Reese Witherspoon announced on March 24, 2023, that she and her husband of 12 years, Hollywood agent Jim Toth, are divorcing.
“We have some personal news to share… It is with a great deal of care and consideration that we have made the difficult decision to divorce,” they said in a joint statement. “We have enjoyed so many wonderful years together and are moving forward with deep love, kindness and mutual respect for everything we have created together.”
“Our biggest priority is our son and our entire family as we navigate this next chapter,” the statement continued. “These matters are never easy and are extremely personal. We truly appreciate everyone’s respect for our family’s privacy at this time.”
The couple had, like everyone else, some ups and downs (including an embarrassing 2013 DUI arrest), but stayed together for another decade. Get to know Reese Witherspoon’s husbands and look back at the way they were.
Related: Reese Witherspoon’s Net Worth Revealed
Who is Reese Witherspoon’s husband?
Reese Witherspoon’s estranged husband is Jim Toth. He was born in 1970 (so he’s 52 as of this writing) in Aliquippa, Pa., and is a graduate of L.A.’s Loyola Marymount University, where he majored in political science. Toth is an avid runner and generally keeps a low profile, which Witherspoon reportedly appreciates. A source told PEOPLE early into their romance, “She loves that he’s not a celebrity. She always felt that she and Jake had so much heat on them from the press, but with Jim things have not been as crazy. They’ve been left alone to get to know each other in a more private way.”
Witherspoon credited her husband with encouraging her to try her hand as a producer—something she’s been super-successful at, what with her string of critically acclaimed, hugely popular TV series (including Big Little Lies, Little Fires Everywhere and The Morning Show, which launches its second season on Sept. 17) and her Hello Sunshine production company, which sold to a private equity company backed by the Blackstone Group for the tidy sum of $900 million.
“He said, ‘You should produce movies,'” Witherspoon recalled to Harper’s Bazaar in 2016 about how Toth convinced her to expand her Hollywood horizons. “‘You read more books than anybody I know. You should just buy some of them and turn them into films.’”
In addition to inspiring her professionally, Toth also simply made Witherspoon and their blended family really happy pre-split. “He’s an incredible man,” she gushed in 2016 to PEOPLE, adding, “He’s very patient and funny with the kids. And he really encourages them to see the humor in life.”
Who was Reese Witherspoon married to?
Before Toth, Witherspoon was married to her Cruel Intentions co-star Ryan Phillippe from 1999 to 2006.
Phillippe and Witherspoon’s divorce came just months after she won her Best Actress Oscar for her star turn in Walk The Line, leading some to blame the “Oscar curse“—a sexist and dated trope that essentially suggests that women who win Oscars can’t keep a man (because, you know, men are so intimidated by women’s successes). However, while on paper (and in red carpet photos) Witherspoon and Phillippe seemed like a perfect pairing, it’s rumored that a big reason for the marriage falling apart was Phillippe’s infidelity with Stop Loss co-star Abbie Cornish, who Phillippe went on to date for several years.
In 2014, Witherspoon explained on 60 Minutes that her crumbling personal life affected her professionally as well.
“Phew, that was a tough year that followed. I got divorced the next year and I spent a few years just trying to feel better,” she admitted. “You know, you can’t really be very creative when you feel like your brain is scrambled eggs. I was just kind of floundering career-wise cause I wasn’t making things I was passionate about, I was just kinda working. It was really clear the audiences weren’t responding to anything I was putting out there.”
In 2014, Phillippe reflected on how far he and Witherspoon had come as great friends and supportive co-parents of daughter Ava and son Deacon.
“She was just [in New York City] doing press … and we got to meet up as a family and take a walk through Central Park with the kids,” he told HuffPost Live. “We shot a lot of Cruel Intentions [in Central Park]. We were there with Ava and Deacon, and they were tripping out about the fact that we were there shooting a movie before they were even a thought in our minds.”
He added, “It’s a feeling-out process and I think we’ve gotten to a really great place. She’s happy and remarried and our kids are incredible. I’m proud of the way we’ve handled it and who our little people are.”
What does Jim Toth do for a living?
Toth was a talent agent for Creative Artists Agency. He is also a co-chair of the Stand Up 2 Cancer charity (his father passed away from cancer before he and Witherspoon met) and served as head of content talent acquisitions for the ill-fated platform Quibi. His latter role caused some controversy: When Witherspoon narrated Quibi’s documentary short Fierce Queens for a reported$6 million (a figure that reps for Quibi disputed), it allegedly ruffled feathers as the fledgling and ultimately failed company laid off numerous staffers.
How did Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth meet?
Witherspoon met Toth at a party in January 2010, not long after her split from actor Jake Gyllenhaal. She recalled to Ellethat a drunk guy was flirting with her (and getting nowhere), so Toth stepped in to nip the interaction in the bud. “Jim came over and said, ‘Please excuse my friend. He’s just broken up with someone,’” she said. “Jim is a really good friend, pulling him out of that situation. That’s just kind of who he is, a really good person.”
When did Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth get engaged?
Toth popped the question in December 2010. Witherspoon later told Ellethat she never considered getting married again before meeting Toth, but he was pretty convincing. “Jim said, ‘I’m gonna show you every day what a good partner is, what a good person is. I’m going to take care of you. I’m gonna do this so much that you’re gonna get used to it,’” she recalled. “I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ I’ve never had anybody like that in my life.”
When did Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth get married?
Toth and Witherspoon tied the knot in March 2011. They wed at Witherspoon’s ranch in Ojai, Calif., with her son Deacon as ring bearer and daughter Ava as maid of honor. Celebrities in attendance included Scarlett Johansson and then-beau Sean Penn, Robert Downey Jr.and Matthew McConaughey. The couple never spoke much specifically about their wedding, though Witherspoon later called it a “special day with all of our dear friends.”
Where did Reese Witherspoon meet her ex-husband?
Witherspoon met Phillippe at her 21st birthday party in 1997. “I don’t know what came over me—maybe the seven Midori sours—but I told [Phillippe], ‘I think you’re my birthday present,’” she once recalled to Jane magazine about their first encounter. “He thought it was so flattering.”
Is Reese Witherspoon still married to her husband?
Not for long. On March 24, 2023, not far from what would have been their 12th wedding anniversary, Witherspoon announced she and Toth were divorcing.
How long were Reese and Ryan married?
Witherspoon and Phillippe married in 1999 and separated in 2006. Their divorce was finalized in 2008. They each said that marrying young somewhat doomed the relationship.
“I think more of the problem was age,” Phillippe said on Larry King Now in 2015. “When we got together we were so young. I think it can create issues with two people in this industry because there’s so much noise that goes along with it.”
Two years later, Witherspoon essentially said the same. “I got married when I was 23 and I had two kids by the time I was 27. So I don’t know, you know, sometimes it’s good to know yourself,” Witherspoon said on British talk show Lorraine. “I would never change anything. I’ve said to my daughter, I think, you know, [at] 25, you start to know yourself a little bit better.”
Who are Jim Toth’s clients?
Toth’s clients have reportedly included Hollywood heavy-hitters like Jamie Foxx, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson and Matthew McConaughey.
Who is Reese Witherspoon’s baby daddy?
Witherspoon shares daughter Ava, 23, and son Deacon, 19, with Phillippe. She and Toth have a son, Tennessee James Toth, 10.
Related: Want to Join Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club? Here’s What You Need to Know
Why did Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal break up?
Witherspoon reportedly had trouble juggling the demands of being a single mom with the time Gyllenhaal allegedly demanded from her for their relationship, but there weren’t hard feelings. The pair, who met while filming Rendition, had a “clean break,” according to PEOPLE, with a source explaining, “Reese was the one who had to do it. She just got out of a divorce and was so concerned with her family, she just didn’t have the time for him and he really demanded that.”
Was Reese Witherspoon pregnant during Legally Blonde?
Witherspoon wasn’t pregnant, but had just given birth to daughter Ava when she took her iconic role of Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. She recalled to Cinemathat she was initially terrified to get back to work as a new mom, but that then-husband Phillippe stepped up for her in a big way.
“I couldn’t have done it without Ryan’s support,” she said. “I was worried that I wasn’t getting enough sleep because my daughter Ava was sick quite often during the shoot and there were a lot of days when I didn’t think I could pull it off. Ryan was there every day for me and to take care of Ava. He kept telling me that everything was going to work out fine and that I should stop freaking out. That’s exactly the kind of reassurance I needed. I didn’t think I could juggle being a mother and looking after a young baby.”
Was Reese pregnant in Legally Blonde 2?
Witherspoon wasn’t pregnant while filming Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde, but she was expecting son Deacon during the film’s promotional cycle and release.
Was Reese pregnant in Vanity Fair?
Witherspoon was pregnant with son Deacon while filming Vanity Fair. Clever costuming and camera angles attempting to hide her burgeoning baby bump, and filming was reportedly both moved up and accelerated to accommodate her.
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