Celebrity Divorces

(News from http://www.forbes.com)

Celebrity divorces are big business. Tabloids voraciously cover them. Fans hungrily follow them. Lawyers and business managers protectively orchestrate them. And they certainly are common. Last year alone saw the breakups of Britney Spears and Kevin Federline, Paul McCartney and Heather Mills, and Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe.

Many Hollywood marriages last barely long enough for the ink to dry on the marriage licenses. Singer Kid Rock and Baywatch babe Pam Anderson were wed for just four months. Actress Drew Barrymore's nuptials to comic Tom Green hit the skids after five months. Pop diva Jennifer Lopez and backup dancer Chris Judd managed to make it to only the eight-month mark before calling it quits.

Who did what to whom is far less important in a celebrity divorce than who gives what to whom. Generally, the bigger the star, the greater the payout. For the showbiz legends who landed on our list of the 10 Most Expensive Celebrity Divorces, the spectacular settlements with their exes made Hollywood history.

The 10 Most Expensive Celebrity Divorces

Divorce has its price — and no celebrity, it appears, knows that better than Michael Jordan.

The basketball superstar's split December 2007 from his wife of 17 years, Juanita, is No. 1 on Forbes.com's list of "The 10 Most Expensive Celebrity Divorces."

Juanita Jordan could possibly "get more than $150 million in a settlement, making the Jordan divorce the most expensive in entertainment history," Forbes said.

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Neil Diamond, whose 1995 divorce from Marcia Murphey cost him an estimated $150 million, holds second place.

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Steven Spielberg comes in third for paying his ex-wifeSEARCH
Amy Irving an estimated $100 million, which was then half his fortune, when they divorced in 1989. The Oscar-winning director is now worth $3 billion.

Also making the list are estimated settlements between SEARCH
Harrison Ford and Melissa Mathison ($85 million);

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Kevin Costner and Cindy Silva ($80 million);

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Paul McCartney and Heather Mills, whose divorce could cost him more than $60 million;

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James Cameron andSEARCH
Linda Hamilton ($50 million);

Michael and Diandra Douglas ($45 million and two homes);

Lionel and Diane Richie ($20 million); and

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Mick Jagger and SEARCH
Jerry Hall ($15 to $25 million).

Forbes said they researched divorces of the last 25 years in compiling the list, which was posted Thursday on its Web site.

Big Weddings, Big Divorces...

Jennifer Aniston & Brad Pitt

Television’s favorite friend wedded film’s hottest bachelor in July of 2000 on the Malibu estate of TV producer Marcy Carsey (Roseanne, The Cosby Show). Before the event, the comely couple enjoyed side-by-side massages in a private poolside cabana. Among the 200 guests: Cameron Diaz, Courtney Cox and Matthew Perry. The wedding, which necessitated closing part of the Pacific Coast Highway to accommodate guests and crew, reportedly required $100,000 worth of security. The couple called it quits five years later.

Tori Spelling & Charlie Shanian

The couple wed in July 2004 at the Spelling family’s 56,000-square-foot Los Angeles compound. The event, catered by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck, had a Roaring Twenties theme and featured a champagne fountain and rose-covered gazebo. Among the 350 guests were Spelling’s Beverly Hills 90201 co-stars Jason Priestley and Jennie Garth, as well as father Aaron’s pals Bob Newhart and Joan Collins. Spelling and Shanian split last year.

Liza Minnelli & David Gest

The couple wed in 2002 at Manhattan’s Marble Collegiate Church in a wacky ceremony that featured Michael Jackson as best man and Elizabeth Taylor as the matron of honor. Bridesmaids included Mia Farrow and Chaka Khan. Gloria Gaynor, Dionne Warwick and the Pointer Sisters entertained some 500 guests at the reception. The pair separated a year later and divorced this year.

Eddie Murphy & Nicole Mitchell

The comic all-star married the longtime model in 1993 at Manhattan’s Plaza Hotel. The 500-person or so guest list included Quincy Jones, Bruce Willis and Stevie Wonder. The Plaza’s Grand Ballroom was reportedly recarpeted in white for the affair, while another room was retrofitted as a disco. The pair divorced last year.

Marc Anthony & Dayanara Torres

The couple, originally married in May of 2000, renewed their vows in 2002 at a lavish affair in Puerto Rico. The steps of the San Juan Cathedral, where the ceremony was held, were swathed in pink and white roses. The bride, a former Miss Universe, wore a beaded stunner from Reem Acra. N'Sync's Lance Bass performed at the Moroccan-themed reception, which featured a seven-course feast. Two years later the couple split and Anthony married pop superstar Jennifer Lopez just days later.

The Young Hollywood Divorcee Club

They call it the starter marriage. And in Hollywood, stars start--and often end-- their marriages early. Perhaps they were lulled by the romantic films in which many of them have starred, or maybe it's the mature, fast-paced showbiz lifestyle that lures these youngsters to the altar. Regardless, in most cases, the bride can't even legally indulge in her own champagne toast. "There's a lack of maturity, and they're fantasizing that marriage is a fairy tale," says Lois Liberman, a New York celebrity divorce lawyer.

The members of The Young Hollywood Divorcée Club have one thing in common: The bride was in her teens or--at most--early 20s at the time of the wedding. The groom, though, is almost always older, and in several cases, by more than a decade. Not surprisingly, these junior brides ended up young divorcées.

Consider 19-year-old Drew Barrymore's blink-and-you'll-miss-it marriage to Welsh bar owner Jeremy Thomas, which lasted 19 days. He was 12 years older than the future Charlie's Angels star. That failed marriage didn't stop Barrymore from racing down the aisle again in 2001 with comic Tom Green. That marriage lasted a bit longer--roughly a year.

Sopranos star Jamie-Lynn Sigler wed her agent, A.J. DiScala; he was then 32, and she was just 22. Their marriage sputtered along for two years.

The 13-year age gap between rocker Chris Robinson, 34, and his young actress wife (and daughter of Goldie Hawn) Kate Hudson, 21, managed to produce one of the longer marriages in the club: They lasted six years and have one son together, Ryder. The couple called it quits last year.

Another similarity among club members: In many cases, the marriages ended after the bride's career eclipsed that of the groom.

Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe were only 23 and 24, respectively, when they tied the knot in June 1999. Still, the marriage looked solid. They had two children and publicly extolled the virtues of couples therapy. But as Reese's career skyrocketed--she won a Best Actress Oscar in 2006 and earns $15 million paychecks for her film roles--the marriage hit the skids. "The husband can start to resent feeling emasculated," says Liberman.

That may have partly contributed to the demise of Britney Spears' ill-fated union with backup dancer Kevin Federline. (She was 22 and he was 26 when they wed.) Spears tried to bolster Federline's nascent music career when she helped finance and even appeared on her husband's doomed debut album, Playing With Fire, released last year to dismal reviews. Federline became a joke in the industry. Entertainment Weekly accused Federline of "squandering" his wife's fortune. The couple famously split before the new year.

A young Angelina Jolie, primarily known as Oscar winner Jon Voight's pillow-lipped daughter, married actor Johnny Lee Miller in 1996 when she was 20 and he was 23. But her fame quickly began to outpace his when she scored an Emmy for her role in Gia.

That same scenario plagued Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey, both B-listers when they wed in 2002. But when their MTV show Newlyweds became a hit, Jessica--not Nick--got the ensuing movie roles and licensing deals. Divorce followed soon after.

Macaulay Culkin was married to actress Rachel Miner from June 1998 to August 2000. Both were 17 at the time of their marriage.

Information & Photos Courtesy of http://www.forbes.com

Inspite of all the celebrated misunderstandings, what does the Bible have to say about Marriage/ Divorce?

"Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our fathers by breaking faith with one another? Judah has broken faith. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the LORD loves, by marrying the daughter of a foreign god. As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the LORD cut him off from the tents of Jacob—even though he brings offerings to the LORD Almighty. Another thing you do: You flood the LORD's altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. You ask, "Why?" It is because the LORD is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. Has not the LORD made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. "I hate divorce," says the LORD God of Israel, "and I hate a man's covering himself with violence as well as with his garment," says the LORD Almighty. "So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith." (Malachi 2:10-16 NIV)

THOUGHTS for those CONSIDERING SEPARATION/DIVORCE

Clicking this link will take you to a webpage containing different thoughts gathered from various resources on the subject of divorce that we hope you will prayerfully consider during this critical time in your life.

Links to Christian sites with helpful information on Marriage/ Divorce issues:

http://themarriagebed.com

http://www.desiringgod.org

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary

http://marriagemissions.com/index.php