When Natalie Portman was preggo with baby Aleph, the tabloids began running a series of stories about how sketchy her fiancé/baby-daddy was and is. According to some sources, Benjamin Millepied is simply with Natalie because he’s a famewhore who wanted to launch himself to greater wealth and new platforms (film, television, etc). Some said he was just a user, a starf–ker, or “the ballet K-Fed”. None of that seemed to concern Natalie – she stuck with him, and ever since giving birth, she and Benjamin have kept a low profile. They’ve also moved from NYC (where Natalie gave birth) to LA. So what happened to Benjamin’s position at the New York City Ballet? Allegedly, he’s quit. He’s now decided to be a stay-at-home dad so that Natalie can “focus on her career.”
Natalie Portman’s fiancé, Benjamin Millepied, is hanging up his dancing shoes – to be a stay-at-home-dad! Benjamin, 34, is one of ballet’s most in-demand choreographers, but since 30-year-old Natalie gave birth to the couple’s son, Aleph, in June, his priorities have changed.
“Benjamin retired from his position at the New York City Ballet so Natalie could get back to her career,” a source tells In Touch. “He wants to support her.”
The source says that Benjamin thought it would be hard to give 5-month-old Aleph the attention he needs with two super-busy working parents. And with Natalie ready to work again, it was up to Benjamin to take over daddy duty.
“He understood that one of them was going to have to make a sacrifice, so he gave in.” Now that’s love!
[From In Touch Weekly, print edition]
I don’t think it’s sketchy that any man would want to take a step back from his career to focus on fatherhood – I think it’s a sign of evolved parenting, and a great and wonderful thing that more dads want to be involved in their kids’ lives in a big way. That being said, is there something sketchy here? The move to LA, Benjamin quitting the ballet, Natalie getting back to work…? I feel like there’s something else to this story. I feel like Benjamin is choosing to be a “stay-at-home dad” as a calculation so he can launch himself as a director/choreographer in Hollywood. And will Natalie help him along? I don’t know. This relationship was and continues to be baffling.
Photos courtesy of WENN & Fame.
I don’t get what’s wrong with this relationship. Not every celebrity has to have a relationship with a celebrity. When you meet someone and fall in love with them, you don’t just stop yourself because they aren’t the same status as you. What is this? Britain with their caste class system? No!
Actually, i think this might turn out to be one of those lifelong relationships that everyone is so suspicious of at first.
And what’s wrong with Benjamin wanting to have a career in Hollywood?
We sure don’t have to be concerned about Natalie. She’s a big girl.
Has she become dense since meeting this loser or is it just me?
i agree with you about this guy, however i find him soooo good looking. no wonder, she is blinded. i would be too.
Why is it that when men stay home everybody calls him a deadbeat? Women don’t have to give up their careers when they become a mother. I never understood the “ballet Kfed”. Benjamin continued to work.
She makes way more money, and I think most couples would come to the same decision.
People like him are driven. He may be taking a little time off but he’s moving on to the next evolution of his career.
Nothing wrong with being a stay at home dad 🙂
I’ve heard that he is choreographing a new show. I forget what it’s called. Anyway, I can’t blame him for quitting the NYC ballet. As, an independent choreographer, he’ll have more control over his schedule and can take care of their baby while Natalie is working.
Well he was obviously unpopular in the ballet world or else they all wouldn’t have been so eager to dish about him to the NY Times. However I have to give him credit for spending time with his kid because I remember that back when Natalie was pregnant there was some doubt about whether or not he would. I bet he’s just taking time off and in a year or two he will work. Maybe the fameho-ing was just in service to the Oscar campaign.
LOL izzy, there is absolutely nothing in Britain to stop people from different “classes” as you put it meeting and having relationships. It sounds as though you think we are still divided into the toffs, who all live in castles, and everyone else who live in mud shacks.
His prime years as a ballet dancer were just about behind him and it’s a punishing job that would require him to be in nyc most of the year (winter season opens now). Lots of male dancers who want to be choreographers retire early once they have some success — Christopher wheeldon was in his 20s. That said, there really isn’t serious ballet in la/southern ca aside from visiting companies.
Yeah, this guy must be a starf*cker because there is just no way a man would be attracted to beautiful, intelligent woman like Natalie Portman.
He sure loves that blue flannel shirt of his.
He may have quit The NYC Ballet, but I dont buy for a second that it’s to be a stay-at-home dad. This guy is nakedly ambitious and has been doing a lot of his own choreography outside the ballet company, a lot of which has been panned.
I think he’s moving out to L.A. to try to become a “STAR” in his own right and using Portman’s connections to do it. Doesn’t mean he doesn’t also love her and the baby, but he can have ulterior motives, too.
Maybe I’m wrong and he will fade into the background as Mr. Mom. But I have a feeling that is not the case and we will soon hear about upcoming projects of his own.
He looks horrible in that picture. I guess Darren Aronofsky paid him enough money so that he can just stay at home and look after the baby.
I think what Kaiser is trying to say here is that just like Kevin Federline who stopped working after meeting Britney, Benjamin too is doing the same thing. Maybe Benjamin can’t fit into tights anymore. His ass must have gotten bigger when he gave birth!
more crooked sunglasses! come on celebrities, just walk to lens crafters and get that straightened! its free!
No one ever calls a woman staying at home to raise her child a deadbeat or a “K-Fed”. Unfair to put that right in the headline. The baby has one parent at home and that’s a good thing.
That is kind of weird, but only because I remember reading an interview with Natalie (from before she gave birth) in which she said that she planned to significantly cut down on working and spend more time at home with her kid(s). So who’s going to bring home the (tofu) bacon?
@Maya I remember her saying she wasn’t going to work after the baby was born. I was holding her to that. So disappointed she’s not taking a sabbatical.
As for Ballet KFed, I heard he was choreographing some new production too. He really doesn’t have to leave the house to do that. I’m sure Nats will build him a studio, so he can work from home with Aleph.
K Fed was only a problem when he started trying to prove himself.
As long as Natalie’s boytoy stays in the kitchen and doesn’t get in the way of her career, then more power to them!
If she going to “keep” a man, why not a good-looking one, rather than a homely one named after a bug?
hahaha K-Fed ..
So, if he works he’s a negligent famewhore and if doesn’t work he’s a goldigging schemer. Objectively, what the hell else does that leave? I’m not about to start up a Free Ben campaign as I’m just neutral on him, but you’re not making any flipping sense here. Just send him a list of your demands if your message isn’t getting through and save yourself future confusion? At any rate, someone has to mind the baby since Natalie’s ‘retirement’ has lasted all of fifteen seconds. She’s free to change her mind, but someone has to pick up the slack for her capriciousness.
@ natalie probably needs money that’s why she’s getting back to work.
Re: “he quit to support her”. No, he quit so she could support him. Dual career couples routinely hire nannies to take care of babies. Not unusual at all.
The guy has choreographing cred, he should be able to find some gigs in Hollywood.
He scored big time.
No there is something off about them but Natalie’s such a smug, up herself bitch I couldn’t care less if she was being K-Fed-ed. I’d laugh at it.
Besides methinks Natalie actually likes that her boyfriend is subservant to her, depends on her and she’s the alpha in the family. She probably likes that he has to depend on her and her connections for work. I don’t think she’s unhappy with her decision.
Oh and what happened to her wanting to move to France? I guess Ben won that round. Now he’s in LA and can get papped even more (funny how Natalie barely got papped until she got with him). Not many paps chasing him down in NYC. Any way he’s 34 (washed up in the ballerina world). It was only a matter of time before he quit that.
Why not? Nice work if you can get it.
lol awesome headline.. you said it all CB.. nothing to add 🙂
Isn’t he going to focus on other projects or directing a ballet performance instead of dancing himself? I thought I read something about that.
Why shouldn’t men be allowed to be stay-at-home dads? Why would Portman give up her career and stay home? Because she has money? She’s smart enough to know what she’s doing.
doooche mcalliser dooochy
#11 Embertine: Aww, you spoilt the image of Wills pulling Kate from a mud hut… 🙁
Carole Mid’s face..!!! LOL.. 🙂
I think it’s fine for him to stay home and change careers. Maybe he is really sweet to her and has a great sense of humor. Some people are very different in a work environment than they are in their personal lives. Could be the same here. Maybe he was pining for fame and recognition in the ballet world. Doesn’t mean he’s using Natalie.
That’s great if there’s no ulterior motive. I hope he’s not another douche who’ll sue her for alimony/custody & child support if they break up.
This is a bogus article…Ben is in LA working as a choreographer and he is developing works for NY ballet as well as something in Paris…He is very busy and they have both made adjustments in their professional lives.
Fortunately they know their truth.
I think it’s perfectly alright for men to be stay-at-home dads. It’s sweet in a way, I just hope they do it because they are not lazy! If the woman earns enough then it shouldn’t be a problem.
In Benjamin’s case, it’s not the same thing as the other normal dads. The other dads didn’t cheat and dump their live-in girlfriend for a self-centered actress who acts like a bitch at times. Other dads didn’t act in a commercial that Natalie helped them get to keep them busy and make some money. Other dads don’t look like a pervert who hasn’t showered since the day their child was born. Other dads aren’t referred to as Natalie Portman’s Babbydaddy! Other dads are not hungry for fame and recognition. Other dads don’t keep falling for their muse after muse. Other dads didn’t suddenly get recognized and popular because of their “ability to create more lives”.
For all who still don’t get it why Benjamin looks like a loser bending down to Natalie, you all are just blind or maybe these could be people working for them!
You said it, Jo! He’s K-fed if he stays home to watch the baby while she makes way more money than he could (sounds sensible), and he’s sleazy and using her if he works. Either way he’s using her according to this article. Could be that they’ve decided, together, that her career is more important and should be focused on, and his career can be relaunched (sure, with her help, why wouldn’t she do that) in LA. Sounds like the normal type of decision couples always make. No one is complaining that Matt Damon’s wife doesn’t work (also a fine decision). It is much easier for a parent to devote themself to a tough work schedule if they know the other parent will be with the kid, instead of a nanny 14 hours a day. If he (or she) is obnoxious, then fine, complain about that, but the readiness to assume the worst of all their major life decisions is ridiculous.
He has loads of projects lined up and it’s clear that he has been choreographing more and more and dancing less and less; it is logical for him dance less and choreograph more.
Hey, I wish that my ex had stayed home with the kids so I could have focused on my career! Why do men still get nailed for staying home to raise the kids? Isn’t that just another double standard?
Really, this is the perfect situation. Natalie IS a rocket scientist and has a career that is red hot now; BMP is a 34 year old ballet dancer (that’s getting older in ballet, isn’t it?) and a choreographer who has received uneven reviews so far. He can work on transitioning to choreography while she keeps up her Posy-Oscar momentum.
It is very hard to make a marriage work with kids and two career focused parents unless you have lots of support-we didn’t. Our marriage fell apart for lots of reasons; the career competition-who gets to pursue their career ambitions? who has to give theirs up?-did not help.
[I changed careers after the divorce. I started out with a JD, passed the state bar and was on the path to being an international business attorney. NOT exactly family friendly combined with the ex’s career as an architect in a prestigious firm.]
Maintaining a viable long term relationship and raising kids is hard enough without two “stars” in the mix.
So give BMP the benefit of the doubt for now. Don’t emasculate him and reinforce the stereotype-men work, women (nannies or mommies) stay at home with the kids.
Excuse me, but he’s not her husband…he is still her fiance and I kind of wonder why.
You are so right on about him positioning himself ‘to launch a directing/choregraphing career’ in LA! Totally. He seems like such a user. Something so fishy about him. She’s blinded by lust and love.
I know someone who’s on the board of directors of the Pacific NW Ballet Company and he did choreography for the company, anyway he was supposed to have been a really great guy, impressed with himself as far as his work and talent but as a person friendly and nice.
I’m getting the feeling this may be a real relationship and even if she moves to LA to get a chance at more roles, which I don’t see living here makes that much difference, the west coast companies would salivate to have him work with their ballet companies, so perhaps the real plan is to trade off, when she finishes a role, he begins a project.
He is very talented, so I hope this isn’t a long term departure for him. Either way having a wealthy girlfriend and being successful in your own right in never a bad thing to have going for you.
oh man i’m so late to this news, i used to see the pics comparing him to k-fat he even looked like him, i was hoping this wasn’t true, poor natalie 🙁 i know she’s rich and all but she doesn’t deserve a parasite and now he’s quit dancing, he’ll probably keep eating like a dancer and balloon up like kfat. only positive here is the fact that if this asshole tries to divorce her i’m sure nat has a pre-nup and she wouldn’t be the one cheating and he can’t do the child payment thing but he looks like a gold digger i’m just sorry for the woman.
I do not enjoy her, but she’s young, successful and attractive. A gold digger makes no sense. This might have been seductive when he was basically her coach in his world but now he’s just an ex ballet twinkler.
Only the Russians and Patrick Swayze can get away with that. Nah, they’d work their way to success.
He’s forever Ballet K-Fed which means one more baby, a lot of desperate career moves on her back which will be the twinkler equivalent to a white rapper album, and a little breakdown on her part before he lives full time off her divorce settlement. He’s “establishing” himself as a caregiver too which means plenty extra. Watching your own kids when you have 12 nannies is a cushy way to make a living if you can get it.
He’s a poor man’s Vincent Cassel. Speaking of Vincent we need to see more of him on this site.
yo Kaiser, I think he read what you wrote. The poor guy just announced his next project and made sure to mention Natalie Portman in that press release so that people will remember who he is.