Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth announced their separation with a joint statement. Photo / Getty Images
Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth announced their separation with a joint statement. Photo / Getty Images
Reese Witherspoon and her husband Jim Toth appeared to be a happy couple until this week when they announced their separation.
The couple, due to celebrate their 12th wedding anniversary, wrote in a joint statement they had “enjoyed so many wonderful years together” but had ultimately made the “difficult decision” to file for divorce.
But despite coming as a surprise to fans, many sources have since come forward with new details including the bombshell claim that the separation didn’t come as a shock as the couple – who share 10-year-old son Tennessee together – had started the process years earlier by quietly liquidating their assets.
Speaking to US Weekly in 2021 a source revealed the couple had come to terms with their separation long before it was announced and as such had been liquidating their joint assets for a while.
“They decided their marriage wasn’t going to last forever and that they should have a plan for splitting up their assets that wouldn’t destroy what they built together,” the source told the media outlet at the time.
Jim Toth and Reese Witherspoon are parents to son Tennessee, 10. Photo / Instagram
They added that the couple have sold several of their homes including a Nashville mansion, English Country style manor in Los Angeles and a Malibu farmhouse. The couple are also selling another one of their Malibu properties that is expected to fetch US$8 million (NZ$12.9m).
It comes after a source told The US Sun that things really took a turn in their marriage when the couple sold a large portion of their production company Hello Sunshine in 2021.
“Jim is the one who has changed massively just in the last few years. Jim just isn’t the guy Reese married and had a son with anymore,” the source close to the Legally Blonde actress said.
While Witherspoon still retains an interest in the company and continues to work as a producer on several projects, Toth received a potion of the almost $1.28 billion sale and it reportedly had a large impact on his personality.
The source said, “His personality, his attitude and his whole take on life really changed when he got out of the agency business and decided he was tired of that stuffy world and being in the service business in general.”
Continuing: “Call it a midlife crisis if you want but that’s when the tattoos, the chunky, weird jewellery, and dressing like somebody half his age really took hold.”
Jim Toth, Ava Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, Deacon Phillippe and Tennessee Toth. Photo / Instagram
Other reasons for their separation reportedly include their busy schedules causing them to live separate lives for months before the announcement of their divorce.
The Daily Mail reported the two would “go days without interacting” due to Witherspoon being such a highly demanded Hollywood star and it came to a point where the couple would only interact if they had to discuss family matters.
“Jim is hardly ever with her,” another source told RadarOnline. “It’s always like that”.
Despite separation reportedly being in the cards for a while, a source has since told People Magazine that Witherspoon never envisioned another divorce for herself and is “disappointed” about the situation.
“Reese is obviously disappointed and upset. She never saw herself getting another divorce,” the source said. “They love Tennessee and this is their focus. They will continue to co-parent amicably. There is no drama.”
The source adds, “It’s been very difficult for Reese to get to this point though. They both concluded this was right for them.”
Reese Witherspoon was previously married to Ryan Phillippe. Photo / Getty Images
This is Witherspoon’s second divorce after she first separated from Ryan Phillippe in 2006.
The two married in 1999 and share two children together, Ava Phillippe, 23, and Deacon Phillippe, 19.
Following the split, the two both recall it being a hard time with People Magazine reporting Phillippe said it was “the worst time of my life” while Witherspoon told 60 Minutes in 2014 that it was a “tough year”.
She also said she suffered personal and professional struggles at the time of her first separation.
“I was just kind of floundering career-wise. I wasn’t making things I was passionate about ... And it was really clear that audiences weren’t responding to anything I was putting out there.”
