Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas Split After 18 Years of Marriage
One of Hollywood's longest-tenured couples has called it quits, as Melanie Griffith filed for divorce from Antonio Banderas.
"We have thoughtfully and consensually decided to finalise our almost twenty years marriage in a loving and friendly manner honouring and respecting each other, our family and friends and the beautiful time we have spent together," Griffith and Banderas said in a joint statement.
Griffith, 56, cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for their split after 18 years of marriage. The Working Girl actress is also asking for spousal support, child support, and sole physical and joint legal custody of their daughter, Stella. However, Stella turns 18 in September.
One day before divorce news broke, Griffith attended the AFI Lifetime Achievement Awards Gala honouring Jane Fonda — alone.
"She seemed to be in good spirits," a guest told Yahoo. "She was enjoying what looked like a girls' night out."
Banderas, 53, and Griffith have battled breakup rumors for years, most recently when The Legend of Zorro actor attended the Cannes Film Festival without his wife. The last time the couple were photographed together was on March 16 when they were spotted at LAX walking hand in hand.
In 2011, Banderas opened up about their marital problems and Griffith's addiction to painkillers.
"We have had as many problems as anybody. We've never hidden it," Banderas shared in AARP magazine. "We've been open about addictions, in the case of Melanie. She has overcome her problems beautifully. I didn’t know she was so strong. It makes me love her even more, because she has been an unbelievable lion fighting, and she got it. The last [relapse] was three years ago, and it just welded us."
Banderas continued: "The whole family participated [in therapy]. We did all the therapies together — the kids, everybody. It was a very unique experience, not only for Melanie. It was very rewarding at the end."
However, in a separate interview, Griffith didn't remember it quite that way.
"I'm sorry to say, that's in his mind," she told AARP. "I started on pain pills when I hurt my knee skiing and just kept taking them. The kids knew; Dakota and Stella called me on it. Antonio was in London at the time. I went away to rehab for three months; it took 10 days just to detox. We had two family weeks there, but we didn't follow through. Antonio was supportive to the extent that he can be, but if you're not an alcoholic or drug addict, and you find out that your wife is a bad one, it's hard to deal with. As long as I'm okay, he's okay. I wish he would go to a meeting with me or to Al-Anon, but it's very foreign to him. Addiction runs in my family but not in his."
Griffith has two children from previous relationships, son Alexander, 28, and daughter Dakota Johnson, 24, who is also the star of Fifty Shades of Grey.
Banderas and Griffith met in 1995 on the set of Two Much, when they were both married to other people. One month after both of their divorces were finalised, they tied the knot in a low-key ceremony in London on May 14, 1996. Griffith gave birth to Stella four months later.
This will be Griffith's fourth divorce, and Banderas's second. She was married twice before to Don Johnson, and also to Steve Bauer. Banderas was previously married to Ana Leza.
