Total Divorce Blog

Yesterday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Johnny Knoxville who’s real name is Phillip John Clapp, filed for divorce from his wife Melanie.

The divorce paperwork was filled out and signed by Knoxville’s attorney, Laura Wasser, in January but not filed with the court until now.  The dates on the paperwork state that the couple seperated after 11 years and 2 months of marriage.

The couple have an 11 year old daughter and Knoxville is asking for joint custody.

Failing to think ahead may cost Knoxville in this divorce.  The couple do not have a pre-nuptial agreement.  I’m sure he feels like a “Jackass” knowing that he will have to pay spousal support after the divorce. 

On Tuesday, Mandie Taketa Brady, wife of entertainer Wayne Brady filed for divorce.

The former talk show host and star of the television show “Whose Line Is It Anyway” split from his wife in April 2006.  The couple married in 1999 and have one 4 year old daughter.

The divorce petition sites “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the split, which is oh so typical for a California celebrity divorce.  Mrs. Brady also asks the court for joint legal and physical custody of their little girl.

Sounds like this celebrity divorce is off to an amicable start.

Today a spokesman for author Salman Rushdie announced that he and wife Padma Lakshmi, who is the host of “Top Chef” are getting divorced.  He stated that it was her desire to end the marriage.  They were married in 2004.  He is now 60 and she is 36.

Rushdie lived in hiding for 9 years after he wrote a novel titled “The Satanic Verses” which caused outrage among Muslims.  He was selected for knighthood by Queen Elizabeth just two weeks ago.  Muslims in Iraq and Pakistan have voiced outrage at the Queen’s selection.

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini pronounced a fatwa on Rushdie on February 14, 1989.  He called on Muslims to kill Rushdie for the perceived blasphemy against Islam in his book “The Satanic Verses”.

Rushdie’s statement today asked for privacy during this difficult time.

Britney Spears’ recent behavior has Kevin Federline and his attorneys so concerned that he has reportedly refused to sign the final divorce papers to end the marriage.

Britney’s attorneys are anxious to finalize the divorce but in light of her post-rehab partying the Federline camp is hesitant to sign the documents which will continue their temporary agreement to share joint legal and physical custody of their two sons.

Sources say that Federline may want to alter the agreement to allow him to restrict Britney’s access to the children if her behavior gets out of control again.  She has reportedly recently been seen hitting the club scene and drinking alcohol in public.

We had to have seen this coming since Criss Angel has been openly dating Cameron Diaz as of late.  Well, we would have seen it coming if anyone had known he was married.

Joanne Sarantakos is currently married to Criss Angel and says that their marriage fell apart when he became famous - oh, and when he began sleeping with Cameron Diaz. 

Sarantakos is seeking a divorce on the grounds of mental cruelty and abandonment and her attorney says she plans to serve Cameron Diaz with a subpoena to testify about her romantic involvement with Angel.

Sarantakos also claims that her status as wife of Criss Angel was kept secret to increase the magician’s sex appeal to female fans.  They have been married for 5 years.

Another Case of Irreconcilable Differences as Cause For Divorce 

Actor Paul Glaser, who is best known from his role as “Starsky” from the 70’s television show “Starksy and Hutch” has filed for divorce from his wife of 11 years, Tracy Barone.

Of course, as in all celebrity divorces and most California divorces in general, the reason for the split was listed on the divorce petition as “irreconcilable differences”.  The couple have a 9 year old daughter.

Glaser was previously married to Elizabeth Glaser who passed away in 1994 after a long battle with AIDS.  She co-founded the Elisabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation to benefit children suffering with the disease.

Today police investigators in Fayetteville, Georgia announced that the Benoit family deaths which were discovered on Monday, were a result of a double murder-suicide.

Chris Benoit was a WWE wrestling superstar and his wife Nancy had worked in the industry as well as a valet and manager.  The couple had a 7 year old son, Daniel.

At a press conference on Tuesday it was revealed that Chris Benoit strangled his wife, suffocated his son and then later hung himself in his weight room.  Reportedly prescription steriods were found at the home but it is not known if steriods could have been a contributing factor in the double murder-suicide.

Also today it was revealed that Nancy Benoit had filed for divorce in May 2003 seeking an end to the couple’s then 3 year marriage.  At that time she also requested an order of protection from Chris and was granted a restraining order against him. 

In her divorce petition Nancy Benoit alleged that Chris “lost his temper and threatened to strike the petitioner and cause extensive damage to the home and personal belongings of the parties, including furniture and furnishings. Petitioner is in reasonable fear for petitioner’s own safety and that of the minor child.”

In August 2003 Nancy Benoit asked the court to dismiss her divorce petition and the couple later reconciled.

After 14 years of marriage ‘Seinfeld’ co-creator Larry David and his wife, political activist Laurie David have seperated and plan to divorce.

Sources say the split was amicable and that the pair are devoted to raising their two daughters.  So it hasn’t gotten ugly… yet.

Larry is best known for co-creating the television sensation ‘Seinfeld’, the much loved show about nothing.  The show starred Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Michael Richards and ran for 9 seasons on NBC.  The ‘Seinfeld’ character George Costanza was actually based on Larry David.

He also starred in “Curb Your Enthusiasm” which aired on HBO.

Laurie David co-produced the documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” which won an Oscar.  She has also toured with Sheryl Crowe to raise awareness about global warming. 

After filing for divorce on May 4th and prompting rumors that her husband was getting back with the Long Island Lolita, the wife of Joey Buttafuoco has withdrawn her divorce petition. Evanka Buttafuoco had filed for divorce the same day that Lou Bellera, the husband of Amy Fisher, did; thus adding more fuel to the speculative fire. Fisher made headlines as a teenager when she shot Joey Buttafuoco’s then-wife Mary Jo in the head. Fisher and Buttafuoco were having an affair at the time and were rumored to have been getting back together after they were photographed kissing in New York a couple of weeks back. A TV producer even recently pitched a reality show based on the 32-year-old Fisher and 51-year-old Buttafuoco moving in together (here’s hoping that idea got thrown to the back burner).

Yesterday, the 45-year-old Evanka Buttafuoco was granted a dismissal of her divorce petition from the family law clerk of the Los Angeles County Superior Court; an action which would seemingly put the “reunion” of Fisher and Joey on hold. But with the sordid history of these characters, you probably shouldn’t discount anything.

In honor of Father’s Day, Maxim has released a list of the worst celebrity dads.   It’s no surprise that Alex Baldwin makes the list, with his recorded rant against his pre-teen daughter fresh in our minds, but the father’s of some celebrity mess-ups made the list, too.  Dads of both Paris Hilton and Lindsey Lohan made the list, no doubt due in part to the recent DUIs their girls have garnered.