affaira secret. I also think we’d definitely have found out something about this a long time before now if the marriage was on the brink of falling apart. Or maybe I’m just reaching really REALLY hard to salvage this because I don’t want them to break up. D:
A: Let’s assume that you are right, it still looks dodgy on her part because the passport + trying to work to patch up the marriage would have happened in the midst of this very passionate affair that we now know lasted 11months.
actually, Italian courts are pretty subjective (ha, ha), and they look favourably on Italian cotizens. If Colin ever thought there will be or could be a fight for the custody, getting citizenship would look very good in court.
No they wouldn’t. He’s never been that type of star.
“If they were separated for a year wouldn’t someone from his team notify the media about it.”
No. Usually they don’t release this kind of information unless there is some kind of attention drawn to the matter and it needs clarification.
Wait you feel sorry for Livia?
Don’t cheat on your partner, folks.
No one deserves to be stalked and harassed.
It’s funny how if the roles were reversed and it was a man, say Brad Pitt that cheated on Angie, or Ben Affleck on Jen, and Ben or Brad were then stalked by the woman they had an affair with, people would be saying they deserved it, karma, on and on.
@Jayna
Would they say that? Because often when a man cheats a lot of people try to find ways to blame the woman he cheated on. There certainly has been a lot of vitriol directed towards Jennifer Garner over the years.
Gotta love ‘progressive’ feminist liberal women who will excuse behaviors like harassment, stalking, and Goddess knows what else just because they think a woman did something sexually immoral.
@Meriritt: She’s probably wrong, most rational, healthy people wouldn’t say a man deserves to be harassed and stalked over cheating. But with internalized misogyny, conversations about male bad behavior towards women always have to be derailed with “What About the Menz!!1!” cheerleader cries.
Yeah, most people don’t “deserve” the ugly things that can happen in this world, usually what we do to one another.
Yup no sympathy for her
Agreed. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
Whoa. I really don’t like reading this.
Me neither. So unpleasant.
Agreed and like any long-term relationship it’s a beautiful marathon, full of grace and disappointments – I hope they continue on their journey together. I also hope this stalker gets the message and moves on… and learns not to stalk anyone.
Wow. If Colin Firth gets cheated on, there is no hope for any of us.
It sounds like he tried to force her hand by going to her husband and it blew up from there.
Naw I think livid is the problem
Attempted to force her hand, that’s precisely what I was thinking. And I have a thought or two about this “private” separation.
Finally, Firth, dump her ass. It’s unforgivable, crazy, and it makes you look so bad. I mean, look at that dress. It’s round the bend. Don’t let her humiliate you in public like that!
Yeah she brought this insanity to the door of her family. No one deserves stalking but no one deserves to be cheated on either. But I think there is more going on.
The facts aren’t matching up so far. Someone somewhere would have known they were estranged. The British tabloids are relentless and he’s one of their more distinguished actors. I can’t believe there would not have been something.
Cheaters get no pity from me. This guy gets no pity from me. She doesn’t except if the stalking turns out to be true.
OMG, this makes me so sad! I know there are three sides to these stories (his, hers, and the truth) but seriously…who would cheat on Colin Firth???
But we don’t know what he’s really like.
Does that excuse cheating?
My point was that he may not be the fantasy husband the internet thinks he is,nothing more, nothing less.
Why are you being so mean to me!?
*clutches old “Pride and Prejudice” dvd*
Exactly, Mr Colin ‘Darcy’ Firth could be an insufferable person to live with. Why are people so shocked that she does not worship the ground he walks on, and actually cheated in him, he may be awful in real life for all we know. Maybe she sought solace with the wrong person. I feel sorry for the kids.
She has documentation but obviously, he does too. Guess she was bored with the estate and business he bought to please her..
Can’t focus on the story after seeing that pink dress.
Right??? I hate it but I can’t look away..
Well it is probably recycled and sustainable.
Seems like he has always had a thing for her and when he got his chance, she changed her mind and went back to her husband – the fact that he got CF involved strongly supports the harassment claim in that if he couldn’t have her he’d ruin the marriage for good thinking if Colin didn’t want her she’d go back to him. Its obvs he didn’t react well to her going back to CF.
Am not surprised by Colin sticking by her – by all accounts he is a very very decent guy.
Italy has very strict stalking laws and he could see jail time if found guilty.
Blogs say he wanted a payoff and the Firth’s refused to give in to his demands!
I feel bad for them. They clearly went through a difficult time in their marriage, decided to keep it private , but now have to make it public because of the stalker.
Same here. I mostly feel bad for Colin tho.
Strangest thing while reading this, I kept thinking of Meg Tilly. Sigh. They really loved each other but different lives and goals etc, it’s sad that they split.
Carrie1….me too. I wondered about Meg Tilly as well, it seemed so sad that they split up and she was so cute and down to earth. At the time Colin’s sister was all huffy that Meg thought he should leave all his friends etc behind to live with her in Canada. I thought well, what about her? Why should she be the one to leave everything behind?
They seem to still be on good terms and he’s involved in her other 2 kids lives, till now. Everything she says about him to date just makes it seem like he really is just this nice sweet person.
Ok the first image that popped into my head was Colin Firth’s character in Love Actually walking in on his wife’s affair 🙁
But in reality, we dont know what their marriage was like. They may have not legally separated and who knows if they were even living separately but it is entirely possible that they had taken a break if you will. So unless Colin comes out with his own statement contradicting what she says, I think we should take that statement at face value. And regardless of whether or not its consider cheating, its still awful to have someone harass you over several months.
The truth will end up coming out either way. Either she has the proof that he has sent her harassing messages over a period of months, or he has proof that he only contacted her twice and that it was not malicious in any way, and she is the one who sent him tons of messages.
Poor Colin. I’ve always loved him and they look so good together, but apparently she’s a mess.
Well, this is a sad, disappointing story. I’m sure he is not like his uber-perfect persona in real life, and maybe she simply got lonely because he was away working so much. Since we know little, I’m trying not to judge her too harshly, but agree the “we were on a break” story is PR cover.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Firthie had been cheating, too.
Me neither.
Yeah, or that there was some kind of “open-relationship” type of arrangement involved. Only that she chose to be with some Italian dude whose ego couldn’t bear to be the second guy.
Rich and famous people, man…!
That they have a quiet open marriage was my first thought, too. Hopefully, for the sake of their kids anyway, this resolves itself quickly.
A good reminder not to believe the façade, especially where Hollywood types are concerned.
Why wouldn’t you be surprised? It seems li ke she just straight up cheated.
Lol. I dont think this was a conventional marriage. Between the fact that they are both in Hollywood entertainment and Colins English upper crust thing, I think these are exactly the kind of couple that would consider monogamy uncivilised and restrictive. Thats probably what that journalist is implying when he says he knows scandalous things about their marriage. I think she chose a psycho who cant take a no and thats why they are taking steps to ensure it isnt framed as an affair.
Yes I think they have an open marriage but are discreet except this forced her to go public.
I think this is the likely scenario.
I agree
Lol, said the same thing above. Absolutely agree, especially on the “scandalous information” bit.
Yep, exactly. I’m not at all against open marriages or whatever, but you do need to be careful about who you bring into them.
I’m never surprised at these things. There’s always stuff going on behind the scenes – even in those marriages people like to put on pedestals.
I’m not fully buying the “stalking” accusation on this one yet. It sounds more like a very messy situation on both sides and one that Livia wanted to remain covered up.
I’m not sure. It’s possible she went to police so he’d be framed as unhinged if it became public news, but I can’t imagine she’d involve police unless they had proof he sent more than two texts and an email, as he’s claiming. Phone records and email archives would have to substantiate her claims because she could have just blocked him on WhatsApp.
And given that she’s admitting to the affair, the fact that she’s saying he’s stalking her is only making the story bigger. Why would she want that? I suppose she looks more like a victim this way, but I still can’t imagine her involving police unless he was threatening her.
“We were on a break!!!” – Ross Geller
First thing I thought of too, lol.
Bwahahaha! Perfect! 😂😂😂😂
I’M FIIIIIIIINE
Wow. Sad story. People are crazy.
Maybe I’m just being emotionally today, but this story made me sad, cheating is such a hurtful betrayal and action. Something about the story is off, I doubt they were separated but I could be wrong.
Yeah, they weren’t separated. That’s their spin on the story now to save face.
I really did think they were a happy couple. So much for that. Sexless marriage? I don’t know. She was bored?
I wouldn’t be surprised if they just had an open marriage or some kind of understanding. Saying they were separated looks better than admitting they allow each other to sleep with others.
My first thought too, KBB. How embarrassing either way, though.
I can’t even understand this. Why why why would anyone cheat on my Mr Darcy.
🙁
Yeah it sounds like Colin is covering her for her by saying they were separated.
Because he really is a gentleman, just like in the movies, riiiight???? He was always my fantasy crush; let me believe what I’ll choose!
A couple years ago Lainey posted about a small article Star ran, claiming she was spending all his money and running up insane credit card bills that was putting a strain on their marriage and leading to talks of divorce. Lainey noted that it was a super random and Comparatively mundane item for Star to publish as a throwaway which leads to the question of…why that story, unless it is actually true?
I don’t believe it. That seems strange since she doesn’t wear expensive designer clothes. On red carpets, she wears eco-friendly, sustainable outfits. She doesn’t seem like a materialistic person. She’s blasted celebrities for shopping compulsively and impulsively and often buying outfits for just one occasion. She buys clothes that she will wear a minimum of 30 times.
She is all about the planet and shopping ethically for sustainability.
She spent millions on a store that failed, a lifestyle website with 6staff that failed, a clothing line that failed. And they bought the building the store was housed in. I believe she drained quite a bit of money.
When she started her commercial ventures, every article written about her implied that Colin was financing them. Over the years that detail was dropped from articles about her and she started to be profiled in her own right without mentioning Colin or his money.
I’m surprised Star magazine would be interested in Colin Firth nevermind writing about his marital woes.
You know, the stalking and harassment withstanding, some good old fashioned affair, adult gossip is on point.
I WANT MORE !!!!
I’ll give you one for an LoL. When I found out my husband was cheating, I stayed up all night contemplating my first move. And then it came to me. I made his breakfast and lunch and packed them lovingly, as I always did. But I added dry dog food in generous amounts. About midday I texted him ” I only serve dog food to dogs.” He never said a word about it. I still laugh til I cry thinking about it. I still wonder about the look he must have had on his face when he knew he was busted.
Wow that’s quite amazing and honestly quite classy of you to even do that! Such a creative and very non-dramatic way to say “I know!” I’m assuming you are no longer with him? Even if you are, hopefully he knows you’ll actually put him in the doghouse.
Juls, I am sorry that happened to you and you are a genius.
@ Juls I am so sorry you were hurt like that but thumbs up for that response!
While I know finding your husband cheating is absolutely awful-you deserve an award for that!!!!
Thank you all, sincerely, for your replies. For any that have not experienced this betrayal: My instinct was to go full-on Lorena Bobbitt on him. But you have to take some time to chill and think about your future and your life without this person that is a part of you. And how to stick it to them in court without having your crazy reactions hurt your case. Taking half his retirement was more important in the end than castrating him literally. It’s sooooooooo important to use your head when your heart wants to cause pain to the person that hurt you. And a weird sense of humor helps!
Lol!….that was funny!
This makes me sad, but they’ll probably get through it. They both seem pragmatic and calm.
I so doubt they were separated. The journalist is countersuing for libel. She’s just trying to save face. Respect to her husband for somehow going along with that. When the news first came out here in Italy the outlets were all “sued for stalking, sending her husband intimate photos” and I was like where did he get those??? The media went really soft on this situation. I find her rather smug, people call her out a lot on IG for being privileged and judging those who shop in mass market stores. Like I get what she’s fighting for but “I reuse my vintage Chopard” sometimes sounds rather crassy.
I could not imagine cheating on Colin Firth. Then again, I know nothing about Colin Firth as a real human being, only as Mr. Hottiepants Darcy.
This just goes to show you that no one ever really knows what’s going on in someone’s relationship/marriage because what appears as one thing could be something completely different behind closed doors. Appearances can be very deceiving.
Who would cheat on Colin” Mr Darcy” Firth with that guy? I don’t get it.
I do not condone cheating at all but now that I’m older with more life experience, I can see how and why cheating happens. It’s really up to the married couple to decide whether they can work through an affair or not. I try my best to not judge other marriages. I would not appreciate someone judging mine either. This whole situation is awful. Also, scary.
Same. I don’t condone cheating at ALL but I do think it’s something that they were together in spite of, and after the affair was over. It doesn’t say, but I wonder if Colin Firth just wanted to work through it and they were successful at it? We don’t know the details, but I think if he’s still with her, then that’s something to consider as well, and like you said, we don’t know what’s happening in their marriage.
Same. Life is complicated, and there can be lots of reasons not to throw away 20 years of marriage over an affair, especially if there are minor children involved. I don’t understand all the surprise from many commenters above that Firth didn’t promptly divorce her. Every long marriage has its challenges, and most long-married couples make lots of trade-offs and sacrifices and forgive a multitude of sins because they actually want to stay together. As long as no one in the marriage is being controlled and forced to stay through physical and/or emotional abuse, it’s not a bad thing that they’re trying to make it work post-infidelity. And Livia’s ex-paramour needs to slither back into obscurity.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they did privately separate. My parents who have been married for almost 40 years briefly considered separation around year 32 or so. The difference is that they didn’t have the financial means or resources to effectively separate so they worked through it. For Livia and Colin, the prospect of separation isn’t burdened by making rent/car payments that you can only afford jointly.
Just goes to show that what seems perfect often ain’t. Wow.
Whaaaat?? She cheated on Mr Darcy! On Mr Darcy!! How is that even humanly possible?!
As the old saying goes “no one in a love triangle comes out the winner.”
No pity except for Colin. If he had cheated on her we would call him horrible names so instead I’ll just say She rolled around in them sheets and now she has to deal with em! Also why cheat on Colin with someone soooo not worth it??
I keep looking at the headline just blinking my eyes. I CAN’T believe it. Who cheats on Mr. Darcy?? Who cheats on Colin Firth?? Da fu-k? Naw this can’t be true….and then I look at the headline again and it IS true. Jesus Christ of Nazareth-how the hell did this happen. You can’t make this shit up.
That dress is ug-leeeee, and she’s an idiot.
I think some details are missing or some covering up is going on. Sounds like Livia cheated on Colin while still very married to him, eventually broke it off with her lover against his wishes, and when the jilted lover started sending Colin proof of the affair via emails, Livia tried to paint her former lover as a crazy, threatening stalker. Moral of the story: Don’t cheat on your spouse or start an affair with someone else while still legally married…even if you’re on a “break”. Especially if your spouse is a famous award winning actor and your lover is a journalist!
Yup – this! The lover wanted hush money too!
@ SamSau : I think this ex-lover just can’t get over the “ex” part. His quote to the press, Brancaccia said, “In a year she sent me hundreds of messages of love, photos and videos, even a diary,”. Yeah, dude, but that’s OVER now. She loved your before perhaps but now she’s had time to think and she’s just not that into you. He sounds like someone who would be a stalker, someone who just can’t accept that someone doesn’t care about him anymore – someone who can’t accept that he has lost CONTROL. His words have a stalker vibe.
But “still legally married” is about paperwork, not relationship status. You can absolutely be DONE with a person without having filed papers.
I am not surprised at all. I remember the story about Colin having a baby with Meg Tilly and leaving them when he was still a baby.
Meg was a troubled lady (not a bad person, just been through a lot in her life).
I think Livia might have her own hidden dark side as well. As well as Colin.
Just saying – not suprised.
I think Colin is a great guy. He left Meg because she was living in the Canadian wilderness, and he went back to acting work, which was in England. The distance killed the relationship. Their son Will Firth moved to England when he was older to study acting. Meg said Colin always kept in touch with her two older children and stayed in their lives also.
“He’s my best friend, and he’s friends with [my husband] Don too,” says Tilly, who is still living near Vancouver with her third husband, author Don Calame.
“When Will was in the house, Colin would stay with us, and when I go to England we always have dinner and go out together. Livia is wonderful too. Yeah, if he wasn’t in the world, there would be a hole for me.”
I’ve heard from gossip as well as from a few friends who went to study film in the UK and stayed there and have become moderately successful that if Colin Firth is any kind of malicious and rotten, then he hides it extremely well because you’d be hard pressed to find anybody who doesn’t think of Colin as measured, gracious, polite, reasonable and all around gentleman.
I’m glad he’s in touch with his older kids, and that Tilly has such good words to say about him and their post-breakup relationship, and their kids. A breath of fresh air in a sea of.. well, the usual.
@Shijel, he only has one child with Tilly. But when Tilly married Colin, she had two children already from another relationship. She said in an interview that he was a wonderful father with Will but also that he kept in touch with her two older children after he and Meg divorced, even attended their graduations, births of their babies when the older kids married..
Yeah, that fact that she praises him so much, calling him her best friend, says a lot about his character as far as I’m concerned.
Holy sh!t this is a hot mess! She goes through a rough patch with hubby, finds someone, sleeps with him, then realizes that she wants to try again with firth, but boyfriend is like “NO” friggin emails firth and tells him about all the times he boned his wife. POOR COLIN FIRTH!
While I would never condone cheating, I have trouble with the black and white “cheating is bad, end the marriage” comments. Every long term relationship will hit a rough spot and infidelity is incredibly common because people are fundamentally broken and vulnerable. If they have worked through their problems and forgiven each other for their own transgressions, far be it for me to judge.
Plus… monogamy is not right for everyone. High-profile couples still can’t just come right out and say it, but I suspect polyamory is common in Hollywood — heck, it’s common in my little old friend group — and “affairs” aren’t always what they seem.
Some couples might even stop and reassess after years together, and decide they still want to be together forever, but they don’t necessarily want to depend on each other for 100% of their romantic or sexual needs. The idea that “true love and commitment = never ever having sex with another human being ever again” is just not true or reasonable for so many people.
Ok, why is everyone assuming they weren’t separated and are just covering it up. They’ve been together a long time, they got a rough patch, they separated, she dated an awful man and then decided to work things out with her husband. Lots of people get separated and get back together. Its a completely mundane situation.
And this dude sounds sort of delusional, everything he says should be taken with a grain of salt. Everywhere I’ve seen this reported has reported that she was cheating. I feel bad for her. Not only was she stalked and harassed but now it’s all over the news that she’s a cheater, which may not be true and I am personally leaning towards it isn’t true. And if it were, it looks like their relationship recovered, so why is anyone focusing on her “affair” and not the stalking, which is more chance more serious?
verso I think people are assuming because when the story first came out nothing was said about the “stalker” being her former beau-it was presented as poor Livia being stalked by some random guy though they did mention they had known each other as children. So all of a sudden the former beau starts yapping and it just seems like the “separation” thing is damage controlling PR tactic.
Cleaning service, aisle one.
This makes me so sad. I love Colin Firth.
Bridget would totally have cheated on Mark Darcy. Absofuckinglutely.
Yet another couple that seemed to be great turned out like the others.
This story from her side seems so contrived, like there is some huge detail missing. Chances are Colin Firth was probably stepping out on her too. Alas, it wasn’t with me LOL.
This came as a tremendous shock. I thought they were the ideal couple. However, on reflection, it is probably not easy to be married to an actor. As Mr. Firth himself has said, “We actors are confused. We need a lot of attention. We like to disappear into the lives of other people”. Would this be easy to live with on a day-to-day basis? Plus he disappears on location for weeks/months at a time. The people I have known in the profession love to talk shop all the time. I think she just got bored for a while. I hope they can make a go of it.
People can be completely different at home with their partners and families than they are at work or with the general public.
Some of the most kind, witty, charming, and self-deprecating people I’ve known have been the most challenging people to be partnered with for the long term.
Marriage is hard for most people. A lot of what happens behind closed doors in many marriages is never discussed outside of the home.
There can be more painful and damaging violations of a marriage than having a consensual romantic and sexual relationship with someone other than your spouse without their consent. Ask me how I know.
Sometimes there is a person in a long term relationship that refuses to listen to their partner and it takes deploying the nuclear option to bring them to the table. For the people that would suggest getting divorced if ever in that situation, that can be easier said than done. Particularly when there are young children involved and the financial business of being a family. In my home we call it ZigZags, Inc. There are times when the long term health and well being of little Zig and Zag along with the viability ZigZags, Inc. takes priority over the founding partners feelings or opinions of each other. #RealLifeCanSuck
// I could go public with what she had revealed to me about her marriage and work.//
I wonder what could that be.
I really don’t know what to think. ): I think Colin Firth just has a good head on his shoulders and he truly made an effort to move past whatever rough patch him and his wife were going through when she was having her affair. It gives me hope that they’re still together and that this affair stuff didn’t blow up when it was happening. He always gave me the impression that he works really hard at his marriage, so this is really hard to read about.
“They were separated at the time” – such a load of BS!!! So clearly trying to soften the scandal of this messy situation.
I am not going to take the word of a stalker over that of a woman.
I believe the Firths.
But she admitted she lied (pretended she didn’t even know the guy and he was just some random stalker before admitting he was her lover) and there’s no evidence he did stalk her. Sending her husband an email is nasty but it’s not stalking.
There is room for a pause to get some more information since the story changed so much. I wonder what he had to blackmail them with?
They’d quietly split, she’d moved on. Then Brexit happened in June 2016. It became increasingly probable that Firth would no longer have EU citizenship (important not only for an actor, but also for someone with a good deal of personal history and property invested in Italy).
The Firths realise that in order for him to get Italian citizenship, they need to look like a happy couple again, so they “reunite”. The facade, of course, can only crumble…
Yeah, if it’s true, then two messages via WhatsApp and an email is not stalking. It’s more like outing your lover to her husband.
I remember how people thought Ewan McGregor had this great marriage, until this image went to dust. I remember how people were cooing over James McAvoy and his marriage but it also ended. Now Colin Firth’s marriage turned out to be this flawed. The truth is, even if some Hollywood couples seem great and all, in reality they are most likely not.
Most people thought Ewan, had an open marriage, because he was always having affairs.
This is probably the first time he filed for divorce, and the wife pushed back, after years of his whoring around.
Lol. No one thought Ewan had a great marriage. At best it was an open relationship, at worst he was a serial cheater.
McAvoy married too young and was often away AND became a huge star relative to his wife. 3 blows to any hollywood marriage.
It seems like they take stalking very serious in Italy, with jail time.
This Journalist is saying he is in Brazil have been for the past year.
He met her all over the World, and have receipts to prove it.
If this actually goes to court, someone is going to end up with egg on their face.
Sounds like such a mess. I love Colin Firth.
That garish dress tells a story all its own.
If Colin Firth was the one who had an affair and then was getting stalked, would he get the sympathy? Something tells me no. I’m not saying his wife deserves this, but saying she doesn’t deserved to be punished for an indiscretion is completely brushing off what she did.
@Justine, good point. If it was the other way I am sure lots of people would call Firth all kinds of names, generalize all men and imply how Firth deserves it, something. I suspect that when women are caught cheating or doing something unsavory, some women try to brush it off, as it reminds everyone that women can also do wrong and it’s not very “feminist”.
Yes, he would. He might get less sympathy in the sense that some may not fear for the safety as much of a man who’s being stalked by an ex-lover as the would fear for a woman’s, but he’d definitely still get sympathy, especially post- #MeToo. No balanced adult out of their teens is going to say someone deserves to be stalked and harassed. If an adult is saying something like that, it may be a sign that they’re the type of person who would stalk and harass someone too. Whether or not she ‘deserves’ to be ‘punished’ for cheating, that’s up to her actual husband to decide- as in, he can divorce her. It’s their marriage.
@Molly: Trolling detected, but I’ll bite. No, feminism doesn’t mean women can do no wrong. But it does mean being rational enough to avoid the PATRRIARCHAL trend of excusing harassment and stalking just because you’re outraged about the scandalous sexcapades of some random woman with no connection to you.
@Otaku Fairy
When someone says something you disagree with it’s not trolling. Feminism itself definitely doesn’t mean that women can do no wrong, however in recent times there is a strong impression that some women started to view feminism in this particular light – that women are always right, can never be wrong and if somebody disagrees, well, that’s somehow against feminism. Very flawed concept.
In this particular case people are not approving stalking as a notion.
@Molly: Besides republicans who use ‘feminism ‘ to defend things like women supporting Trump, that generally doesn’t happen, and is typically a bullshit MRA argument used to pretend that men are being discriminated against when they aren’t. Typically when people start crying about reverse sexism, reverse racism, or heterophobia they are trolling, as those are rarely (if ever) real problems. Where’s the reverse sexism in saying that cheating doesn’t make stalking or harassment acceptable PERIOD? Does it have to be explicitly spelled out that this applies to both sexes just so MRAs and their women can’t manufacture some reason to claim that the Menz are being discriminated against by feminists?
@Otaku Fairy
I am neither republican nor American so idk why you try to use it in conversation with me as some weird argument. What I said very much happens with some women. It’s not trolling and it’s funny you try to label something you don’t like immediately as trolling. I directly said that people here do not approve stalking as a notion, yet you ignored it and keep preaching how stalking is not ok in caps lock as if everybody here was advocating stalking. TBH it all looks like an overreaction on your part on the subject and basically supports what I said earlier.
Maybe they have an open marriage?