Jack White & Karen Elson announce their divorce on their 6th wedding anniversary

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Well, this is strange. Hipster couple Jack White (musician/singer, The White Stripes) and his supermodel wife Karen Elson are getting a divorce. They have been married for six years exactly, and took the occasion of their sixth wedding anniversary and impending divorce to throw a party to celebrate. For real:

Rocker Jack White and his model-singer wife Karen Elson are celebrating their sixth wedding anniversary in an unusual way: they’re getting divorced.

“Karen Elson and Jack White announce today that they are getting divorced,” the two say in a joint statement released by their rep. “We remain dear and trusted friends and co-parents to our wonderful children Scarlett and Henry Lee. We feel so fortunate for the time we have shared and the time we will continue to spend both separately and together watching our children grow.”

But that’s not all.

To commemorate the occasion, the two are throwing a divorce party Friday night in Nashville. (See invitation below.)

“In honor of that time shared, we are throwing a divorce party,” the two say in their statement. “An evening together in Nashville to re-affirm our friendship and celebrate the past and future with close friends and family.”

According to the invitation, the bash will include “dancing, photos, memories and drinks with alcohol in them.”

And the pair cautions: “This is only for close personal friends and family. So please no plus ones or dead beats.”

White, 35, and Elson, 32, wed in Brazil in 2005. The rocker recently disbanded his longtime group the White Stripes with Meg White. Elson, meanwhile, has been performing her own music and currently manages a clothing boutique in Nashville, where the two live with their children.

[From People]

I had forgotten that Karen and Jack had kids. I don’t even remember seeing Karen pregnant! But she was, twice, apparently. As for the “divorce party”… well, they’re both strange birds, and I actually buy that they still care about each other and are committed to being “adult” about their divorce. But I really don’t know that much about them – basically, the only thing I’ve ever read about their relationship was this Vogue piece from last year, where Karen was promoting her new music career (which Jack helped launch). Jack also dated Renee Zellweger in the past, a few years before he met and fell in love with Karen. We’ll see what happens…

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Photos courtesy of WENN.

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52 Responses to “Jack White & Karen Elson announce their divorce on their 6th wedding anniversary”

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  1. Trillion says:

    Well, that’s too bad. Sounds like they’ll be able to defray the fallout for the kids if they’re so open and amicable about it. Jack White is one of the greatest songwriters/musicians of all time. National treasure. Weird that he dated Zellwegger.

  2. smith says:

    I’m going to spread butter on my entire body and go lay out in the sun for eleventy-six hours …

  3. Cheyenne says:

    Great timing.

  4. RocketMerry says:

    WOW they look alike!

  5. carrie says:

    Renée Zwellwegger waits his phone call now!! or the worse she ‘s going to call him
    i saw WHITE STRIPES in Paris several years ago ,it’s just before his break-up with Zellwegger.She was crazy on him so i never understood why she married with the country guy a month later

  6. Heatheradair says:

    @smith – they ARE rather corpse-ee, aren’t they!

  7. bondbabe says:

    They both smile exactly like the other.

  8. carrie says:

    oops! she married with Chesney 3 months later (the french concert was in january/february 2005)

  9. anoneemouse says:

    That is one ugly dude.

  10. Amy says:

    I don’t know why, but whenever I see pictures of him, he reminds me of a more rocker and less healthy looking version of Johnny Depp. Does Jack White ever sleep? He always looks red rimmed around the eyes!

  11. Mairead says:

    Aww that is a shame. I thought they were a fantastic couple. To be fair, he does have a history of having a decent relationship with his ex-wives 😉

    On the upside: he’s not been in HGF in ages/ever, so at least this story comes out on a Friday for me to look at 😀

    EDIT
    @anoneemouse – hush you!

  12. Kiska says:

    He’s creepy looking

  13. danielle says:

    Didn’t he marry Elson when she got pregnant, and fairly shortly after breaking up with Zellweger? Yup, just checked, looks like he married her just 6 months after breaking up with Zellweger.

  14. phlyfiremama says:

    Am I the only one who thinks he looks like Eddie Munster all grown up?

  15. guilty pleasures says:

    Hmm, my first thought was, ‘who?’
    My second thought was, ‘are they at a Halloween party?’
    My third thought, ‘SHE is a model? Where do I sign up?’
    Obv I am not having a ‘kindly softly lady’ day (from a Japanese T-shirt).

  16. hatsumomo says:

    Well, this was really unexpected. I wish them the best of everything. Jack White seems to be oone of the few most wonderful kinda guys to have around. He even took Meg’s last name when they were married( he used to be Jack Gillis, maybe White just sounded better?).

  17. Rhiley says:

    While I don’t find the White Stripes to be quite the genius band a lot of people do, I do think Jack White is a sweet soul. I have read several interviews with him and he is just so sensitive and mindful of the world around him. Plus, he loves music and really works hard to preserve the music from the past. The work he did with Loretta Lynn was really really good, some of her best certainly, and he is doing something similar with Wanda Jackson. With exception of Renee Zwellwhatever I think he does try to maintain strong relationships with the women in his life. I think part of the reason the White Stripes disbanded is Meg has debiliting stage freight more so than there was conflict between the two of them. I bet he and Karen do maintain a strong friendship and respectfully raise their children together.

  18. Ally says:

    Actually, Karen Elson’s vintage shop closed in December 2010.

  19. rosmarina says:

    When the White Stripes first got big a few years ago (when “Fell in Love with a Girl” was out), I saw Beck in Ann Arbor. Jack White’s from Detroit originally. White came out on stage and Beck introduced him as “Ghostface Killah.” Based on these pictures, the joke wasn’t just about White’s name, I’m guessing. I hope he’s taking vitamin D!

  20. original kate says:

    meh – i see nothing wrong with a divorce party. maybe they want to show their children that divorce doesn’t mean the end of the world and that mom & dad still care about each other.

  21. aenflex says:

    Long live the White Stripes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  22. Hautie says:

    Is it me or does she look just like Rumor Willis in that second picture.

  23. John Wayne Lives says:

    Wait! Whaaat?! he was married and had kids?! lol *climbes out from under rock*
    I swear, I thought he was gay lol
    and why do I always forget he dated Rene Z. lol

  24. Owl says:

    Awww…I always liked the White Stripes. Watched a concert of theirs from a tree in LA (owls get admitted for free). At least they are choosing to be mature about this. I also hope Jack doesn’t get back together with Renee, it didn’t seem to do well for her fashion sense at the time.

  25. Dizzybenny says:

    Hello Halle Berry?!?this is how you do it right!

    @comment #10(cant see name)Yeah same here,the taller bigger version of Johnny Depp.

  26. miss says:

    YES!!!! I love him huuuuuuuuugely! Now I can daydream that I will be Mrs White one day again!!

  27. Abby says:

    Their daughter’s name is Scarlett White. 🙂 ha!

  28. Wif says:

    My friends actually had a divorce party. It was wonderful. It was a symbolic way to say to “the romance is over, but we are redefining ourselves again as life-long friends.” 5 years later, they still are best friends, regardless of new partners.

    I wish them and their kids the best.

  29. 4Real says:

    Good lord what took her so long!?

  30. Chris says:

    Yikes! They make Courtney Love look healthy.

  31. the original bellaluna says:

    Becoming quite the trend now, isn’t it just?

  32. Louise says:

    What’s with celebrities announcing their divorce on their anniversary?

  33. normades says:

    Oddly, I find that very romantic.

  34. sashavice says:

    I love Jack. As a music and concert freak, I can safely say the White Stripes were the best band I have ever seen. I saw them back in ’03 in their Elephant era. Jack is an incredibly passionate musician. He truly gives a fuck. I find him really interesting, and never cared much for the wife. They seemed ill-fit somehow. Anyway, who gives a fuck that their pale? Why the hate on people’s skin color?

  35. gloaming says:

    @sashavice
    He’s is really amazing on stage. I saw them at the Reading Festival and it really was an experience.
    I had great seats to see TWS at the 02 in London for their last tour, until Meg pulled out. I still hold out hope that they’ll re-form……
    I also saw Jack with the Raconteurs here in Bristol and those of us who were at the rail were pretty much mesmerised by him.

    I just wish I had an invite to this Divorce party.

  36. CJ says:

    I saw an interview with him talking about Renee and how awesome and interesting she was. She won him over talking about how you can tell whether a skull is male or female. Liked him with Karen too – amazing to be able to deal with breaking up like this – 90% of divorcees should take note. He is rather stunning – I think in the flesh you would turn twice. Although not the best photos of either of them

  37. gg says:

    they both have white makeup on and the red around his eyes is the natural part. I heard they live in an old friend’s ex-house, at which I have spent time at a huge bash – uber nice pad. I am sorry they’re breaking up. They seem like a really cool couple and I wish I knew them. 🙂

  38. Joe's Mom says:

    @Amy: Always reminds me of Johnny Depp, too. He kinda looks like JD as “Edward Scossorhands” is why, I think. Sorry they are splitting, glad they seem to be best friends still for the kids’ sake. I do think Renee Zellweger is still kicking herself because she thinks he was truly the “one that got away”. We shall see.

  39. blasted1 says:

    well, I’m not suprised to hear this. They haven’t really been together a lot for the last couple of years and that was when I started wondering what was up. But, I’m very pleased are taking such a positive attitude on this. They must still like each other and I wish more couples who split could behave like them.

  40. Shay says:

    They look like your garden variety horror film psycho couple.

  41. Crash2GO2 says:

    Yeah, he’s always had the Edward Sissorhands thing going on hasn’t he?

  42. Fuzzy Cat says:

    @Hautie I was thinking the same thing!

  43. Maritza says:

    Never heard of them!

  44. Jess says:

    Good for them. I love their approach to their divorce. But is she really a supermodel? I guess I’m a product of the 90s, where there were only four true supermodels: Naomi, Linda, Christy, and Cindy (and a few others who were close). Now it seems anyone who’s ever walked a runway is called a supermodel.

  45. Johnny Depp's Girl says:

    SHE is a super model? Shut the front door… ewww

    I think its cool they are going to do this together.

  46. velourazure says:

    jack white is awesome.

    more so now that he is SINGLE……

  47. stewy says:

    is jack being held up by strings in the last photo cause he looks dead.

  48. Knotstu says:

    THEIR !!! VAMPIRES !!!!

    BLURGH !!!

  49. blasted1 says:

    I kind of saw this coming, too. It was right about the time Dead Weather were playing gigs. Several reviewers (and several viewers) noticed the down-right sexual heat between White and Mosshart when they both swooped down on that center-stage mic and started moaning,”…will there be enough water…” They looked at each other like 2 people who could hardly wait to get their hands on each other. Having said that, I love the divorce party idea and am very pleased that they have decided to do the right thing by their kids.

  50. fabgrrl says:

    A supermodel?

  51. Victoria says:

    It dont get anymore Hollywood than this!

  52. NotOne says:

    hipster couple. haha. that’s hilarious. far from it, actually.