Julia Roberts & Lyle Lovett’s Marriage Was like ‘One Giant Honeymoon’ – Inside the Controversial Romance
When Julia Roberts announced she would be marrying Lyle Lovett after just a few weeks of dating, it surprised everyone. But just as their courtship was short, so was their marriage.
They had been seen dancing in a Café where people suspected something special was happening between them, but no one predicted marriage.
The announcement looked even more bizarre because the pair had not dated for close to two months, and it was not long before people started predicting their marriage would not last.
THEIR WHIRLWIND ROMANCE
Julia Roberts and Lyle Lovett’s romance started in New Orleans while the actress was shooting the movie “The Pelican Brief,” Lovett was also performing in the city.
The pair fell for each other instantly, and the singer could not believe how he felt at first. Not long after, they were seen at Café Brasil listening to an acoustic band called Orleans Klezmer All-Stars, which specializes in funky Jewish folk music.
Julia Roberts at the 21st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on January 25, 2015, in Los Angeles, California. | Photo: Getty Images
The love birds were seen singing and dancing together, and people could tell something was going on between them. The pair surprised everyone when they decided to get married less than after beginning their relationship.
On June 27, in a Lutheran country church in Marion, Indiana, they exchanged marital vows. Roberts was walked down the aisle barefooted by her actor friend Barry Tubb who also carried white roses.
The new bride donned a simple short white wedding dress by Commes des Garçons that Lovett had bought for $2,000, coupled with a floor-length tulle scarf. The groom, on the other hand, wore a dark suit.
Actress Julia Roberts and her husband, singer Lyle Lovett embracing during his concert on June 27, 1993. | Photo: Getty Images
After being pronounced husband and wife, the couple could not make time for a honeymoon. Lovett performed that day and showed off his new wife while Roberts had to return to the set to continue filming “The Pelican Brief.”
Her co-stars were waiting for her, and when she arrived, they threw her a party and wore T-shirts with an inscription that read “Welcome Back, Mrs. Lovett,” and on the back, “He’s A Lovely Boy…But You Really Must Do Something About His Hair.”
Roberts and Moder met on the set of “The Mexican” back in 2000.
Lyle Lovett & Julia Roberts at the Carnegie Hall in New York. | Photo: Getty Images
ROBERTS DEFENDS HER MARRIAGE
Less than a year after marrying Lovett, Roberts was seen dancing very close to co-star Actor Ethan Hawke, and it sparked a lot of questions about the state of her marriage.
The actress had a reputation for getting into a relationship and leaving very quickly. A year after she broke up with actor Liam Neeson, the actress canceled her engagement to Dylan McDermott.
She called off her wedding to Actor Kiefer Sutherland two years later then went to Ireland with Sutherland’s friend Jason Patric shortly after.
Singer Lyle Lovett and actress Julia Roberts attend the 31st Annual New York Film Festival Opening Night – ‘Short Cuts’ Screening on October 1, 1993. | Photo: Getty Images
Her reputation for switching lovers and the fact that she and Lovett lived in separate residences despite being married, plus often being seen without her wedding band, led to multiple questions.
She addressed these concerns by defending herself and claiming dancing with Hawke was not a crime and that reports claiming her marriage to Lovett was over were pathetic.
Roberts explained that people questioning her decision to dance with Hawke had nothing else to do. When the actress was asked if she liked her husband’s big hair, she replied that she loved it and it was not as big as people make it out to be.
Singer Lyle Lovett and actress Julia Roberts attend ‘The Pelican Brief’ Westwood Premiere on December 13, 1993. | Photo: Getty Images
She also praised Lovett for having the courage to marry her and called him a fantastic man. The actress also praised him for dealing with the scrutiny directed at him by the media.
Roberts explained that the pair pretended to be an average couple and would wake up and go about their business normally.
She also cooked turkey for his family when they came over during Thanksgiving. She explained people came up to congratulate them during their early morning walks down the sixth avenue.
THEIR SHORT-LIVED MARRIAGE
In 1995 just two years after their surprise marriage, Roberts and Lovett announced they were separating. The announcement did not surprise many as they were rarely seen together during their two-year marriage.
The media had also long predicted their split was only a matter of time. The dancing incident with Actor Ethan Hawke did little to help the rumors. The fact they owned separate apartments also contributed to this pessimistic view, and Lovett also admitted:
“We’ve never gone more than a week without seeing each other since we got married, but before that, we’d never spent more than seven days together.”
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Even though their marriage only lasted for 21 months, Roberts claimed her marriage to the singer was not a mistake, as most would have believed.
Marrying him when she did was a miscalculation, not a mistake because too many beautiful things came out of their union. The pair also remained very close friends. The actress explained:
“You’d think people who could be that nice to each other would probably be a couple, but it just sort of wasn’t the way it was intended to be.”
They had found their relationship but overstepped it a bit, and after staying together for two years, remaining in the relationship would have been a weak choice. After their split, Lovett started dating April Kimble, and they were still seen together in 2015.
On the other hand, Julia Roberts married Actor and Cinematographer Benjamin Moder in 2002. The couple has since become parents to three kids: twins Hazel and Phinnaeus and son Henry.
The actress also recently celebrated her husband, who celebrated his 53rd birthday. She posted a birthday tribute coupled with a picture of him donning a wetsuit and holding a surfboard.
Roberts and Moder met on “The Mexican” set back in 2000. At the time, Moder was still married to his first wife, Vera Steimberg. After the actor ended that marriage, he married Roberts on July 4, 2002.