ABC/Image Group LARenée Zellweger is being candid about the breakup of her short-lived marriage in 2005 to country superstar Kenny Chesney. The Oscar winner spoke to The Advocate and admitted she forgot about the gay rumors that swirled after the two divorced — centering over her citing “fraud” in court papers.
She was quick to say how unfair that was to them as a couple and to Chesney.
“That made me sad,” she told the outlet. “It made me sad that somehow people were using that as a way to be cruel and calling someone gay as a pejorative, which has fateful consequences. Of course, there’s the bigger-picture problem of why anyone had to make up a story at all.”
At the time, Zellweger told People magazine in a statement that to, “clarify that the term ‘fraud’ as listed in the documentation is simply legal language and not a reflection of Kenny’s character.” The actress has never had anything negative to say about her ex.
“I would personally be very grateful for your support in refraining from drawing derogatory, hurtful, sensationalized or untrue conclusions,” the statement added.
In this new interview more than a decade later, the Bridget Jones’s Baby star, 47, added that she, “said all I needed to say on that subject” at the time, but, “sometimes it is difficult to just let something be what it is, especially when it’s unnecessary ugliness. Once you’ve said your piece, shouldn’t that be enough? And why is the ugliness that’s perpetuated in the media so attractive to people?”
Also in the interview, the actress spoke about her five years away from film, saying “I’d call it a necessary reset. I needed to step away for a second so that I could see what life looks like at this stage.”
Bridget Jones’s Baby hits theaters next Friday.
Copyright © 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
