According to reports, Natalie Portman and Benjamin Millipied “split” after eleven years of marriage. Natalie Portman sought counsel from author Nora Ephron amid her marital difficulties.
The 42-year-old actress announced the book club’s selection for the month on Sunday via Instagram: Heartburn, an autobiographical novel by Nora Ephron that explores her second marriage to Carl Berstein, his extramarital affair, and their ensuing divorce. Portman posted a photo of herself reading the book with her eyes peeping out from behind the cover in a lighthearted manner.
“I am thrilled to have finally penned Nora Ephron’s Heartburn, her signature work in which she humorously transforms suffering.” Anticipating the feedback of all individuals. “@natsbookclub #MarchBookPick,” she wrote in the post’s caption.
Drawing on Ephron’s personal experiences with her second husband, who had an affair with Margaret Jay, the daughter of British Prime Minister James Callaghan, Heartburn delves into the complexity of love, betrayal, and divorce.
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Natalie Portman and Benjamin Millipied’s Split
Reports of a split and potential “divorce” with her husband, Millipied, a French dancer and choreographer who worked on Dune and Portman’s 2010 success, Black Swan, suggested that the novel struck a chord with Portman.
In a June 2018 exposé, the French magazine Voici revealed that Millipied had an extramarital affair with Portman, this time with 25-year-old Camille Etienne, a climate activist. Early this year, a source revealed to the Daily Mail that the couple’s “divorce is in the works,” although “nothing has been filed as of yet.”
The insider claims that until they “figure out what is best for their children,” Portman and Millipied have not formally announced their breakup. Since February 2023, when a French publication reported that Millepied had an affair, their marital status has been undetermined.
A source told People in June 2023 that the alleged affair was “over” and “short-lived,” adding, “He is doing everything in his power to convince Natalie to forgive him so they can maintain their family unit.”
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In the Vanity Fair Hollywood issue from the previous month, Portman acknowledged the rumors surrounding her marriage but declined to elaborate. She told the outlet, “I have no intention of contributing to it; it is abhorrent.”
In 2009, Millepied and Portman met while she was working on the Oscar-winning film “Black Swan,” for which Portman garnered the award. To assist in the instruction of ballet to Portman, Millepied was engaged as a choreographer. In the film, he portrayed the principal male performer of the ballet company. Aleph and Amalia are the couple’s two children, and they were married in 2012.