Hilary Swank speaks about her divorce | the Fashion Spot

Hilary Swank speaks about her divorce

cosmogrl5

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Such a shame. They were such a cute couple. I hope Chad is doing better now. :(

CHAD WAS AN ADDICT

SWANKY: Hilary Swank, who graces the inside and outside of Vanity Fair, tells the magazine the substance abuse of hubby
Chad Lowe (above, with Swank), not jealousy over her success, was the beginning of the end of their 9-year marriage.

July 5, 2006 -- Dazzling double Oscar-winner Hilary Swank dumped hubby Chad Lowe in part over a "substance-abuse" problem he's been battling for three years, she reveals in an explosive magazine interview.
The beautiful tomboy tells Vanity Fair she was shocked to learn about Lowe's addiction problem.

"I knew something was happening but I didn't know what" Swank tells Vanity Fair in the August editions set to hit newsstands today.

"When I found out, it was such a shock because I never thought he'd keep something from me. And yet, on another level, it was a confirmation of something I was feeling that was keeping us from being completely solid.

"He's sober now. I don't want to make it seem like that's the sole reason; there were other factors. But that just kind of blew it open. It made me look at things a lot deeper. That's when you realize it's not going to work."

Lowe, 38, and his managers could not be immediately reached for comment yesterday.

Although Lowe's struggle touched off their marriage's downhill slide, Swank said she's proud of her soon-to-be ex's three years of sobriety.

Vanity Fair does not detail the actor's substance of choice.

"It's an enormous obstacle to overcome, and he's doing it. He's living a sober life," said Swank, who married Lowe in 1997. "I know how difficult it is, and I'm really proud of his sobriety."

The actress says she had to stay with Lowe when his substance abuse came to light.

"When I found out, I wanted to be there," she explains. "I knew it was the most important time of his life. That's when he needed me most."

Swank, who won Oscars for "Boys Don't Cry" and "Million Dollar Baby," denied that her skyrocketing career - compared to Lowe's declining job prospects - played any role in their split.

Hollywood watchers will always remember Swank forgetting to thank Lowe, as Oscar cameras focused on him during her "Cry" acceptance speech.

Lowe, already living in the shadow of better-known older brother Rob Lowe, is getting a shot at directing in "Beautiful Ohio," with William Hurt and Rita Wilson.

"Chad is very supportive of my career," Swank says. "He is, I think, genuinely happy for my success . . . I think that any frustration for him stemmed from the lack of opportunities in his own career.


Swank has three movies in the can ("The Black Dahlia," "The Reaping" and "Freedom Writers") and is moving out of her 4,000-square-foot Greenwich Village brownstone.

She filed for divorce in March after announcing their separation in January.


"It takes two to make something work or not work. I'm a person with my own faults and troubles," Swank says. "In the end, it just didn't work, but I would never look back on this relationship as failed. I look at it as 131/2 years of success."

The dark-haired beauty admits she's apprehensive about re-entering the dating arena.


"I thought of it - of that whole world - I can't imagine it! I can't imagine going out right now and trying to find someone else to be with," says Swank, who turns 32 later this month.


Even with her new love-and-life challenges, Swank says she's happy.

"When I told you I'm the happiest I've ever been, it's not because I'm getting a divorce," she says. "It's because I'm living in truth now. My happiness has stemmed from being brutally honest with myself, facing truth every single day, no matter how hard it is."

http://www.nypost.com/news/nationaln...id_k__ li.htm
 
That's a shame....I thought they were a really healthy looking couple.

Good lord though, everyone in Hollywood is getting divorced! :huh:



Sidenote: Chad was really good in an episode of Law & Order.
 
aww. In all their interviews it seems like they do genuinely still love each other
 
What's this "Beautiful Ohio" I'm reading about here? Would it remind me of something I lived through and choke me up all entertainingly, I guess, like all that serious cinema out there, giving me the bravery to face my terribly unpoetic and dull life? Because I've got ten dollars in the bank right now saying, "entertain me! (preferably, at the price of your marriage)"
 
You know what I thought of before? I wonder if Chad is OK with her for discussing this in the public? A struggle with alcoholism is very personal. Hilary definitely seems like she still has a lot of love and respect for him and would never mention this to slander him or anything, but his perspective would be interesting.
 
Meg said:
aww. In all their interviews it seems like they do genuinely still love each other

ditto ... maybe they'd get back together? That's so rare and would be extra special!
 
cosmogrl5 said:
You know what I thought of before? I wonder if Chad is OK with her for discussing this in the public? A struggle with alcoholism is very personal. Hilary definitely seems like she still has a lot of love and respect for him and would never mention this to slander him or anything, but his perspective would be interesting.

How do you know it's alcoholism? I thought she wouldn't say what the substance was?:huh:
But I agree, and if they really still love and respect each other as they say I hope she told him she was going public with this.
 
brokenenglish said:
How do you know it's alcoholism? I thought she wouldn't say what the substance was?:huh:
But I agree, and if they really still love and respect each other as they say I hope she told him she was going public with this.

I could have sworn that I heard it was alcohol on E News or something. I could just be going crazy though. Not like THAT hasn't happened before! :lol:
 
Is it just me, or did they always seem like a mutual, Mobius strip beard for one another? The important word is "seem". I don't actually care what the truth is, these are but paper dolls to me, death widgets from the Green Revolution. Hungry, but entertained, am I.
Marriage is often clinging till you get to where you want to be, then you jettison and run like hell. I don't question their values, as I've done the same, but I don't understand the need to justify their divorce. You're both big arteests now, get on with it, entertain us meaningfully.
 
according to the excerpts, she says "substance", not alcohol. I got the feeling that it was hard drugs
 
Can't believe she's been so public about his troubles.....wonder if he gave her the go ahead. If not, then they truly will be divorced by the end of it I guess...
 
i hate it when actors give interviews about their personal lives. you're an ACTOR, make a MOVIE. i understand doing interviews for promotion, to talk about your movie, but why do random interviews to talk about your personal life. especially when you talk about a marriage. that involves someone else's personal life as well and it seems pretty low to go out and tell the whole world.

plus, when you're an actor you're supposed to make your audience believe you are your character. every little thing that people know about you as a person makes it harder for your audience to go with you, the actor, and the character you're playing.
 
"If I was Chad I'd be pretty pissed for her airing all my dirty laundry."

I imagine she cleared it with him beforehand. Hilary doesn't strike me as a nasty or vengeful person and she and Chad have been friendly since the split. She doesn't strike me as the type to blab to be malicious. Perhaps the tabloids got wind of whatever his problem was and he and Hilary discussed her going public with it? I imagine it's easier for her to talk about it than it is for him to be open about his problems. Let's face it, no one is desperate to interview Chad and put him on the cover of a magazine so going public through Hillary is really the only way to do it.

I liked them together but I think her career is red hot and his isn't and that drove a wedge between them. Plus I got the sense he wanted kids and given she's really the sole earner and has oscars coming out of her ***, she wasn't ready for kids yet.
 
VainJane said:
Sidenote: Chad was really good in an episode of Law & Order.

That episode was awesome, I always hoped he'd get more recognition after that. I don't know, I think after a while I've begun to like him more than her. Wow, and I just had to admit that I'm taking sides in the amicable divorce of people I've never met and only occasionally see on TV. I have to go lie down and think about that. :p
 
from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-robinson/how-to-sell-your-soul-for_b_24655.html
How To Sell Your Soul for the Cover of Vanity Fair!


Like most people, I don't often think about Hilary Swank. Or her husband Chad Lowe. I've met them a couple times in the course of work, and they seemed lovely. So it was surprising when my computer started insisting I read about their marriage. Suddenly, I couldn't even check my email without dodging pop-up windows, teasing me with the promise of their tawdry secrets: "Hilary Swank tells all about Chad's substance abuse problem!" I mean... Seriously? Putting aside the obvious question of who f*cking cares, there was the sadder feeling of a two-time Oscar winner ratting out her ex-tv star ex-husband (whom she forgot to thank in her acceptance speech) after dumping him. Why would she do such a graceless, tacky thing? Then it all clicked: she wanted the cover of Vanity Fair. And she got it.

The fact is, spilling an ugly secret is the price of admission for the cover of Vanity Fair. And it's corporate policy. Just ask Terri Hatcher, who tried to peddle "I got dumped by Clooney and/or Seacrest" and ended up having to go with "my uncle molested me" to get the cover. Anderson Cooper revealed "for the first time" the tragic details of his brother's suicide, and became one of the few men to grace the cover. Jennifer Aniston practically subjected herself to a full cavity search to get the cover. And of course there's perennial fave Nicole Kidman, who has really mastered the art of giving V.F. readers emotional, in-depth interviews that reveal absolutely nothing. In fact, other wanna-be cover victims should take a page from Nic's book; she's great at gaming the system.

But I don't really blame Vanity Fair for the current pop culture of confession. In fact, I blame Oprah. She legitimized and encouraged the notion that celebrities have to reveal hideous secrets to become human, and humans have to reveal hideous secrets to become celebrities. It's probably not a coincidence that a woman like Oprah, who was raised reciting scripture in Mississippi churches from the age of three, would become the nation's pastor, hosting afternoon confessionals. Every weekday afternoon, she leads her flock of 25 million into one side of the sacred booth, to hear what co-opted guests will whisper through the partition.

But even Oprah's raising the stakes. No longer is it enough to kiss and tell. Any of J.Lo's husbands could do that. No, Oprah now wants to actually possess her victims. Recently, of course, there was Jennifer Aniston, the modern role model for all victims who would like to cash in personal sorrow for fame vouchers. She literally moved into Oprah's Santa Barbara ranch, sensing no safer place for a woman wronged who's eager to spill intimate details in front of a camera.

Then Oprah had Anderson Cooper actually drive with a camera crew to show us the spot where his brother hit the pavement after jumping to his death from his apartment balcony. He hadn't been there in a long time. He choked back tears. Oprah wasn't with him of course, she's far too busy to actually participate in the orgiastic confessional ritual from which she profits so handsomely. But she did arrange to have Anderson's mother listen in the audience as he recounted the tragedy. Oprah then had mom recount her version, while Anderson listened, framed in the tightest close-up possible with current technology. That, my fellow Americans, is the price of doing business with Oprah.

So, too, is punishment by Oprah. Fake drunk author James Frey had to get ambushed, not because she cares about the integrity of her book club, but because there is no greater offense in Oprah-land than a false confession. And just a couple weeks ago, she started gunning for guest Meg Ryan when Meg wouldn't play "poor me" in response to Oprah's baiting questions about how hard it is to be famous. "I don't think many people can relate to that problem, Oprah. I'm here to talk about the CARE organization in India." Oprah looked like she was going to kill her.

According to Christianity Today, Oprah's "effect extends beyond media. She is a force that has permeated the way we think about culture and interpersonal communication." The Wall Street Journal coined the word 'Oprahfication' to describe "public confession as a form of therapy." Jet magazine uses Oprah as a verb: "I didn't want to tell her, but. ... she Oprah'd it out of me." Politicians now hold "Oprah-style" town meetings to gauge the mood of their constituents.

Like many, I respect the hell out of what Oprah has done to make the world a better place. And I guess I shouldn't be surprised that a woman whose rise was fueled by her own confessional stories of child molestation, incest, and teen pregnancy would believe there is healing power in revealing all in front of a devoted congregation. But the inevitable bastard child of such ethics is the cover of Vanity Fair, and people like Hilary Swank selling loved ones down the river to get there.

A while back, I had dinner with an Oscar winning actress who had been unceremoniously dumped by an Oscar winning actor, so he could marry a younger, more famous Oscar winner. "Vanity Fair called," she told me, "they said they'd put me on the cover if I gave them dirt on (her ex)." I knew this was a real dilemma for her, as her acting career could use the boost such publicity would bring, and her venom for her ex was still running hot. The opportunity seemed too tempting to turn down. "I'm not gonna do it," she said, surprising the hell out of me. "Really?" "Yeah. I think Jackie O. had it right, you know? Keep your f*cking mouth shut."
 
Karma to you, thehepburn, for that link. I've had a subscription to Vanity Fair I let lapse because it was sucking out my brain and replacing it with witty glamor. Oh, Hitchens and Wolcott and Dunne, gimme back my own dull life and provincial opinining. Why pay for the Hollywood issue? I can mock it thoroughly knowing nothing about it. So can you. It really makes no difference, the loves lost between Chad and Hilary. They're paper dolls. I want them to be happy, but I really don't care, and I'm still catching up with the 1970's when it comes to cinema. We can have a laugh over what ever sundry topical bullsh*t without ever having to buy into its culture ever again...until there's no water, air, or food, I guess. We will go down opining.

As for Oprah, I don't have a TV, but I grew up in a church where there were no secrets. I understand that culture, wanting to put shame to the light of love. When I was in massage school, I had to watch an Oprah and Maya Angelou soft-focus love fest. Those women have both been through some rough times. But what's up with what she's saying to the hiphop guys, or even Chappelle--whoah, ladies, there is power in the word, but don't be so f*cking literal! Get over yourselves! There's 6 billion people on the planet! We're like fleas on the back of a dog! You think anybody's crying for Chad and Hilary, including Chad and Hilary? Paper dolls, I tell you. I wish them all the best.

That's all kinda random, but there 'tis.
 
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Thank you thehepburn for that insightful article.

It made me looik at Oprah in a whole new way. I think it was disgusting what she made Anderson Cooper go through.
 
that article was fantastic, thehepburn... and now i have legitimate reason behind my oprah hatred, lol
 
It's strange, but I've seen a Madonna thread turn into an Oprah thread, and now a Chad & Hilary thread turn into an Oprah thread. I need to search for or create an Oprah thread--well, no--Oprah should have her own dominant category on tFS, with ten different subheaders and revolving pictures of her head (like the hampsterdance of olde), no?
 

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