This one hurts me more than Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan! It turns out, true love really IS dead: Ric Ocasek and Paulina Porizkova are done after 28 years of marriage. When they first got together, they were widely seen as an example of “See? Even nerdy/goony-looking rock stars end up with beautiful models!” But Ric and Paulina proved their doubters wrong and stayed married for nearly three decades and raised two sons together. And now they’re over!
After 28 years of marriage, The Cars’ former frontman, Ric Ocasek and wife, Paulina Porizkova have decided to call it quits. On Wednesday, the former supermodel shared on social media – with plenty of car and transportation metaphors – that the couple, who wed in August 1989, have been “peacefully separated for the past year.”
“Our family always has been — and still is — a well-built car,” Porizkova wrote in an Instagram post. “When the four of us are together, we can go wherever the road takes us. But as a bicycle, my husband and I no longer pedal in unison. So we’re ditching the bicycle. Ric and I have been peacefully separated for the past year,” added Porizkova. “The photos of our happy family are, in fact, happy family photos; we are just no longer a couple.”
The Czech-born actress, 53, went on to talk about the love that she and Ocasek, 74, still have for each other. (The pair first met while filming the music video for The Cars’ song “Drive” in 1984.)
“The love we have for one another is so wide and deep it’s practically tangible, and that sort of love can never disappear,” she shared. “Expect to keep seeing happy family photos. As I’m sure you can understand, out of respect for our children and each other, we’ll not be commenting further (here or elsewhere) at this time,” Porizkova concluded the post.
Last month, the estranged couple — who have two adult sons together, Jonathan and Oliver — showed a united front at Ocasek’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction in Cleveland, Ohio.
Well… they gave it a good run. Twenty-eight years together is no joke. They loved each other, they raised their sons, they were a fun couple and a real couple. And now it’s over. My guess is there’s nothing too scandalous here, but you never know. Also: Paulina is still gorgeous, right?
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Theirs was a successful marriage as far as I’m concerned, that reached a natural resolution.
+1
Hear, hear.
Paulina is probably my all-time favorite model. Incomparable. And funny/talented, too.
Yes. I still remember her photos for the perfume Beautiful. They were amazing.
I thought she was very funny opposite Tom Selleck in Her Alibi.
This.
Sometimes it is simply over, it’s sad but it’s life.
But it’s so sad… They were such an unusual match, but they always seemed so in love… It’s sad.
Really. No “failure”at all.
Marriage doesn’t have to last forever to be successful.
Also, note 20 year age difference-that could be an issue now.
Yea. That 20 years becomes really hard when your partner is approaching 80, and you still are vibrant, young and still look like the 20-something model he married. Also if I did my math right, she was actually only 18-19 when they hooked up. At 53 it’s understandable she might want to spread her wings a bit, and hell just be by herself. They seem to have figured out how to do a happy separation .
Yeah, that was my thought. He is 74?!???!! I’m sure the age difference played a big part in this breakup. Sad 🙁
Exactly. Just because use a marriage ends in divorce doesn’t mean it wasn’t successful. They were married for the better part of three decades and raised two children. They are a success-story IMO. I’m not one of those people who believes unless people live to old age together (which actually these two did because Ocasek is 74!) it’s a failure. Marriage is hard and if people can makeit past a decade I’m impressed.
I’m an “80’s Baby”…and that group was part of the soundtrack of my life! I forgot about the age difference between them! They raised a gorjus family and had decades of time together with no scandals at all…so THAT’S a win!
Except for the scandal when he left his first wife and child for Paulina after they met on his music video.
Paulina is his third wife. He has 6 sons, 2 from each of his marriages. He was married when he met her.
Oh, didn’t know it was his second wife and how many children. Just remember the scandal that he was married with children when he met Paulina and left them to be with her.
Love isn’t dead. This feels like proof it’s alive and well.
Sounds like they love each other but are not in love anymore. Really common in long marriages after kids grow up.
And while I was never a cars fan, he had the most beautiful voice back in the day.
Love evolves. Sounds like theirs did.
As for the voice, the late Ben Orr did most of the vocals for the Cars, including the song Drive, and yes, he had a beautiful voice.
Every time I think about Ben…I get choked up….SIGH…gone…WAY TOO SOON!!!!
@lightpurple I didn’t know that. Good to know. then Ben Orr had the most gorgeous voice. Gone too soon from the sound of it.
Ben Orr? I wonder if we’re related! there’s a lot of Orrs in my family.
Damn. Dumping a 74 year old guy!
If I could look like anyone, I want to look like her.
There is literally no indication that she dumped him. It sounds like two people who were together for a long time and who love each other but are no longer in love. It happens.
Her statement was so much more relatable than “conscious uncoupling.” It sort of explains without any details- the analogy to the bike was perfect and explains what often happens when the kids grow up and the parents are left with each other. I hope they find happiness! (And now I want to watch the movie Her Alibi)
Because Paulina’s not a bullshitter, a la Goopy.
I love that movie! I’m sorry to hear about their divorce but she makes it very understandable. And she’s still gorgeous.
More thumbs up for Her Alibi.
And more and I’m gonna watch it tonight.
Yes, she was great in that movie. She sort of gave up her movie career to have and raise her kids. Hopefully now she can restart it. She looks amazing.
There has to be a more concrete reason to call it quits after that long and their ages. Like why not just stick it out. Either it wasn’t good for a long time or there is someone else. IMO
I’m gonna disagree. My parents, married for 40 years, just separated. Neither is the type to cheat. They realized after my baby sister had been away at college for a couple years that their relationship was no longer a romance, but a friendship based on family. I dare say it’s a common occurrence.
I don’t understand this! That’s what good marriage is when you have kids: a friendship based on family! Romantic love, as such, fades…
So what’s a marriage without kids, then? Just a friendship?
No, I don’t agree with that at all nor do I agree with the assertion that romantic love fades.
I think it depends on how much each person was sacrificing of their own desires to keep the family going and stable. Let’s face it. Many, many couples stay together only for the sake of the children. (Not saying this is the case w @Goats family) Sometimes the many years together is what ends up keeping the marriage together after the kids are grown. Other times, once the kids are out, it makes no sense to continue with a marriage that you’ve outgrown or never really met all your needs. Or, as with many people that started families at a young age, they want to discover who they are now that they’ve fulfilled their responsibility as parents, which includes taking a different path from their spouse.
Why do people act like it’s a badge of honor to “stick it out”? That actually sounds painful.
Its a badge of honor because it is hard. And painful. There are rewards for doing things that are hard and difficult. The regard of others for your achievement. Self respect for what you have accomplished. etc etc
Most things that have value will be difficult.
But no judgement for their decision. I wish them both the best. Separately.
@Elaine, I hear what you are saying but I disagree. My own parents stayed together until my mom died. It might have been worth it to them (doubt it they were miserable and toxic with each other) but it was horrendous for me and my siblings. Just because people “stick it out”, it doesn’t mean the relationship is valuable. Sometimes dysfunction rules.
I hate it when people say “stick it out” in a marriage. Why?? Why should two people who are not in love anymore stay together?? Their sons are grown and they were together for nearly 30 years (actually longer because they dated for five years before marrying). They both entitled to move on and perhaps find love again and live their lives. Sticking out a bad or unhappy marriage is not noble or a badge of honor.
I agree ValiantlyVarnished.
Still sounds like a success. They spent 28+ years together and it’s still amicable. They’ll just be friends instead of spouses. It’s simply that now that the kids are grown, these two probably want to do different things with the rest of their lives.
She looks incredible – and naturally so.
She was only 18 or 19 when they got married. I can totally understand why she might want her independence now. Good for her. She’s doing it with class, making family a priority, not pointing fingers etc.
They met when she was 19, but didn’t get married until 5 years later.
Yeah, holy hell this woman is stunning!!! I had to zoom in because I thought she was in her late 30s and was thinking: did they get married when she was 10? Then I saw that she does have wrinkles but her bone structure is so impeccable and she glows so she looks insanely young. Wow!
She was 23 when they got married. They began dating when she was 19.
I had a chance to meet her, when she was filming a movie in my home town about 25 years ago, and she was/is breathtakingly stunning in person. Ric looked like the rock star he’s always been.
I just visited her IG Page… It’s lovely. She has posts very recently with Ric, and her son’s…
Very sweet. You can see that they are friends and a very tight knit unit.
Aw, that’s sad. But they handled the breakup with class, doing it privately all this time.
LOL, this is one of those rare cases where I literally have no idea who they are but it’s still sad.
“Drive’ still makes me tear up every time I hear it. Good luck to both.
So when they met He was 40 and she was 19 ????????????????????
Yep. Everyone seems to be forgetting that he was very much married when they met and dumped his wife for a 19 year old. Typical creepy old rockstar.
Oh wow, I didn’t know that. Yikes.
Yes! He dumped his wife and complained about her during their divorce proceedings, that she was insisting on a certain amount of money. He’s a creep.
Yeah I remember all this happening as a kid and feeling very confused about why this old man was marrying a teenager. I don’t recall there was a general feeling of yay for the nerdy guy, it was more like he was a jerk to his wife and a creep for being with a kid (but that was the lens I was looking through).
I always thought it was creepy and gross, but then they stayed together so it was less creepy and gross and more “god how does she wake up to that each day.” But she’s gorgeous and funny and they’re handling it well. She’s been with an old man almost her entire life. I hope she gets to have some fun.
He didn’t just leave his first wife for Paulina. He left his son he had with her too. Yes, he left his wife and child for a nineteen year old.
I didn’t know this. I always thought it was a good relationship, but it’s just another “creepy-old guy preys over a vulnerable teenager”.
Yep. Like another classic couple, Bogie and Bacall. He was already married, 20+ years older than Bacall, and yet it’s advertised as one of the great love matches of all time. I’m glad they were (by all accounts) happy together, but it seems so woven into our society that middle-aged men and younger women are a thing, and even expected. Whereas when Greer Garson married an actor 11 years her junior, that was considered not quite “normal.” Or to bring it more up to date, Joan Collins and her younger husband.
Seems as if she gave a smart, honest update on the end of their marriage. Sad for them, but when it’s over its over I guess.
Damn. This makes me sad, even though it sounds about as painless as could be.
I would imagine the age difference has something to do with it. 74 is hugely different than being in your 50s.
Paulina reminds me of when Estée Lauder was at the top of their game. I guess they got Karlie Kloss, but they had been rocking Kendall “Dead Eyes” Jenner.
His genes are really dominant in the boys. If my mom looked like Paulina and I ended up looking like Ric I’d feel pretty cheated.
Yep- At least they are boys…if they were girls, all you would hear about is how homely they are compared to Paulina…(see: the Willis girls).
I have a girl friend whose mother is stunning (she looks very much like a green-eyed Sophia Loren) and whose father is unfortunate looking, to say the least (but filthy rich). She took after her father and she told me she’s scared to introduce another boyfriend to her parents, because every time a guy she’s been with met her parents he was staring all the time at her mother and she could see the disappointment and regret in his eyes that she didn’t take after her mother.
That is so sad.
That’s depressing. You just never know how the gene pool will go.
these are old photos, the boys are adults now and look different. i think the older one with dark hair is good looking, reminds me of jason schwartzman.
Man, this is hard…but I love the Cars and I love her, so good on them for keeping it classy!
Aww, this makes me a bit sad.
I know it’s how life goes sometimes but, after 30 years together, why bother divorcing?
With their money, even just as spousal best friends, they could each pursue their own interests and come and go as they please, etc.
80’s music still rules! I miss the MTV era of videos.
So, stay married for appearances sake? Um…no. They both have a lot of life left.
And have sex with other people and pursue relationships with other people while married to each other? Then is that really a marriage?
that’s a pretty miserable view of marriage you’re sharing with us – stick it out even if you’re unhappy because…. appearances? why?
Always liked her. In interviews she came off as well-read and intelligent. And yes 28 years was a good run. I am kind of surprised about the age gap between her and Ric; I was not aware it was that big, but Ric was always so odd and almost ageless.
NOOOOOO!!!! I remember when they got married! And I got married just two years later.
Shoot, this one makes me sad, but they sound very mature about it. And no, it’s not a failure. 28 years of being together, raising a family, and still being friends is a success. What I suspect is that the romantic part of their relationship is long dead, and one of them is not ok with never having romance again. I’m going to guess that’s her, and I can’t really blame her.
Aw, sad.
She’s an interesting woman.
She’s the only one of those beautiful actresses/supermodels I can think of who’s ever been honest about ageing and how much she hated it and how unfair it was.
A few years ago (I think it was when she did her stint on ANTM) she gave an interview where she openly regretted the days of her youth and hated the whole ‘she’s really good looking for her age’ spiel even more because she’d been so admired as a younger woman.
She felt like she was slowly becoming invisible.
I thought it was a very interesting and honest perspective. Made a change from the whole ‘I hated my 20s I found myself in my 40s usual rhetoric. She sounded bitter!
You do become invisible. I’m 47, white, female, slightly overweight, gray in my hair. I feel like I could go into any public place and do almost anything and no one would even notice.
It did feel weird at first, but now I’m embracing it and I kinda love it.
Even though Paulina was a wee bit ahead of the whole Christy/Linda/Naomi/Cindy super model thing, she was always my favourite among the models of the 1980s . She was just beyond flawless in her face, body everything. Pure beauty.
While I’m sad to hear that Ric and Paulina are over after 28 years, it doesn’t sound like a real break-up but an evolution in their relationship.
I remember reading how completely in love, lust and physical infatuation she was in when she first started dating him and then marrying him. She initially, was the other woman since Ric was still married to his second wife and his previous kids, really despised Paulina but only came around much later on.
Just goes to show you, you can’t really control who you fall in love with.
There’s no point staying in a marriage after it’s run out of gas. Sometimes people just don’t click anymore and that’s when you kind of sink into a state of inertia and apathy. Mr. Jaded stayed in a moribund marriage for a very long time just to keep the family unit together, plus his ex has some emotional problems and he was sort of her “caretaker”. In any event they finally divorced, it was messy, unlike the Ocasek’s, but both are in a better place now.
It is always sad when a marriage ends, but sometimes the “couple” has to end for the “family” to thrive. Paula’s statement seems so much more heartfelt and sincere than the standard “we will continue to love each other and be the bestest of friends”. More than three decades of coupledom is nothing to dismiss lightly; sadly, life changes and sometimes people can’t change together. I have always loved them as a couple and wish them and their children the best. And now to put “Drive” on a continuous loop as I watch “Her Alibi”….
I remember that Cars video! Paulina is beautiful. See this is what no/minor cosmetic surgery looks like!
She’s really not much older than Cindy et al, and looks so much better/more natural imo, I wonder if she will maybe start to work more now? They had a good run, I wouldn’t presume it was her instigating it necessarily just because she is younger, who knows he could be a less obvious Mick Jagger type, would not be surprised if he was already dating a fetus. I like how each of their sons looks like a mini me version of them, the youngest definitely takes after Paulina.