Celebrity
Reese Witherspoon Announces Divorce From Jim Toth After 12 Years Of Marriage
“Our biggest priority is our son and our entire family as we navigate this next chapter.”
Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth are going their separate ways. On March 24, the Oscar winner and her husband announced that they were getting a divorce in a joint statement posted to Witherspoon’s Instagram page just two days before their 12-year wedding anniversary on March 26. “We have some personal news to share,” they wrote. “It is with a great deal of care and consideration that we have made the difficult decision to divorce.”
The couple reflected on their union with nothing but kind words for each other. “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,” they said. The statement ended with a request for privacy, especially for their 10-year-old son Tennessee James. “Our biggest priority is our son and our entire family as we navigate this next chapter,” they added. “These matters are never easy and are extremely personal. We truly appreciate everyone's respect for our family's privacy at this time.”
Additionally, a source told PEOPLE that Witherspoon and Toth made this decision together and will continue to stay close. “They really are the best of friends and this is such an amicable decision,” the outlet reported. “They are so committed to co-parenting together. They are invested in their whole family and making this as smooth as possible for everyone.” Prior to their divorce announcement, Toth would make regular appearances on the Legally Blonde star’s Instagram, with her most recent post being a family photo on Christmas.
Witherspoon and Toth, a talent agent, started dating in January 2010 after meeting at a mutual friend’s house in an encounter that quickly went from uncomfortable to fateful. “This really drunk guy was hitting on me, making such an idiot of himself, yelling at me,” she told ELLE in 2012. “He was like, ‘You don't know me.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I know. I don’t know you!’ Jim came over and said, ‘Please excuse my friend. He's just broken up with someone.’ Jim was a really good friend, pulling him out of that situation. That's just kind of who he is, a really good person.”
That December, the two announced their engagement. They got married just three months later in an intimate ceremony at her ranch estate in Ojai, Calif. Over a year later, they welcomed Tennessee, their only child together, on Sept. 27, 2012. Aside from their son, Witherspoon also shares two children, 23-year-old daughter Ava and 19-year-old son Deacon, with ex-husband Ryan Phillippe.
