Dawn French. Photo / NZ Herald
Dawn French
and
Lenny Henry
have officially ended their 25-year marriage - the couple were divorced today on the grounds of his "unreasonable behaviour".
The comedy couple split in October 2009, but kept their separation under wraps until they finally announced it in April of this year.
The pair insisted the split was "entirely amicable", and that they fully intend to maintain their close friendship.
French echoed that sentiment back in July, saying: "Remarkably, we seem to have shifted with relative ease from a 25-year marriage to a lasting friendship.
"I am amazed by us - there is no war, we have turned out to be the best of friends."
'Quickie divorce'
It took just three minutes and 55 seconds for
Vicar Of Dibley
star French to be granted a decree nisi at the High Court in London, according to Sky News.
No further details relating to Henry's "unreasonable behaviour" were revealed in divorce documents made public today.
In one document French, 53, is asked if the behaviour was continuing. She answers: "Yes".
And in another court paper, Lenny, 52, - named as respondent - states that he does not intend to defend the case and didn't object to paying the cost of proceedings.
French and Henry met in met in 1981 and married in 1984. They adopted their daughter
Billie
in 1991.
Theirs was considered to be one of the most stable marriages in showbusiness, despite it emerging in 1999 that Henry had slept in a hotel room with 26-year-old Australian receptionist
Merri Cheyne
.
Cheyne said during an interview: "We didn't have sex - he didn't so much as kiss me.
"I admit I was willing, I was able, I had a huge crush on him and flirted all night, but he rejected me."
Henry denied reports of an affair and checked in to rehab, saying he was experiencing a "classic mid-life crisis" after turning 40 and losing his mother.
Cheyne says the end of their marriage has nothing to do with her.
"It is nothing to do with me. If it was, their marriage would have broken up back then. If what happened didn't split them up then, why would it do so now? Why would they end their relationship for something like that?"
French described the scandal as a "blip", and conceded that the pair had had a "rough ride" but added, "we're all going to get married and a bit unmarried sometimes, and married again".
Neither was at court for the hearing and it sounds as thought neither of them has plans to remarry. French said recently: "I don't really want to get remarried. I just want to have a good time."
Good luck to them both!
Hangover axe burns Mel Gibson
Oh dear,
Mel Gibson
is not a happy camper. I now, tell us something we don't already know.
Word at the water cooler says Gibson has a major axe to grind with the producers of the sequel to the hit
The Hangover
after his cameo was unceremoniously ditched last week.
Gibson was hoping his much-hyped minor role as a Bangkok tattoo artist in the sequel would be his first inroad to a comeback, but filmmakers cut him loose after cast members protested his involvement in the project.
Director
Todd Phillips
said in a statement: "I thought Mel would have been great in the movie and I had the full backing of
Jeff Robinov
and his team.
"But I realise filmmaking is a collaborative effort, and this decision ultimately did not have the full support of my entire cast and crew."
And to rub salt into Gibson's open wounds,
Liam Neeson
has just been announced as his replacement in the sequel.
"I just got a call to do a one-day shoot on
Hangover 2
as a tattooist in Thailand, and that's all I know about it,"
Daily Variety
.
"I just laughed my leg off when I saw
The Hangover
, I was shooting in Berlin earlier this year and rented it on the hotel TV."
Of his dismissal,
says, "He doesn't understand why
Mike Tyson
, a drug user who turned his life around, was given a chance while Mel was kicked to the curb. Everybody deserves a second chance."
Meanwhile, Gibson and his baby mamma
Oksana Grigorieva
are still land-locked in a bitter custody and financial support battle over their daughter,
Lucia
.
Also...
Playboy
Magazine peeps have approached Grigorieva with an offer of dropping her laundry for a "full nude" spread,
.
Sources claim
Playboy
is willing to fork over a cool US$75,000 (NZ$99,581) for her trouble.
Smells like teen spirit
What does
Justin Bieber
smell like? We'll all soon find out.
Weeks after announcing plans to launch a nail polish line, the Biebs is launching his own fragrance line, called
My World
.
But this is a celeb stink with a difference...
The singer has paired with Etoile Nation Beauty to create wristbands and dog tags infused with the scent, reports WWD http://www.wwd.com/beauty-industry-news?module=tn#/article/beauty-industry-news/justin-bieber-to-launch-fragrance-3352829?full=true .
Biebs tells the website he's been involved with the development of the fragrance.
"They actually brought me a bunch of stuff to smell today," he said. "One of them smelled too young, too fruity. One was really good."
The collection is slated to hit Wal-Mart stores on November 26.
Runaway success?
Kanye West's long-form music film
Runaway
has premiered.
The 34-minute film features lingerie model
Selita Ebanks
as a phoenix who falls to Earth and is rescued by West, or rather a version of himself called Griffin.
West heals the phoenix through the power of music, but her union with her rescuer is torn apart when she's discriminated against for her curious behaviour and features.
Later in the video she speaks: "You know what I hate about your world? Anything that is different you try to change, you try to tear it down."
Consider the phoenix a burning metaphor for our struggle with West's public behaviour and ego.
Filmed in Prague, the soundtrack features songs from the West's fifth album
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
, including
Devil in a New Dress
,
POWER
,
All of the Lights
with Rihanna,
Lost in the World
, and the title track
Runaway
.
Watch the film in its entirety below:
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