Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth announced their separation last Friday. It was a perfect blend of surprising and not-surprising. Jim and Reese haven’t been seen out together (on red carpets or anywhere else) in years. Toth was always seen as happy to take a backseat to Reese’s fame and celebrity. They seemed solid, yet he wasn’t showing up for her events at all. So… yeah. For what it’s worth, my guess is still that Reese and Jim only announced their split now because they’re close to working out the terms of their divorce quietly. Reese’s team hasn’t bashed Jim in the gossip media (yet), but she does want to come out of this with her reputation intact. So here’s a lil’ sympathetic piece from People Magazine:
Reese Witherspoon never envisioned going through another divorce, a source tells PEOPLE. The Oscar winner, 47, revealed Friday that she and husband Jim Toth, whom she wed in March 2011, are separating.
“Reese is obviously disappointed and upset. She never saw herself getting another divorce,” a source tells PEOPLE. “They love Tennessee and this is their focus. They will continue to co-parent amicably. There is no drama.”
“After she was set up with Jim, their relationship moved quickly. Reese was thrilled by his attention and excited to marry him,” adds the source of the pair. “They are two very different people though. Reese is headstrong and focused. Although very hard-working, Jim is more laidback.”
The source adds, “It’s been very difficult for Reese to get to this point though. They both concluded this was right for them.”
To me, her second marriage always seemed like a direct reaction to her first marriage – Ryan Phillippe was all drama, and that marriage really imploded and it was pretty messy for several years. Reese was looking for someone stable and dependable, and someone who would be happy, and not jealous, when she succeeded (unlike Ryan). She got all that in Jim, and then they grew apart over time. Anyway, it’s kind of nice that this split doesn’t feel super-messy. And Reese’s base of supporters and fans… well, they don’t mind that she’s getting a second divorce. Reese likes to think that her brand is high-end, old-money Southern but it’s not. She’s a messy Southern girl and we figured that out a long time ago.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- Reese Witherspoon arrives at the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party held at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 9, 2020 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, United States. (Photo by Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency),Image: 563489467, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Xavier Collin / Xavier Collin / Avalon
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- Reese Witherspoon arrives at the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party held at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 9, 2020 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, United States. (Photo by Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency),Image: 563489544, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Xavier Collin / Xavier Collin / Avalon
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- Reese Witherspoon arrives on the red carpet of The 93rd Oscars® at Union Station in Los Angeles, CA on Sunday, April 25, 2021.,Image: 607900020, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: ©A.M.P.A.S. All rights reserved., Model Release: no, Credit line: TE / Avalon
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- Reese Witherspoon arrives on the red carpet of The 93rd Oscars® at Union Station in Los Angeles, CA on Sunday, April 25, 2021.,Image: 607903664, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: ©A.M.P.A.S. All rights reserved., Model Release: no, Credit line: SI / Avalon
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- LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – NOVEMBER 15: Actress Reese Witherspoon wearing a Michael Kors dress and Tiffany & Co. jewelry arrives at the 6th Annual InStyle Awards 2021 held at the Getty Center on November 15, 2021 in Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 643437488, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Reese Witherspoon, Credit line: Xavier Collin / Image Press Agency / Avalon
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- Reese Witherspoon at the Where The Crawdads Sing premiere at the Museum of Modern Art on July 11, 2022 in New York city.,Image: 706757309, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Darla Khazei / Avalon
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- HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – FEBRUARY 23: American actress Reese Witherspoon wearing a Schiaparelli dress and Reza jewelry arrives at the Los Angeles Premiere Of Amazon Prime Video’s ‘Daisy Jones & The Six’ Season 1 held at the TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX on February 23, 2023 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 758398138, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Reese Witherspoon, Credit line: Xavier Collin / Image Press Agency / Avalon
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- USA/Australia/Canada Rights Only – Los Angeles, USA – 2/26/17 The Vanity Fair Oscar Party 2017 Celebrating the 89th Annual Academy Awards at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles, CA. -PICTURED: Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth -PHOTO by: David Nivere/ABACA USA/INSTARimages.com Editorial Rights Managed Image – Please contact www.INSTARimages.com for licensing fee and rights: North America Inquiries: email sales@instarimages.com or call 212.414.0207 – UK Inquiries: email ben@instarimages.com or call + 7715 698 715 – Australia Inquiries: email sarah@instarimages.com.au Êor call +02 9660 0500 Ð for any other Country, please email sales@instarimages.com. ÊImage or video may not be published in any way that is or might be deemed defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene / Please consult our sales department for any clarification or question you may have – http://www.INSTARimages.com reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this image or video. If you are in violation of our intellectual property you may be liable for actual damages, loss of income, and profits you derive from the use of this image or video, and where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or statutory damage. Featuring: Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth Where: Los Angeles, California, United States When: 26 Feb 2017 Credit: David Nivere/ABACA USA/INSTARimages.com **USA/Australia/Canada Rights Only**
I mean, most people don’t see themselves even getting that first divorce. This is worded very strangely. I could totally see myself divorcing someone because I have very little patience for people’s bs these days. Hence the unmarried status.
Reece does seem to be heavily invested in her perfect southern woman image (the kind that don’t see themselves getting divorced) which is too bad because she’s so much more than that.
She needs to give it up. That perfect girl image has been busted from the get-go.
She got pregnant while filming Cruel Intentions, married Ryan in a hurry a few weeks after the movie at some Plantation in South Carolina, and then gave birth to her daughter Ava three months after the wedding.
Do I think she would have married him if she hadn’t gotten pregnant at 22 years old? Nope. And judging from some quotes she gave while she was married to Ryan, she wasn’t all that surprised about that first divorce either.
The arrest video and mug shot while married to Toth didn’t help either.
She wants a brand that just doesn’t suit her.
I see her brand as busy b workaholic Hollywood lady boss. I never bought the aww shucks homey southern stuff. Single woman status suits her and her brand just fine.
Ha. +1
My thoughts exactly 😶
Yeah that “I’m an American citizen” drunken rant tipped us off long ago that’s she messy and entitled.
Yeah and from what I remember Jim, although drunk enough to get charged with DWI, was the calm voice of reason during that encounter. I can totally understand his appeal after Jake G who she dated for about 2 years after Ryan. There is not one Hollywood actor who appeals to me anymore. They are just big entitled man-babies. The actresses are entitled too but at least more human to me.
Reese just seems like a type A person who is “on” all the time. I can understand how that would get old. They met when he was an established Hwood mover and shaker and probably had similar ambitions, ambitions they no longer share. Now that they’ve made their big sale and can move on separately.
Yes Ma’am. Totally agree.
I’m guessing that her PR team knows her audience well and there must be more right-wing, older Christian women who frown on divorce than we thought. Hence the need to say that she’s “upset.” Maybe she was upset at first, esp since the statement from the “insider” yesterday indicated that she felt Toth flipped the script on her by quitting his high-powered Hollywood job and dressing weird, etc. I am guessing that her PR team is worried that isn’t enough of a “reason “ to break the sacred bonds of matrimony (that is meant to be sarcasm if it isn’t obvious).
Well put, ItReallyIsYou. Yesterday, they leaked his “midlife crisis” full of tats and jewelry. Here she’s again explaining why she’s leaving him. People fall out of love sometimes—that explanation should be enough.
I think most people would be upset to get divorced twice. I’m not sure it’s a huge PR move/appeal to Christians to indicate that one is upset. To the extent that she’s a perfectionist, I’m sure she hoped to have a super strong and healthy marriage and maybe she thought that if she worked hard enough she could achieve that. But unfortunately one cannot work their way into a great marriage – it takes two working hard and working together and a little luck that you grow in the same ways over the years.
ItReallyIsYou, ML – Agree with these comments, she seems to be putting a lot of energy into explaining how “it’s not me, it’s you” for what seems to be an amicable split. The sugary image must matter to someone – maybe the crowd buying her clothing? I lol’d at messy Southern as opposed to old-money Southern, she definitely strikes me as a work hard/play hard kind of gal.
I am still think that heather cheated or he wanted her to give up her career only because the Resses team keeps putting out these, stories that he was the reason for the divorce even though they both agreed to it.
It just seems odd to keep the split on the down low for years only for Reese’s PR team to put out story after story for this so-called “drama free” split.
She’s on brand with her original thought: no one’s messier than old money Southern. But that’s ok! Just be happy.
Remind me of Ben Affleck and all of his relationships. I checked up his family ground, and despite his public Boston bro persona he tries hard to exude, he’s a southern Wasp through and through. And he’s the epitome of Hollywood messiness.
Those Draper James florals won’t sell by themselves.
Either the divorce (which has been in the works since at least 2020 when they started selling off real estate including the “family home”) is close to finalized and/or one or both of them want to be able to openly date.
I don’t generally follow Reese news but even I remember her stating her A-type personality in many press interactions over the years.