The story of Billy Bob Thornton, who suddenly left his fiancee, actress Laura Dern, for another woman reads like a scandalous plot from a Hollywood drama.
It is a story of unexpected betrayal, intense romance, and the complex lives of celebrities involved in unforeseen relationships. From sudden breakups to tumultuous marriages, the lives of these stars have taken amazing turns that have both intrigued and stunned the public.
Billy Bob Thornton suddenly left his fiancee, actress Laura Dern, for another woman who was making headlines at the time.
Dern was among those caught off guard.
Her life was suddenly turned upside down and she needed time to recover from the shock.
Speaking about Thornton’s decision to marry Angelina Jolie, who was twenty years his junior, Dern said it caused a detour in her plans for the relationship.
According to E! Thornton and Dern began dating online in 1997, shortly after she split from Jeff Goldblum and while he was still in the process of divorcing his fourth wife, Pietra Dawn Cherniak.
Thornton and Jolie, who was pretty wild in the 90s, met on the set of Pushing Tin in 1999, not knowing that they would be tying the knot a few months later. While Thornton was engaged to Dern, Jolie was in a relationship with Timothy Hutton. In May, the couple made their marriage official with the help of an L.A. minister. At that time, Jolie was 24 years old.
Their relationship was fascinating and attracted the attention of many.
During their first year of marriage, the two went overboard with their public displays of affection: Jolie tattooed his name on her, wore vials of each other’s blood around their necks, and engaged in excessive PDA.
However, their relationship did not last long and problems arose in less than two years.
In an interview with InStyle, Dern reflected on her sudden split from Thornton, saying, “I left our home to work on a movie, and while I was gone, my boyfriend got married and I never heard from him again.”
In a 2021 interview, Thornton expressed remorse but never openly admitted any wrongdoing, according to The Mirror.
“Others may say you left our girl and married someone else. But it made me and someone else happy. I’m sorry it caused pain,” he reportedly said.
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As Yahoo reports, Dern and Jolie had a previous connection dating back to when Dern babysat Jolie in their younger years, adding an unexpected twist to the story.
Bruce Dern, Laura’s father, recalled this period. Referring to the 1978 film Coming Home, Bruce noted, “Jon Voight is a friend of mine, so I remember Laura babysitting Angelina one night when Angelina was 2 and Laura was about 8… because Jon and I were doing Coming Home. at [director] Hal Ashby’s house, so they asked [Laura] to come [watch Angie].”
After the sudden split, Dern received support from her friend Melissa Etheridge, who helped her through the process of moving out of the home she shared with Thornton.
Speaking to Andy Cohen on his SiriusXM radio show, Etheridge said, “I was around when Angelina wasn’t doing nice things with Billy Bob and Laura Dern. I went through that on a personal level, and then I got to know the side of Jennifer.” and Brad I helped Laura move out of her house with Billy Bob
– I liked breaking into their house to take things out because it was so ugly.”
Dern eventually married Ben Harper, with whom she had two children, and was recently linked to former NBA star Baron Davis.
Thornton divorced Jolie in 2002 and has since stopped dating celebrities. In 2014, he married puppeteer Connie Angland.
The high-profile breakup between Billy Bob Thornton and Laura Dern, followed by Thornton’s unexpected marriage to Angelina Jolie, remains a significant chapter in celebrity history. Thornton’s sudden departure changed Dern’s life, leaving her to deal with the shock and subsequent media scrutiny. Despite the public drama and complexities of their personal lives, Dern found support from friends like Melissa Etheridge and eventually moved forward.
Thornton’s subsequent relationship with Jolie, marked by their infamous public displays of affection, was short-lived and ended in 2002. The marriage, once characterized by intense media attention and extravagant gestures, ultimately did not stand the test of time. Thornton’s later decision to marry puppeteer Connie Angland and distance himself from the celebrity scene suggests a shift in his approach to relationships.
In contrast, Dern rebuilt her life, marrying Ben Harper and later being linked to Baron Davis. Her resilience through these tumultuous experiences underscores her strength and ability to move forward. The story of Thornton, Dern, and Jolie serves as a reminder of the personal and public challenges faced by those in the spotlight, and the lasting impact such significant relationships have on the lives involved.