larry king divorce
Just in case you spent the afternoon under a rock and haven’t heard, CNN’s Larry King, 76, filed for divorce from his wife of 13 years, Shawn Southwick King, 50, today in Los Angeles. She, in turn, filed her own petition shortly thereafter.
But that’s only the beginning. Based on a quick survey of coverage, I’ve seen three different lawyers named as King’s attorney. She’s accusing him of infidelity — with her sister, no less. Which her sister denies. He’s also accusing her of infidelity — with their sons’ baseball coach. She’s seeking to keep all of the properties in her name — including a mansion in Beverly Hills and two properties in Utah. He wants the two-year-old agreement putting those properties in her name nullified. She wants primary custody of their two sons, ages 9 and 11, and spousal and child support. He wants joint custody and no alimony.
Since I know no more about this than the average bear and am just so grateful to have an excuse to put off writing about the Gosselins for another day, I wanted to offer up a little roundup on who’s saying what.
First, however, I’d like to take special note of CNN’s radio silence on this story as of this writing. At least online. Not even a link to an AP story.
TMZ broke the unhappy news first, announcing that King had filed papers setting his eighth divorce in motion. (He married his third wife a second time.)
Then, TMZ announced that King is seeking joint custody of his kids.
Then came the countersuit by Shawn Southwick King.
And an allegation that an explosive fight touched off the court battle.
Then things got ugly, as TMZ reported that Shawn King believes her husband was unfaithful — with her sister.
And the information about ownership of the properties, which TMZ reports may have been an offering to show her he was committed to the marriage. After she confronted him about his relationship with her sister.
Allegedly, there’s a $160,000 car that made her suspicious. And RadarOnline says a fight got physical.
RadarOnline reported the allegation that Shawn King cheated with the baseball coach.
In case you’re wondering what the alleged other man looks like, The Huffington Post has a photo gallery.
And pictures of the Kings in happier times.
In a version of “but I just saw him alive last week,” PopEater says the couple was seen together recently.
Apparently, King had nothing to say about the case this afternoon. But everyone else had plenty to get their chins wagging.
Sayeth Celebritologist Liz Kelly: Larry King is the marrying kind. And the divorcing kind.
ABC News used the announcement as a chance to survey other multiply-married celebrities.
Celebuzz declares King’s marriage-competitiveness:
Larry King Files For Divorce #8 in Mad Dash for Guinness Record
“Attention, ladies! Got a thing for gravel-voiced septuagenarians? Today is your lucky day!”
And Patrick Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times is looking for a nice lady for King to settle down with for the ninth time.
Entertainment Weekly’s Kate Ward is on the matchmaker hunt too — and has her fingers crossed for Elizabeth Taylor to be the lucky bride-to-be (she is apparently still on the market despite the engagement rumors).
Perez Hilton isn’t as psyched about the idea.
And Gawker rained down brilliant schadenfreude with this gem: “King now has more divorces than he does viewers in the 18-34 demographic.”
There’s more to come, for sure. I’m not sure I’m eager to hear all the ugly details, but anything that keeps me from having to hear more about Tiger Woods can’t be all bad.
Once upon a time, I worked for the Washington Post Company. Sure, it was the wholly owned subsidiary located across the river, but nonetheless it was a great place to work. Particularly on Pulitzer day. There’s nothing like that kind of buzz — or the kind of high that comes from chasing a rollicking story. Even when it’s awful news that you take no pleasure in reporting, that adrenaline pumps — hard.
Today, I think the folks at TMZ might’ve had that much fun.
