Star: Naomi Watts left Liev Schreiber over fears that he was cheating

73rd Venice Film Festival - 'The Bleeder' - Photocall
The tabloids are now playing catch up with Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber’s breakup, which was handled admirably well in the press. In case you missed it, they released a joint statement almost two weeks ago in which they said that they’re splitting but that they still have love and respect for each other. There were a few well-placed source quotes in the major outlets stating that they’ve had problems for a while, but that’s it. Plus they did it in the wake of the Brangelina split and waited until after they were done promoting their projects and the awards ceremonies had wrapped. Star Magazine called the breakup back in January and they seemed to have some insider information about the state of their relationship. (Maybe the paparazzi tipped them off that the two were living apart.) Now that it’s actually happened it’s more of the same from the tabloids, along with whispers that Liev was cheating on Naomi. I don’t doubt that could have happened but we haven’t heard any details about that and so far it’s just rumors. (There’s a 2011 story from The Dirty which has specifics, but that one has been denied by the alleged other woman.) You would think that someone would come out of the woodwork with a story, but there’s nothing. Here’s Star’s report and it’s vague:

“The possibility of Liev straying has been eating away at Naomi for years,” a family insider tells Star. “There have been a number of rumors about him cheating throughout their relationship, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Naomi felt in her heart that he’d been unfaithful, and she turned a bling eye for the sake of their children, but it’s finally come to a head.”

[From Star Magazine, print edition]

Then the National Enquirer takes it too far by claiming that Naomi was jealous of Liev’s on-air romps as Ray Donovan. Their source claims “Naomi couldn’t get past the fact that Liev was always dallying with the hot women who were his co-stars.” He’s acting and Naomi is an actress too, I’m sure she understands. While I’m annoyed with the number of women who throw themselves at his character that’s not necessarily on Liev. He has a lot of control over the show as we learned in his Esquire profile but I don’t know how far that extends and regardless that’s fiction which shouldn’t reflect on him.

I’m still somewhat broken up over this because I just loved these two together. They handled it well, the tabloids are covering them without nailing down any details, and I’ll say what I’ve said to date about these two: I like that they’re keeping their lives private. Part of that is that there’s not a lot of interest in them, but they’ve cultivated that lack of interest as well.

Naomi celebrated her birthday just a couple of days after the split was announced. Liev commented on her birthday post on Instagram “Happy Birthday Sweetheart.” Then, Naomi posted this nice message for Liev’s birthday just six days later.

Happy Birthday to this one!! @lievschreiber 🎂🎈🌻

A photo posted by Naomi Watts (@naomiwatts) on

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Naomi Watts is shown on the set of Gypsy. Credit: FameFlynet and WENN.com

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35 Responses to “Star: Naomi Watts left Liev Schreiber over fears that he was cheating”

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  1. paolanqar says:

    If a woman lives in fear that her man is cheating, he probably is.

    • bucketbot says:

      Not necessarily. Some people are just very insecure and so may project things onto their partners.

    • Mike says:

      Does that apply to women too? Lots of jealous men out there. Are you saying they are justified?

    • paolanqar says:

      No I am saying that there is no way to fool a woman. If a woman is sure that a man is cheating, despite lack of evidence, then he probably is cheating and it’s only a matter of time before she finds out.

    • VirgiliaCoriolanus says:

      I wouldn’t say that’s true all the time. Some people are very, very insecure. My uncle’s ex wife was like this–they got married at 18, he was the ‘hottie” and athletic, and she was overweight/chubby and average looking, but very sweet. And very insecure. They both worked at the same McDonalds where he was a manager, and he basically wasn’t allowed to talk to any of his female co-workers, otherwise he was sleeping with them. When they brought their baby to see my grandma for the first time–my uncle went to go pick up his younger brother, who was still in HS–right down the street. A two minute drive, round trip. His wife, left their baby in her carseat on the floor of my grandma’s house, two minutes after they walked in, to follow my uncle and ride with him, so he wouldn’t talk to any HS girls.

      And guess what? He eventually cheated on her, because he was stupid, but also because he was tired of her accusing him of looking at other women, and sleeping with other women when he wasn’t.

      • Who ARE These People? says:

        He didn’t sleep with other women because he was tired of her accusing him, he slept with other women because he wanted to. If he was tired of her obsessiveness, he could have been upfront about it and divorced her.

      • VirgiliaCoriolanus says:

        @Who Are these people….

        They were 18-21…..they literally got married right out of HS, because she was pregnant, both were in school, and both were working. I said he was a dumbass for cheating because he was…..but she’s the one who started it. Obviously they were too young to be married/serious……… But that’s just who she is. To this day, she is still stuck on him, and it definitely affected his relationship with their daughter.

        And his whole point about not divorcing her straight away was that he didn’t want to be like his father, who divorced/cheated on his wives at the drop of a hat, when things started getting tough or he got bored.

        So no, he shouldn’t have cheated. But given that that is literally the only relationship in which he’s ever cheated (and yes, I know because we all talk about EVERYTHING), it’s not as simple as he wanted some strange on the side.

      • Shutterbug99 says:

        I have to agree with Who Are These People? here Virgilia — he didn’t cheat on her so that he could prove her right and give in to/or was tired of her accusations, he cheated on her because he wanted to -and he wanted out of that unhealthy marriage! But, there are better ways of going about this, as I’m sure he now knows. Also, I don’t think she’s the one ‘who started it’ — YES, it sounds like she was insanely jealous and insecure in that relationship, but I don’t think you can drive somebody to cheat on you. I just don’t. I believe that such behaviour can cause break ups, but not cheating. If a guy (or a girl) cheats, then they have to take full responsibility for that and not act like they were driven to it because of someone else’s behaviour! Sheesh!

        Seriously — I have heard all the excuses for cheating. Often cheaters like to absolve themselves of all blame! But in the end, there’s really no excuse.

    • Zuzus Girl says:

      paolanqar- Receipts or your theory is just plain ridiculous.

  2. Chloe says:

    I’m impressed on how they are handling their split, still respecting each other and keeping their children top priority, this is how it’s done. If there was any cheating happening I seriously doubt she would say anything about it.

  3. bucketbot says:

    I was very very late to the liev schreiber- naomi Watts couple fanclub and I’m sad it’s all over now. But I am very impressed with how they handled everything in the media. I believe,
    even if you are a minor celebrity a scandalous affair can fetch you a tabloid story for atleast a couple of weeks. It takes a lot of mutual respect and love to handle things the way these two have.

  4. OTHER RENEE says:

    There’s a reason these two elected not to marry yet still have kids. Someone or both were not completely 100% committed to a lifetime together. My bet is on Liev.

    • Lalu says:

      I think lots of people don’t get married because they don’t really see it as being important. And I know lots of people that have gotten married as a last ditch effort to salvage a relationship or try to “tie someone down”. You can be just as committed without a marriage.

    • Clairej says:

      What a load of crap. I have been with my partner for 16 years and have 4 kids. Very happy and quite content to never get married. It has never been a dream of mine, watched friends spend thousands of dollars or however they choose to have their dream day and it was great, but never makes me jealous. Have been surrounded by happy marriages but never felt the need to myself. Our children bind us together and our family unit is amazing to us both.

      • Lalu says:

        Agree with you Claire… Children tie you to someone in a way that a marriage just can’t. Children are forever!

      • Thurry says:

        Children can mean that you are connected to somebody for life, but they cannot guarantee that this person will stay in love with you forever. Time and time again I see people confusing their kids/family with their relationship/marriage. These are two separate things. That’s why, for example, “band-aid babies” don’t work.

  5. Esteph says:

    I’m curious, but why do people cheat period? I never understood cheaters…like why be tempted, and disrespect your S.O. to have fun with someone else? Wouldn’t it be better to just cut ties and f*** around, have fun or whatever, then to actually cheat??

    • Mop top says:

      They want variety without necessarily leaving their family.

    • M says:

      They’re bored but don’t want to break up the family.

    • anonymous says:

      the perks of commitment counter-balanced by the perks of anonymous sex (for some men). or…..just stupidity / lack of judgement / opportunity / alcohol…..lots of reasons really. You’ve never been tempted? can’t answer this conclusively, but in his case…..it was probably for the benefit of his kids’ protection. opportunity affords promiscuity & celeb’s have opportunity by the truckload

    • Mannori says:

      hey it’s not fun if you’re not sneaking…the thrill of hurting the mother of your children, can you compare? psst….

    • VirgiliaCoriolanus says:

      I don’t think cheating is solely due to “fun”. It’s to fill a need. Some people need to feel loved/adored all the time and their relationships go downhill (for them) if they are not. Some people need to have drama in their life. Some people need to feel excitement. Some people want to feel loved, and when they reach a point in their relationship that they can’t find that anymore, they find it somewhere else. That doesn’t mean they’re evil, it means that they are weak/non confrontational.

      But I don’t think we should tar every cheater with the same brush. Do some people cheat, basically because they can? Yes. But some also cheat because they’ve reached a point to where they don’t want to leave what they have (whether it’s someone married with kids i.e. break up the family), but can’t stand feeling the way they do. Sometimes it’s not as easy as a “I want a divorce”.

      • Sunsetsnow says:

        I agree with your comments. When I was younger, I used to be so judgmental. How could she go back to a cheat?! When families, children, and finances are involved it is not that easy to just leave. I would never take back a cheater, but I no longer judge those who try to work it out.

  6. Rebecca says:

    Next, they will be saying that he is cheating with Angelina Jolie.

  7. Shutterbug99 says:

    I’ve always liked Naomi Watts and I think they are handling this break-up well. That said, I’ve always got douchey vibes from him – and there have been cheating rumors over the years. As for why none of that cheating ever came to light, (except maybe in the Australian press?) well, I guess there are ways of keeping people quiet. Money talks, and so to do non-disclosure agreements.

    • VirgiliaCoriolanus says:

      I have always felt like the relationship has always been entirely on HIS terms, and not hers. And he’s always seemed to be very moody/grumpy. Which might’ve been cute/appealing when they were first together, but it can grate over the years. I just always remember when he talked about being a “manny” or whatever to their kids for a time while Naomi worked……….but he also worked during that time. It was just unnecessarily snarky to me, and seemed to be a jab at her career being bigger than his at that time. So God knows what he says in private.

  8. Joanie says:

    You don’t just leave over fears. She had evidence.

  9. Agapanthus says:

    Well, if we’ve heard rumours of infidelity, then I’m sure she has. It must have been difficult living apart alot of the time as well. Finally, she is much more successful than him, and I think that can be a difficult dynamic in a relationship. I don’t know her but have always really liked her and hope she meets someone who can make her happy. Him also! They seem devoted to their kids and I think they have handled the split in a very mature way, putting the needs of the kids first.

  10. Lalu says:

    Who knows what happened… But I like that they put on a united front and issues a joint statement etc. They have kids together so they still have to deal with one another… They might as well keep it civil.

  11. LeAnn Stinks says:

    Their sons are beyond adorable, and despite the odd paring, I feel bad.

    I really like Naomi Watts. Also, every time I have seen Live Schreiber interviewed, although he is the brooding type, he seems to have a good sense of humor. Oh well…

  12. Sunsetsnow says:

    He cheated! He is sexy AF! He even looks like a cheater!