Rock's Nastiest Divorces

What Happens In Vegas Stays In Vegas
Britney Spears and Jason Alexander
Irreconcilable Differences Married at 5:30 A.M. at the tail end of a 2004 New Year’s blowout in Vegas, Britney and her high school pal stuck it out for two days before she filed for an annulment, citing the fact that she “lacked understanding of her actions.” But Alexander, then a 22-year-old junior at Southeastern Louisiana University, wouldn’t go quietly. Months after the annulment he told a British tabloid it was Britney who proposed to him after several nights of “mind-blowing and rough” sex. He signed annulment papers, he claimed, under pressure from Britney’s family, and another British tabloid alleged he was paid more than $500,000 for his trouble. Nonetheless, he soon moved into the same L.A. apartment block as Britney’s dad, and in early 2006 was reportedly dating Kevin Federline’s babymama, Shar Jackson.
Expert Testimony “I would have advised Alexander to stay put,” says divorce attorney Raoul Felder. “I mean, this is his moment in the sun. He might as well stay until he gets sunburned.”

Feel the Love
Eminem and Kim Mathers
Irreconcilable Differences Marshall “Eminem” Mathers married his high school sweetheart in 1999, just as The Slim Shady LP was catching fire. But in June the following year, he pistol-whipped a guy he caught kissing her in a parking lot; Kim later attempted suicide, and Em filed for divorce. Kim answered with a $10 million suit citing emotional distress caused by the song “Kim,” in which Eminem fantasizes about brutally murdering her. But in January 2006, after a rehab stay for Em and multiple drug arrests and a new child (by another man) for Kim, the couple remarried. Less than three months later, Em filed for divorce yet again. “We both tried to give our marriage a second chance,” he said, “and quickly realized that a wedding doesn’t fix the underlying problems.”
Expert Testimony “You get these cases where people are drawn to each other,” Felder says. “They can’t help themselves. They’re like lemmings. They have to go over the cliff.”

Parting Gift
Marvin Gaye and Anna Gordy Gaye
Irreconcilable Differences Gaye was derided as an opportunist when the fledgling singer married Motown boss Berry Gordy’s sister in 1963. When they divorced in 1977, he was a huge star, albeit one with a drug problem, two children out of wedlock and a mountain of money troubles. After Anna was awarded the advance and royalties from Gaye’s next album as alimony, Gaye wrote 1978’s Here, My Dear as a concept album about their failed marriage. After hearing the record, Anna considered suing him for invasion of privacy — but it was a commercial flop, and when Gaye died in 1989, he was still in debt to his ex-wife.
Expert Testimony “His people looked for any way he could raise money and pay her,” Felder says. “Like prizefighters who have to fight to pay their ex-wives.”

Unbound and Gagged
David Bowie and Angela Bowie
Irreconcilable Differences Married to the glam-rock chameleon in 1970 just as his star was beginning to rise, the American model-actress-musician launched divorce proceedings in 1978 — and then promptly overdosed in a bathtub, only to be pulled out by paramedics who accidentally dropped her comatose body on the way to the ambulance, breaking her nose. The eventual divorce settlement awarded David full custody of their son, while Angela got a 10-year gag order along with $6,250 a month for as long as the order was in place. Undeterred, she published an autobiography in 1981 and then, after the order expired, a second, sleazier tell-all in which she trashed their marriage and provided details about the Thin White Duke’s (bi)sexual peccadilloes.
Expert Testimony “I think if Britain had civil partnership laws in 1969, Bowie would have married a boy,” says gossip columnist Ben Widdicombe. “Maybe Angie was the next best thing.”

Unmarried … With Children
Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall
Irreconcilable Differences Jagger and model-actress Hall first got together in 1979, while he was married to Bianca and she was dating debonair art-rock pinup Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music, but they didn’t marry until 1990. Eight years later, upon discovering that the father of her four children had impregnated a 29-year-old Brazilian underwear model, Hall called Jagger a “lying, cheating, no-good slimeball,” then reportedly pressed for $50 million of his $250 million fortune in the divorce. Jagger’s lawyers claimed the couple’s Bali wedding ceremony wasn’t valid, and in 1999 a judge annulled the union. Hall still managed to make off with an estimated $10 million to $15 million, but she was never entirely able to shed Sir Mick: By 2000, he’d moved into the apartment next door to hers and knocked down the wall between them.
Expert Testimony “In marrying Mick Jagger,” says Widdicombe, “you are, no pun intended, making a deal with the devil. She had to know what she was getting into.”

Save the Children
Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe
Irreconcilable Differences Coming on the heels of his 20-month connubial train wreck with Lisa Marie Presley, Jackson’s 1996 marriage to dermatology nurse Rowe was widely assumed to be a strict cash-for-kiddies business swap, so it was little surprise their 1999 divorce left Jackson with sole custody of their two children and Rowe with roughly $5 million—and a confidentiality agreement forbidding her to discuss Jackson’s mental condition, purported drug use or sexual behavior. Rowe was completely cut out of the children’s lives, both practically and legally, but last year, following Jackson’s acquittal on child­molestation charges, she accused Jackson of kidnapping their children and taking them to Bahrain, and is currently suing for custody.
Expert Testimony “He had sex with her as many times as I had sex with the chair in front of my desk,” says Felder. “Who knows how those children were conceived?”

Prisoner of Love
Mariah Carey and Tommy Mottola
Irreconcilable Differences Carey has called the house she shared with then–Sony Music CEO Mottola “Sing Sing,” a nod both to the infamous prison and to the only activity her husband ever wanted her to engage in. The pair wed in 1993, simultaneously quelling and substantiating rumors that Carey had been having an affair with the already-married Mottola and reaping the benefits, career-wise. Awkwardly, Mottola remained her record company boss for a time after their 1998 divorce, and Carey took none-too-subtle jabs at him in several videos: “Butterfly” shows her trapped in a mansion; in “Honey” she’s handcuffed to a chair and menaced by an Italian-looking mobster. Carey later hinted that Mottola has tried to sabotage her career, on one occasion stealing her song ideas and giving them to rival diva Jennifer Lopez. The ex-couple reportedly haven’t spoken since the divorce.
Expert Testimony “Tommy, god love him, what is he, three-foot-two?” asks Tawny Kitaen. “I’ve had opportunities to be with some very heavy hitters who could help my career, but I wouldn’t sell my soul.”

The Honeymoon Is Over
Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey
Irreconcilable Differences Even those who reckoned that the reality-show-sanctioned union was a nuptial time bomb probably didn’t expect the damage to get so ugly so quickly. Seemingly out to prove that his rumored extramarital dalliances with a porn star and a college student weren’t indicative of the kind of mid-notch tail he could really pull off if he tried, Lachey rebounded from Simpson into the tabloid-ready embrace of Laguna Beach’s Kristin Cavallari and MTV host Vanessa Minnillo. But credit the real messiness to the absence of prenup. Under California law, Lachey is entitled to half the couple’s marital assets (read: Jessica’s stuff), and judging from his not-at-all emasculating request for potential “spousal support,” that’s apparently what he’s after.
Expert Testimony “This is like A Star Is Born,” says Felder. “He had the bigger career before he was married to her, but she became the star and he became … well, he still has a little career, I guess. But in the movie he ends up committing suicide.”

The Sound and the Fury
Richard and Linda Thompson
Irreconcilable Differences The British folk icons married in 1972, shortly after Richard left the influential folk-rock outfit Fairport Convention. Ten years later, Linda was pregnant and he was having an affair as they recorded their final album together, the embittered breakup classic Shoot Out the Lights. They divorced before the album actually hit the shelves, but decided to tour together anyway, putting their messy split on public display. Fueled by vodka, antidepressants and woman-scorned fury, Linda came unraveled on the road: In Toronto she reportedly hit Richard over the head with a Coke bottle; in New York she was arrested for stealing a car; in L.A. she was literally pulled out of a gutter by Linda Rondstadt; and on multiple occasions she used Richard’s guitar solos as an opportunity to kick him in the shins.
Expert Testimony “I’m behind her 100%,” says Kitaen. “What a freakin’ fantasy to be onstage with the man who screwed around on you and tripping him as he walks out onstage.”

Be My Baby (Or Else …)
Phil and Ronnie Spector
Irreconcilable Differences Ronettes lead singer Ronnie was looking forward to a solo career around the time she married her wiggy producer in 1968. But according to her 1990 tell-all, Phil would hardly even let her out of their house during their marriage, using attack dogs (among other things) to keep her imprisoned there. She was so anxious to escape that she agreed to a 1974 divorce settlement that stripped her of royalties on her Ronettes recordings. During the divorce, Phil allegedly threatened to kill Ronnie if she didn’t give up custody of their three children. After it, he made one alimony payment by delivering her a truckload of nickels. In 1988, Ronnie and the other Ronettes began a protracted legal battle to pry royalties out of Phil, but in 2002 an initial victory was overturned on appeal.
Expert Testimony “Ronnie probably thought she had a bad breakup until she heard about murdered galpal Lana Clarkson,” says Widdicombe. “She got off easy.”


OUR EXPERTS
Tawny Kitaen is the ex-wife of both Whitesnake frontman David Coverdale and former California Angels pitcher Chuck Finley. She stars on the sixth season of VH1's The Surreal Life. Click here to find out what else Tawny has to say.

Raoul Felder is a divorce attorney whose clients have included Rudy Giuliani and Robin Givens. He is the author of a number of books, including Divorce: The Way Things Are, Not the Way Things Should Be.

Ben Widdicombe writes the New York Daily News's gossip column, "Gatecrasher."