Dominic West was caught “canoodling” with Lily James in Rome, and the photos were just published yesterday in the Daily Mail. I had recently watched an Architectural Digest video with West and his wife Catherine FitzGerald, so I had a sense that something was amiss in the family West. Turns out, we were all correct. I mean, the people who were like “it’s an affair, he’s a skeeze” were right. Apparently, his wife was incredibly shocked by the photos. Dominic and Catherine weren’t separated or getting a divorce or anything. He was just full-on gallivanting with his mistress in Rome. YIKES!
Dominic West’s wife Catherine FitzGerald is ‘shocked, heartbroken and devastated’ after pictures emerged of him in a passionate embrace with Lily James taken in Rome on Sunday. The actor, 50, and the Mamma Mia! star, 31, didn’t seem to mind who saw them as they cuddled up to one another and shared a ride on an electric scooter while taking in the sights, tenderly touching throughout the day.
A female friend of Catherine who came to console her at the family home near Chippenham, Wiltshire, told MailOnline on Monday that she has seen the pictures and is ‘devastated’ as she thought they were ‘very much together’ with a ‘good marriage’. They said: ‘Catherine has seen the pictures and she’s devastated. I came over to speak with her as soon as I knew about them. Catherine has been trying to speak with Dominic but he’s not answering his phone. She’s totally shocked because she didn’t know anything was going on. They were very much together, so this is completely out of the blue. She thought they had a good marriage and now it’s probably over. That’s how she feels right now but the two of them need to speak but at the moment, she’s lost for words.’
A gardener who lives on the grounds of the stunning property said: ‘This is their family home and as you can see it’s a wonderful place. They’ve got great kids and everything that you can imagine. Catherine was devastated when she saw those pics and they also left us feeling quite numb. It’s a total shock to all of us who know them.’
Neighbours in the picturesque postcard village where Catherine lives with Dominic and their children – daughter Dora, 13, son Senan, 12, son Francis, 11, and daughter Christabel, seven, have also been rallying around her. The actor also has another daughter Martha, 22, with former girlfriend Polly Astor.
One said: ‘To say she’s in shock would be an understatement. She’s heartbroken and has got nothing to publicly say. She needs to be left alone and have some time to herself.’
Judging from the fact that she’s high-level Irish nobility/royalty and she and her children live in her family’s ancestral castle, I would think that she will be able to get the privacy she so desires. I’m also expecting the castle drawbridges to come up swiftly – it’s one thing for one’s husband to cheat, but to be so open about it, so much so that the Daily Mail posts the photos of one’s husband canoodling with his mistress in Rome? No, the upper classes don’t do GAUCHE, darling. I hope she divorces him and takes all of his money. He seems like a massive douche.
So, after all of that…Dominic flew back home last night from Rome to have some “crisis talks” with his wife. The Mail, of course, got photos of him in the car. Then, after that, Dominic and Catherine posed for photos together outside of their home today, and Dominic said to the photojournalists, “I just want to say our marriage is strong and we are still very much still together.” WOW. This is so messy!
The nation may be facing new chaotic creeping lockdown but here's what everyone really wants to talk about: Dominic West and wife put on united front after THOSE pics of him with Lily James https://t.co/TIjbzitaBq pic.twitter.com/GXSAhyzSgq
— Daily Mail U.K. (@DailyMailUK) October 13, 2020
PICTURED: Married The Affair actor Dominic West, 50, returns home to face the music after kissing Lily Jameshttps://t.co/ANsGRtCF4c
— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) October 13, 2020
WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Married star of The Affair, Dominic West, pictured passionately kissing Lily James in Rome https://t.co/cZLOuXGTOs pic.twitter.com/cwpCC4kC0e
— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) October 12, 2020
Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red.
Rome was a set-up.
Yep, think it was all just a PR stunt to promote the show and the wife knew from the start. Gotta get those eyeballs; everyone’s paying up big time for them unless they can engineer clicks from thin air like they have here.
No actress would agree to destroy herself for one role. This is not what happened.
A BBC show where they play daughter and father uses adultery and sex toys (look at her bag when they’re on the shooter) for promotion?:D:D:D
Man, you’re hilarious!
If I was the producer of that BBC show I would be screaming my lungs out at the pair of them for jeopardizing the show before it even airs, the media focus is going to be on their affair, they just screwed up a lot of work for a lot of people at a very financially difficult time, these two just proved they are bad bets for any future projects, he will bounce back, she will be Sienna Miller 2.0
I don’t think it was. It just seems like messy cheating.
OH MY GOSH!! ME TOOOO!!!! I said that to myself right after I saw all the pics. I’ve worked in entertainment PR for 20+ years, and this reeks of the “promote their shitty movie” vibes. And, an actress would be apart of that willingly when they want to increase her profile as a vixen, rather than the hippy/free spirited English rose. Opens more opportunities for her professionally.
I’m with Darla and milliemollie. Don’t think this was a publicity stunt by any means.
@milliemollie Ummm… full disclosure: my sex life is quite staid (read: nonexistent) so I have no idea what I should be seeing in her bag?
Yes, definitely a set up to drum up publicity for the BBC film.
Chrissy and PrincessK, yes, esp with the professional pap pics and their being so out there about it. It’s either a PR stunt for the film or they’re both very stupid and careless individuals and just don’t care. He’s obvs in an open marriage and both wife and he are happy for everyone to know about it. Daily Fail comments section (more than 6.5K comments on just one of the articles about this alleged affair) seems largely to agree it’s a PR stunt. People say Lily would be damaging her rep wit this but perhaps in a very crowded media age, all publicity is good publicity. They’re certainly getting a lot of it.
No. The simplest explanation is usually the correct one. They are having an affair. He blew up his family for some strange who knew he was married.
Yep. His wife had NO idea that was happening, but the whole thing is gross and she should divorce him, pronto.
From stuff he’s said before I think they’ve been in an open marriage for years.
He is a douche and not the good kind!
I don’t know about “set-up”. It’s not that unlikely they would get spotted. Italy is not exactly off the radar. And if they thought it was they are ridiculously stupid. Italy has their own film industry and movie and tv stars. Also lots of Hollywood stars have homes there, live there, vacation there, whatever. Italy has plenty of celebrity gossip and media. I mean, an Italian film originated the word “paparazzi”!
Also if you want to do a PR stunt you need to do it much closer to a project’s release. In like, a week, no one will care about these two (again).
I had never heard of him before and l have seen Mamma Mia.
Have JUST worked out that Dominic West is NOT Dominic Cooper.
Two separate guys.
I don’t think so- i think its more a case of no fool like an old fool :S
@Nievie – She’s the one who was in Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again. There is an actor named Dominic in MM, but it’s not this Dominic
Can’t help but think he’s twisted her arm and said we need to pretend to be happy and still together to “protect the children” and minimise the blowback. Clearly they didn’t have an open marriage according to the friend of the wife’s but I’m guessing that will be the party line.
It was also probably quite easy to convince her,news of the affair blew up less than a day before, it must be a very confusing situation to process and I wouldn’t blame her if she was just trying to pretend it never happened. I’m not sure she’ll feel that way six months from now.
I agree. Sometimes the shock is so big that the person denials it. Maybe she will change her mind on a few weeks, months or even in a year. Being cheated is so hurtfull and humiliating. I can’t imagine the pain of this happening not only in front of friends and family but for the world to see.
@Tati:This reminds me of Liberty Ross. I think she stayed for a year or a year and a half with her husband after he got caught with Kristen Stewart.
I agree. She probably just is lost as of what to do and what to think and will hopefully come to her senses in a little while. Or maybe she is holding Dominic’s balls hostage and Dominic knows of the bodies buried under the wine cellar of the caste and so they both now pretend like nothing happened.
Agree with you, theOtherCleo. I expect the wife is having SO many different feelings all at once, and what she feels NOW, may change as she has more time to think.
Also, if my husband cheated on me, I’d be irked no end if my so-called “friend” went and told the press everything I was going through. Maybe his wife didn’t want the world to know she was devastated, or shocked, or trying to call him. Jeez Louise!
@theotherCleo
I agree with your point and will take it further:
She’s in love with him and they have 4 kids. She may be Royal but he has that Hollywood charisma (in her eyes) that she gets to have for real
SO when he says “babe! It’s not what it looks like! She was upset bc A and B and C. I was simply consoling her. OF COURSE I knew there were cameras there. If I were to cheat – Why would I cheat on you in the open? Of course I would NEVER DO THAT TO YOU.
Babe, I’m an idiot. I can see you what it looks like but trust me it meant nothing. it WAS NOTHING!! You know how the press is. They are DESPERATE for drama. Babe I love you. I’m sorry I put you through this- but we are good babe. We are strong. In fact, I’ll go out there and I will tell the world we are strong.”
Her head is spinning. And she thinks Of course he wouldn’t cheat. And he came back. Bc he loves me.
Meanwhile Lily just learned the lesson that you never ever forget: they stay with their wives Lily! They don’t leave their 4 kids and Royal wife for you hon.
And if they do- if you are the exception- you will always be looking over your shoulder waiting for him to do to you what he did to her
Take a long break Lily, soak in a tub, cry, get humble. And then brush that man off bc he’s trash and you have seen the ugly in the mirror. Now you must be a better person. You must not be selfish and cruel and hurtful as he was to you. And you thought you were special. Well you are when you start respecting yourself and demanding actual grown up relationships, friendships, commitments.
My mini Ted talk but I know of what I speak.
StormsMama, think you nailed it. West most definitely told his sad, angry, anxious and heartbroken wife, ‘It’s not what it looks like, you know how the tabloids exploit things, etc.…Who you gonna believe, the man you love or your lying eyes?’
She chose to not blow up her life. They have four kids and a decade-plus together. I can understand why. (Statistically, most marriages survive a man’s cheating.) Not saying it’s right, but my sympathy lies totally with her. Both in her sad yet understandable decisions, and because he will undoubtably continue to gaslight and cheat on her.
And Lily James isn’t the main villain in this scenario, but she’s not the hero either. She’s 31 and unquestionably should have known better. But hopefully her eyes are wide open now. They don’t leave even if you’re 20 years younger and a drop dead gorgeous movie star. And even if they do, how you got ’em is how you lose him, and when you’re 40, they’re looking for the next pretty face that makes them feel young and desirable.
Also wonder if she’s OK. Shortly before the 2 AM hookup with Chris Evans (which, good for her), she was photographed in a park seemingly doing drugs with her friends in the middle of an afternoon. …All in all, judgement doesn’t seem to be top notch and can’t help but wonder if it’s substance related.
Women are too quick to forgive, usually with little arm twisting needed. Now, if she had been the one out there like that….he would have placed her on the curb for the garbage man to collect.
Yes, this is why I tell women to never forgive cheating. If this was you cheating, you’d be getting the worst labels possible and be thrown out in the streets. Men get away with cheating way too easily because women often love them more than they love themselves. I see this with a friend who’s dating the biggest scumbag I have ever met. He’s a pervert. He has gotten so used to her forgiving him that he’s become more bold and shameless, even tries to sleep with her own friends. It’s a disgrace. She’s so delusional about him too. Everyone knows he’s trash but she posts the most romantic captions like he’s the best man in the world. Sis, we know he sucks. Shut up.
It’s NEVER a one time thing, people. Cheaters never change especially if you take them back so easily and they don’t get in serious trouble. You WILL be cheated on again.
Colin Firth would disagree with that.
And hey, maybe it’s the other way around. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had his balls up to the fire and demanded he fly back and pose to minimize the embarrassment. She seems way too laxed to make me think Dominic twisted her arms. And to that I say, get it, girl! Make all of the demands!
Lily James done fu**ed up. Unfortunately, she’ll be the one scathed. He’ll be untouched. And those posed photos are setting the stage for the inevitable.
You really need to watch her interviews about botany and the family castle. This isn’t some vain manipulating shrew. She’s an actual sweetheart deep into history and botany geekdom. In the AD interview he repeatedly talks over her, interrupts her to insert himself into her family legacy. You get a very clear idea of how that dynamic runs.
He also “jokes” that he knew he wanted to marry her the first time he saw her familys castle. I don’t think it was that much of a joke.
I agree, and sadly it’s usually because they blame themselves for the cheating. They didn’t have enough sex or they didn’t stay in shape after having children, or they didn’t cook enough or praise him enough, it’s always somehow our fault. Society puts so much pressure on women to be perfect so we can keep men happy, if they cheat it’s because we suck as partners or some whore tempted them and they can’t control themselves, I’m so over that bullshit.
@Myriam-Colin Firth is an outlier.
@Julie for real? Wow, he really is trash. Sounds just like his character on The Affair
@Julie for real? Wow, he really is trash. Sounds just like his character on The Affair
Wow: I was wondering what would ever induce a wife to put on a united front after egregious behavior like his; maybe he did put it as “best for the children”. That would be the only thing keeping me from throwing all his belongings out, and readying a cast iron fry pan.
I really urge people to look her up. She’s not one for paps and attention. She looks like her greatest joy would be to teach a botany class at Oxford. She must be mortified to have tabloid reporters calling up her friends and employees.
All he needed to do was say “give them a nice photo, tell them it’s all ok and they’ll go away. If you don’t, they’ll turn you into weekly tabloid fodder”.
I don’t know. I don’t know anything about his wife but that pap stroll 24 hours after the mistress pics come out and that hand written note screams “all I care about is optics”. If this would have been about kids, they would quietly sat them down to talk rather than inviting more publicity into their private life. Instead of dealing with this mess, additional publicity just adds to embarrassment situations like this cause kids and families. It also is a delusion of someone who really cares about the image. So much so that one doesn’t even realise that this whole charade looks even more weird and embarrassing that the initial report. And Dominic is not a politician, so he would drag his wife and pose all smiling pretending his ass is not on fire. He is a middle aged man in Hollywood, no one expect him to uphold any high moral ground and no one really will care for his messy private life there. Not that the reputation of men like him depends on something like an affair in Hollywood.
Jesus Christ! Man, what a mess.
But I guess we’ll have a lot of gossip in the next weeks, yay?
Those pics with his wife and that handwritten note is just freaking weird. I wonder what crap he told her or if they have truly an open marriage (probably not though)?! And he’s still not wearing his wedding ring. I don’t get it
Agreed. The pics with the wife are Awkward and forced and weird, and the note? I imagine she is reeling and trying to get her feet under her right now. It’s all happened incredibly fast. She may be pretending to be okay for the kids right now, simply to get the attention and gossip to die down before she makes any big decisions. At any rate, I feel for her and the kids. It’s terribly difficult and it’s all playing out in the public eye.
Yes, I also think she’s doing it for the kids. I can’t imagine what the kids are thinking right now.
Why do they both look so smug in the photos?
Iola, I don’t get that freaking note either, it’s a WTF is this for? To show that you are both madly in love and he wasn’t playing tonsil tennis with Lily? These screams desperation on his part, not hers. And I agree with everyone that when you have a spouse or partner who is a serial cheater, they are unlikely to stop unless they want to. As for blaming the victim is these scenarios, it’s time for women when they are the victims to place the blame where it clearly belongs, with the cheater!!
Dump him Catherine. He’s a tool.
Yep! We need more Elin Woods type women. Just let him go!
^^^This all day, as someone who stayed after finding out about the first instance of cheating, run away like your arse is on fire, I learned the hard way it didn’t matter how much I loved him, how much of the blame I accepted for his infidelity, how much I worked with a therapist, he still did it again.
Ugh Zapp, I’m sorry.
We are told so often to be responsible is to accept blame, but with something like cheating it’s just not so.
@ZappBrannigan can you explain to me what Irish Royalty is? I know you’re from the South so maybe this makes sense to you. I’m from the dirty North so I’ve never heard of this lol! It’s so strange to me that there is some kind of aristocracy in the South, I’m northern Catholic and until about 30 years ago most of us were relatively poor and majority working class. Had no idea the South had a different class structure!
Girl, run. No one is worth this drama.
Yep, my ass would have out of there like yesterday.
This. She’s a pretty lady who owns a castle. Men will be lining up to take his place.
What a mess. Looks sloppy AF.
Lower than low
I wonder,
Is it her saying – I’ll take the money and kids, I’ll end you – if he doesn’t fall in line?
Or is it him- I was set up, it didn’t mean anything. Who are you going to believe? Me or your lying eyes ?
Ugh.
Note: lying eyes line stolen from Chicago.
Actually you borrowed it from the Eagles
You cant’t hide you lying eyes
And your smile is a thin disguise
I thought by now you’d realize
There ain’t no way to hide your lyin’ eyes
There ain’t no way to hide your lyin’ eyes
Honey, you can’t hide your lyin’ eyes
Chicago the play, which was written in 1926.
not Chicago Transit Authority, the band.
Actually the quote was originally from a Groucho and Chico Max conversation in a Marx Brothers’ movie
amazing thread
Baytampabay! Duck Soup! But it was a Chico and Margaret Dumont conversation 🙂 love the direction this scandal comments section went!
and Duck Soup (the Marx bros movie it’s from) came out in 1933.
They don’t live in the castle. It’s owned with others in her family. It’s their family retreat. She and Dominic have their own home. She said her mom lives there almost full time.
Her father designated her the official heir. Since he died, she’s been in-charge trying to keep it commercially viable as her mother is quite elderly. She’s also been in charge of the gardens since she finished university. In other words, they do have another house but I doubt it holds the same place as the castle. Her kids are no doubt being groomed to take over when she’s gone, this isn’t just a country getaway.
Yes, they live in Wiltshire. The castle is in Ireland.
I hope it’s a publicity stunt otherwise this is very embarrassing for them or maybe he is blackmailing his wife. The fact that the wife actually agreed to pose for the staged photos the next morning after her husband’s affair was revealed YIKES. I don’t know why women keep doing this to themselves.
I think often (not always) when a spouse cheats, the one who got cheated on is angrier at the 3rd party simply because it is EASIER. It’s easier to blame “that scheming jezebel” than man you trusted/married/had children with. Maybe Catherine wanted those photos of the united front put out there to hurt LILY and say “see, yeah, my husband carried on with you in Rome, but he is not leaving me for you.” I’m not saying that is the most mature or healthy reaction, but I think it is understandable, especially if the wife did NOT see this coming and is truly shocked. She may yet still kick his ass to the curb, but right now, her immediate feelings might be just raw hurt and yes, jealousy.
i think pain, shock and jealously are driving a lot of her emotions right now
i also think that she will eventually stick him to the curb, but if she did now, he’ll go running back to his mistress, or so she thinks that’s what he’ll do. So Catherine is holding on to make sure the other woman knows that she doesn’t matter and that she’s nothing but a fling.
None of this is rational and i hope she comes to her senses and gets rid of this POS.
He’ll do it again, they always do, and one that is so brazen as to cavort so publicly with his mistress ? if he can do that in public, what is he doing in private??
MrsBump, I found your take very interesting and plausible.
That hand-written, signed note saying their marriage was strong passed out to the press? Whose idea was that? As if it means anything! And to do a photo-call in front of the family home? I don’t get it. He looks terribly smug in the pics.
Why wouldn’t he? He’s publicly made fools of two women in two days!
He made a fool of his WIFE. Lily made a fool of her damn self. There’s only one victim in this mess and that’s his poor wife.
OMG this guy is so gross. I’m sorry but he’s so ugly, I can’t stand when people say he’s not. Why do we give men who look like leather feet a pass on it? Imagine what we would say about a woman with that mug? He walks around in that face, and his wife poses and kisses him for paps a day after he was caught with his hands all over his mistress in public. Meanwhile, the mistress, also looks quite the discarded fool today, doesn’t she? And all for this?
Look I’m gonna have to bring out the big guns and quote Joe Biden; Come on man! this is a bunch of malarkey!
When I watched him on The Wire with my hubby, the word “Meat Bag” kept popping into my head for his name. It’s funny now cause he’s proven himself worthy of that.
He is a skeeze and a manipulator. Huge fan of the Wire and he played conflicted, complicated very well. And I couldn’t watch the Affair because his character was just so upsetting. Even if he and his wife had an open marriage with an understanding he has betrayed that trust and deserves to be kicked to the curb. You cannot tell me that she wasn’t devastated by those pictures. I hope she gets it together and deals with him. His actions show a man who DGAF.
Noah was the worst. The character tainted Dominic West for me: so I am absolutely not surprised to know he is also a selfish as$h0le IRL.
I hated Noah so much too it has definitely colored my opinion of DW himself.
This is just the weirdest situation. I feel like maybe he thought with masks and stuff he wouldn’t get caught, then got caught, raced home to do damage control, and is doing some serious gaslighting on the wife to make her say everything is ok.
I hope she kicks him to the curb. She, and their young kids, deserve better.
I know it’s awful because children and a marriage is involved but finally some juicy celebrity mess lol
I know that some people think that this is Lily James idea to get publicity and kill her good girl image to get more interesting parts or something but I just can’t see what good this could do to her career. I might be wrong but I feel that this will go the usual (sexist) way: he’ll continue working steadily and her career will never be the same. And this is the worst possible situation for her: he immediatly went back to his wife who’s,at least for now, supporting him so she very much looks like the cliché of a dirty mistress. He’s not even pretending this was love and I’m pretty sure some “sources” will soon tell the mail how he was bewitched by that dangerous temptress.
Think it was the whole show/production’s idea to promote viewership…
For their show that JUST wrapped and won’t air for some time?! Yeah, NO.
If that was actually the case than they both need to fire their respective teams because that was incredibly stupid. And it would still makes West absolute garbage because I’m pretty sure this situation is devastating for his children.
But yeah I’m with lola,the idea that this is all for promoting their show that they finished shooting five minutes ago does not makes sense to me.
for a BBC period piece where they play father and daughter? come on
I doubt it, cause as fc said, they’re playing a parent-child relationship.
I’m surprised that little tidbit isn’t part of the headline tbh. Makes me wonder if the producer’s of the show are doing the opposite and trying to suppress the blowback.
Okay, so it’s not a PR stunt. He’s obviously desperate to get it out there he’s in an open marriage PLUS he can still land cute girls. He is very smug and cheerful. What a creep!
What is Lily thinking? Who called the paps in Rome?! I just don’t get what she’s getting out of all this.
We don’t know the going-ons in this marriage but the wife seems willing to support the husband, at least for now. Given Dominic’s previous comments on adultery, it is also likely that this is not his first time. This is a common scenario in affairs btw – the husband is forgiven, the mistress derided. That’s why I’m all on focusing my anger or contempt on one person only – the cheating spouse.
He really wants it known he’s in an open marriage perhaps and that he can still land pretty girls? Maybe they have an understanding like Jeremy Irons and his wife apparently had? Mrs Iron (sorry, forget her name) was very subtle in an interview about this, if I recall correctly. And they were discreet, just like Kurt and Goldie and the many other purported celeb open marriages are. Dominic West’s manner is just crass.
Yeah, it sounds possible. I hope if it is an open marriage that she is getting some on the side as well
Like Kristen Stewart career was damaged? That’s right, Stewart is still one of hollywood’s it girl and yeah people said a lot of stuff when it happened and she didn’t get to do that one stupid sequel to that stupid movie, but she never received any real consequences, which was good and instead had the desired outcome. The kabash on her hollywood romance with Pattinson and a more varied acting career. This actress will be fine and probably better than fine, she will get to pursue a more varied career than the one she’s had so far. She’s White and let’s face it, popular white actresses have successfully achieved a place where they can get away with a lot they couldn’t have back in the day. Now if she were a woman of color, then yeah, girl would be writing the obituary on her future acting career.
Kristen herself said that it damaged her career
I’m sorry but Kristen Stewrt is nowhere close to where she was at the time the cheating news broke. It did damage her career. She has even stated it damaged her career. She may still gets good acting roles, but she is not where she would have been if that scandal had not happened.
@Myriam: Exactly. I think the damages it did are probably less noticeable because in the end Stewart seems happy to be getting less attention and is clearly more comfortable in little indie films than in blockbusters but at the time she had a year long break and it took her years to be cast in a big budget movie again.
It did damage Kristen’s career (she’s even said it damaged it her career), and I mean 20/20 or some news show even did a special on it. She was slut shamed mercilessly & tabloids/blind items accused her of sleeping with half of Hollywood. She lost some other big role, too, can’t recall what it was. I think people forget how different it was 8-10 years ago when it came to this sort of thing…late night show hosts openly called her a tramp.
Girl faced real consequences, while the director slid away like a snake without any blowback. And I’d argue Lily’s case is worse—Kristen seemed like a somewhat troubled 20/21 year old and the affair partner was her 40 something year old boss (there was a disturbing dynamic there, not excusing Kristen’s role in it tho because she did f*ck up).
She didn’t work for a year or so. She got lucky in a sense that she had some Hollywood friends who seemed to advocate for her & she had a history of indie films before Twilight….so when she went back to indies & had two well regarded indie roles it helped her build her credibility up. But if she had picked bad movies right after the scandal, her career would probably be over.
I mean, Lily might be okay. In 2020, especially the Trump era, the tabloid media tends to slut shame less than they did 5-10 years ago. But it will still dog her for a long time because the media coverage in this sort of situation is usually pretty sexist and slut shamey (and to reiterate, I’m not excusing her actions by calling out the sexist/slut shamey way the media covers affairs).
I feel like the fact that Stewart never again publicly dated a man is being glossed over here. Don’t think that didn’t help her situation. It did. Hard to label someone a slutty maneater who no one’s husband is safe around when she’s only dating women. What happened to Stewart was a huge disgrace. She was so young, he was…NOT. And at least they tried to sneak around, they were not flaunting anything. Still, she suffered.
@Darla,
I think nowadays the media would have handled the KStew thing far differently. Again, not excusing her….but she was barely out of her teens & came across like she was fairly troubled at the time and he was old enough to be her father. Yet the media placed like 99% of the blame on her…it was pretty gross and straight up scarlet letter-y at one point.
But I do think you’re right…her dating women exclusively (I think she identifies as bi, tho) probably helped her in the long run escape the “she’s the evil temptress” label that Sienna Miller got labeled with for her every co-star. But I remember she still got stuck with that rep for a few years after the scandal. Didn’t the tabloids try to blame her for Nicholas Hoult and JLaw breaking up at one point?
The actress that immediately comes to mind is Meg Ryan. Remember how beloved she was? Then she had that affair with Russell Crowe, and while he continued with his very successful career, she disappeared off the fact of the Earth. And Lily James has nowhere near the star power that Meg Ryan had back in the day. (Though granted, Lily does have youth on her side, and no botched surgery/fillers.)
Yes, Meg paid the price for that, despite Dennis Quaid being awful and cheating on her too.
Also see Sienna Miller, who got more of the crap than Balthazar Getty did, even though he was the married one.
And yes, Kristen Stewart’s career took a hit for that. The married director’s did too though, I don’t think he’s gotten much work since then.
I honestly think she’s just this sloppy. She was also caught snorting coke in a park with her friends.
Looks at how cheating with a married man affected Sienna Miller’s career, granted it started going downhill before she started a very public affair with Balthazar Getty and yeah drugs and booze was big on both sides.
Lily has always struck me as a sweet girl but immature and very messy.
It takes 2 to tango, regardless of who is married at the time.
Even though it was 20 years ago his casting as Ed Casely in Chicago seems pretty on-the-nose now. This reminds me of the Balthazar Getty/Sienna Miller mess, minus the odd turn with the little note and photo op. What I wouldn’t give to have been a fly on the wall prior to that bizarre showing.
Given her very public support of him, I wouldn’t trust the accounts of her being shocked and devastated. I’ve had experience with the Daily Mail following them breaking a big story. They offer a ton of money to anyone willing to tell them what they want to hear. The fact that the properties gardener talked on the record suggests they were really throwing cash around for this, cause whatever’s going on there’s no way he’s keeping that job and he’d have to know that.
West has said so many things over the years while promoting The Affair that make it 1000% clear he’s not a believer in monogamy, so I really think they have some sort of arrangement if not a totally open marriage. Maybe his wife didn’t know about this particular affair or maybe he was supposed to be discreet, but given how open he’s been about not believing in being faithful to one person I can’t see that the whole thing would be a shock.
It’s possible neither can afford to divorce. A lot of money on paper doesn’t go far when you’re living the lifestyle they are. Four kids plus his older kid? That is four expensive private schools, four expensive colleges, four kids to send on expensive vacations and pay for horseback riding lessons.
It’s bad enough to cheat on her, but to publicly humiliate her and by extension his children is reprehensible.
And what’s going on with Lilly? First the Chris Evans ice cream stunt and now this? Or how she always been this public and I’ve never noticed?
I don’t think the ice cream thing was bad. They got caught hooking up and for both their reps wanted to clean it up a bit so it didn’t look like an obvious hookup/one night stand. People frown on that, I don’t! I celebrate it, but you know, a lot of uptight people frown. that’s why you see so many frown lines when you’re in stores. And both James and Evans were single.
Oh I’m not judging the hook ups.
Its the PR aspect I’m wondering about. I’ve never paid attention to her enough to notice if her dates always end up being papped. And if not why is it happening more now?
Is Lily James on drugs? This is the only explanation I can think of for doing this to yourself. Maybe she was hit a lot harder by her break up with that other fugly dude, the one who was cheating on her? Something is wrong somewhere here.
Well….I’ll abstain from posting links….but if you search “Lily James” and “picnic” and “drugs”…you will get some very interesting (and all very alleged!) paparazzi photos from back in June. (From some admittedly questionable tabloids)
She’s certainly getting some headlines. 😬
That pic looks like she’s inadvertently raised her hands for a second to shield an oncoming sneeze. Where’s the coke?
She is actually! There are photos of her snorting coke in a park with her friends. I actually think she is just this messy and it’s not gone public.
A coke habit would explain it. This is really poor judgement. I can’t help feeling badly for her. Believe me, I do feel worse for his wife, but geez. He’s gonna skate. James’ career won’t.
WTF with the pics with his wife? Like you don’t kiss your husband like that when you KNOW his lips has been on another’s woman hoo-ha
Oh god I am so mortified on her behalf – why the hell would they ask people to come to their house to parade and kiss for the cameras? That is the last thing I would want to be doing to my husband if I had just caught him cheating (again). Do we think he made her do it? Did she make him do it? Who was the driving force behind this weird photo shoot? (Also – do we think it significant that Dominic West and Lily James share a manager? Is this all one big production for clicks?)
If I were her, I would have full on socked him (or maybe a kick in the balls – also a choice move) and made sure that the cameras captured it. Really give them something to talk about.
Is marriage and monogamy obsolete?
I’m really asking.
I don’t know. I’ve always practiced serial monogamy which lots of people also frown on.
Good, loving marriages with mutual respect don’t make headlines.
Not obsolete here. 25 years, no cheating, still in love.
In theory, I don’t think open marriages are a big deal if both adults are consenting and agree to it. In reality, if there is a power dynamic at play, one person may feel pressured into it, and jealousy and mind games are common. Then when there are children involved it gets really messy. Being respectful and not flaunting an outside relationship tends to be part of the deal as well.
No, 42 years here. The most important thing is to be friends and compatible with each other, that’s what lasts.
This is so cruel. Why publicly humiliate your family like this?
The children, does anyone think of the children. I can’t imagine being a teenager and having to deal with a parent who has the maturity of a toenail.
I’m so confused by folks thinking/hoping it’s a publicity stunt. Who would agreed to this knowing how deeply it would hurt their children finding out and having their peers throw it in their face? Who would agree to being humiliated by their husband like this? Who would agree to looking like they’re having a midlife crisis? Who would agree to looking like the other woman? All to promote a show (where they play father and daughter)? Yes, celebs stunt queen all the time, but when there are 4 minor children involved?
Maybe the McNulty doesn’t fall far from the tree. Simple as that.
I think it’s a stunt, but I sure don’t understand it, for all those reasons you stated.
Why do you think it’s a stunt? It’s clearly just two selfish assholes. The excuses being offered are wild.
Agreed, Sarah.
Dominic should be shouldering most of the responsibility here but the subtle and overt blaming of both women involved sure is telling…
See: Liberty Ross.
Can you expand on this? What about her? The men who cheat and the women who knew they were married and did it anyway are to blame. Period.
“I just want to say our marriage is strong and we are still very much still together”
Annnnnd countdown to Lily James being thrown under the bus for this all in 3…2…
Lily, hooking up with single hot guys like Chris Evans is A-OK (not so much during a pandemic, but generally fine). Hell Evans seems pretty high maintenance, I’d probably go the one night stand route too. But stay away from married actors. Other actors’ (including A-listers’j wives note these things, and yes they can have veto power over who their husbands co-star with. And that’s a career hit you don’t need. ( See also: Miller, Sienna.) Especially not for this gross dude who won’t care one bit what anyone thinks of you.
This is what I don’t understand…There are so many hot men, young and old, that she can hook up with if this is what she wants. She can even have a long fling. But she chose to have an affair with a married actor who’s wife happens to be nobility. She’s connected.
In Lily’s defense now that I’ve looked at the pics at Daily Mail-
He isn’t wearing his ring.
It’s entirely possible he was lying to her about the state of his marriage. Maybe he said it was over – and that the pandemic brought it to an end- who knows? We know he is gaslighting them both if he can
I suppose….but the pap shots look top-notch and they are two relatively unknown entities in a city like Rome. I just don’t see the paps staking out the set of The Affair to catch a photo of Lily or Dominic on their own…especially with masks. Someone set up the pap shot because those photos are clear.
This poor woman. It’s the old sunk cost fallacy, isn’t it? So many years of (what she thought was) a happy marriage, a few kids, not wanting to start over as her age…
She probably feels very vulnerable and humiliated after all this, and he’s an asshole for taking advantage of that and dragging her out for a “happy family” photo op, and forcing her to pretend she’s fine with it after the fact.
This poor woman is sucking his face off and has posted a note outside their home along the lines of ‘nothing to see here’.
She know’s what she’s getting into….
Or maybe she’s in a tailspin after being humiliated internationally (with her kids dragged into it) and not thinking clearly.
She does know what she’s getting into, but that doesn’t make me pity her any less. We don’t know what else was going on in her marriage. We don’t know if she was already abused in some way, or maybe she just has low self-esteem.
Messy, just like his character in The Affair
And The Hour.
Lily chose the wrong marriage, and honestly, the man is not attractive enough for this. Maybe she can ask K.Stew for some PR tips.
1.) Lily is an idiot. Hope the sex was worth all the drama she’s about to be sucked into PR-wise.
2.) He’s absolute trash and his wife is a fool to stay with him. You have money, lady. DTMF and move on.
Somebody needs to give Catherine Liberty Ross’s phone number
Based on the pictures of him and his wife happily (awkwardly) kissing in front of their home today, I’m thinking this isn’t the first time he’s stepped out on her, nor her first time finding out. I think this is just the first time it’s been so public. He probably convinced her if they show an united front that it’ll blow over soon. And she for whatever reason (kids, history, family, etc.) is playing along, for now at least.
Yep, totally agree. He’s a dog.
Catherine FitzGerald is very pretty and sexy. Love her style too.
This reminds me of that whole mess with Kristen Stewart and the thirsty Snow White director, and his thirsty has-been model wife who was totally in on it.
Liberty Ross was not in on it. She played her cards well once everything hit the fan to ensure she did not look like pitiful wife. I said up top that Kirsten Stewart came out of that situation well also, but others disagreed. That was the first situation of the type where it seems that the man involved rightfully got what he deserved. Liberty got divorced on her terms, I think, Kirsten has a more varied, acting career today, (I think like, Ellen Page, her sexuality affected her career more so than being caught cheating.) As for the director, he’s never been as in demand.
Liberty Ross was definitely shocked at the pics of her husband and Kristen. She posted something about KS not being so “pure snow white after all” before she shut down her social media.
Who knows what will happen?
Katherine McPhee’s affair with director and very married Michael Morris blew over.
And his wife Mary McCormack took his cheating ass back!
I was just thinking about Mary McCormack and Michael Morris — can’t believe she took him back! She deserves better!
Claudia Schiffer keeps taking back her philandering husband too. I’m not judging them, there may be a ton of reasons included we all do not know, but I just wish those bastards would get what they deserve for once…
I forgot about that one!
Getty’s wife took him back too after the Sienna Miller affair.
Some people are able to move past it, but I wouldn’t be.
The photo op outside their house is pathetic I’m sorry.
Their stunt today is funny! The two of them are kissing outside their home complete with their hand-signed note insisting NOTHING IS WRONG HERE.
I don’t believe this is a publicity stunt for Lilly and this guy show I think too many people on here were too eager to give lily the benefit of the doubt because she a woman and she white . When the news broke out about Eddie Murphy ex Nicole seen kissing a married man there wasn’t this rush for people on here to defend her or make excuses for her she was rightfully called out lily deserved the same calling out for her behavior. I feel sorry for his young kids and his wife .
WORD.
That part.
This! It’s so obvious, they f*cked and someone tipped the paps off. Stop trying to make excuses or come up with ridiculous explanations for them.
Theory: it’s been ongoing for a while, Lily tried to make him jealous with Chris Evans, when that didn’t work she staged this to force his hand into telling his wife / leaving her.
@jeminaleopard…very probable Lily tried to force his hand
I got a flashback of Sienna Miller, and that was it. This man is a foolish donkey
I think the producers of his project with Lily told him to go home and find a way to get this under control In the press and his wife agreed because they are screwed without his income. This will affect his reputation generally- he will still work but the roles/salary will change. Having said that, I wonder if he has family money because I know they used to have a place in London too.
I was going to say Hollywood doesn’t care much about cheating—well, it hurts women’s careers but men slide (people forget that Tom Hanks openly admitted to leaving his wife for Rita Wilson in an interview several years ago). However, they do care about f*cking up a project and the fact that they were so public and sloppy before a TV show where they play father and daughter even came out—not after the show came out and not a show in which they play lovers—will probably hurt them both.
“people forget that Tom Hanks openly admitted to leaving his wife for Rita Wilson in an interview several years ago”
— He actually went to events with his girlfriend, Ginnifer Goodwin (one of the “wives” on Big Love, the show he co-produced), and they appeared as a couple. Ultimately went back to Rita of course. He looked like her father too, just like Dominic for Lily.
There are pics of them together at the airport. It’s already online.
The photos of him and lily were from Backgrid. Aren’t they a celeb photo agency where the celebrity gets a cut? I’m not sure but I thought that’s what they were. Anyway I thought they looked staged, just because it looks like your standard pap shots. I don’t know why they would bother because no one actually looks good from this, unless they are absolutely desperate for publicity. If they are genuinely cheating then they both deserve to be dragged. But lily is a standard ‘English rose’ type, so I’m sure she’ll get a pass and will continue to be praised for being ‘lovely’.
I think Lily is desperate to throw off her Cinderella, good-girl image. Desperate.
You think it looks staged because they look like typical paparazzi shots? Wha?
I don’t think there’s any way this came out on purpose. It doesn’t make anyone look good (the photographer got paid and the Fail etc got clicks, which is probably the only way any of this benefits anyone).
I hope Catherine goes full on Liberty Ross on his pathetic ass. Liberty handled it like a boss. Rupert Whatsit had it coming, and so does this schmo.
I hope we can get to a point where, as a society, we recognize that the only people responsible for the state of a marriage are the two people who are in it. Nobody knows what this man told Lily James about his marriage. And even if he told her his marriage was fantastic and his wife could never find out about this affair…the choice to have an affair was HIS.
So often we blame the woman and label her a home wrecker. Doesn’t this strike you as misogynistic? In the history of Western civilization, which is the history of our society, who has paid the greater price for infidelity? Who has greater agency in sleeping with whomever they choose, whenever they please? Spoiler: WOMEN have always paid higher costs, while MEN have always had greater agency. So why do we always side-eye the so-called “other woman” first?
In this case, Lily James is having some sort of relationship with a man who has made himself available. If he shouldn’t have made himself available, that mistake is on HIM–not her. I’m glad to see him dancing for the press (instead of Lily, a la KStew), but the whole public display is bizarre.
I 100% agree with you.
Yes, he should get as much shit for this as possible. He’s the one who cheated and he shouldn’t have, but I still think that the “other women” shouldn’t eat the cake. It takes two to tango. That is MY personal opinion and I get that others will disagree. West is a major POS & his wife should come for him, but James is not some innocent victim in this.
It’s not misogyny to also criticize Lily James. Caping for a woman being self-centered and not caring about marriage vows even they are not her own is not feminism.
Lily was not coerced into this and she is not a victim in any way. If I know someone doesn’t have respect for boundaries or vows, including other people’s vows, then yeah, I’m going to judge and criticize them. This is some trashy behavior.
It matters very much that they’re not HER vows. That’s the point. She never took them, and she’s made no promises to anyone. She is not party to that marriage. She has no “other woman” obligations to uphold somebody else’s marriage. You simply have no idea what he told her about the state of his marriage. It’s not her job to respect boundaries that she never set and really knows nothing about.
HE made promises. HE knows what the state of his marriage is. HE knows what his responsibilities are and where the boundaries lie. HE is responsible. Lily James is irrelevant.
Have you ever considered why we go after the “other woman” in a marriage instead of the men who give them that label? That’s where the misogyny lies. Think it through.
No, it doesn’t. It’s about having respect for other people. Lily’s behavior is disrespectful and self-absorbed, and yes, trashbag Dominic’s behavior is more disrespectful and self-absorbed.
Notice, I called Dominic trash repeatedly. But yes, Lily is his trashy sidechick. She needs to work on herself and pick better partners. This is messy, dysfunctional behavior. Don’t drag in feminism to defend this.
Lol, the thought that we don’t have to respect other people’s marriage vows because we didn’t make them. Good luck with that.
Seriously, I know you think you’re really doing something here, but you’re not.
There’s so much judgment in your answer. You do not know what the details are–you really don’t. You aren’t a fly on the wall of his house. Yet you’ve passed all this judgment on who is wrong, disrespectful, and self-absorbed. You have perfect moral clarity regarding a situation you know very little about, which isn’t a particularly mature attitude.
I haven’t invoked feminism. Like racism, misogyny is about human rights. But if you want to specifically invoke feminism, yes, I do believe Gloria Steinem would land on my side. I’m not interested in arguing the point.
I’m good with judging selfishness and lack of respecting boundaries.
Excusing dysfunction is not a sign of maturity. And feminism and human rights is not about twisting yourself into knots so that the sidechick can feel like she’s isn’t making bad choices. Pick respectful partners and if you can’t, work on yourself until you make better choices. The rest is just long-winded excuses.
Let’s be clear. Dominic is trash and no one has disputed it, but being the sidechick is also trash behavior, not about being true to your human rights.
I can’t speak for everyone here, obviously, but my judgment over this whole situation isn’t misogyny because my feelings have nothing to do with their genders. I felt just as icky over the Chris Evans/Jenny Slate romance (I can’t remember if it was actual cheating or just a questionable timeline). If persons A and B are married, and person B is caught in an intimate situation with person C, I judge person B for being trash and violating their vows/relationship and I judge C for their dalliances with the very publicly married B. Obviously I don’t think C is worse or more responsible than B, but I do believe they can be given the side eye for making poor choices.
Also, I don’t really get the vibe that Lily was in love with this douchebag. I think she was attracted to the forbidden-ness of it and was down for a fling. Dominic *is* complete garbage, as far as I’m concerned. And I feel bad for his wife who puts up with his sl*tty behavior.
So much this. Like I said above, the comments covertly and overtly blaming the two women involved or trying to claim it’s a stunt are gross.
Who is blaming the wife? If anything people are sympathetic and sharing their own stories because she just had this whirlwind dumped on her and her kids because of her trash husband and his trash side chick.
@kalana Everyone claiming it was a setup, the wife is “thirsty” and in on it, and deriding her for taking him back – that’s who. Dominic should be bearing the brunt of the criticisms and a lot of the comments on this post are not that.
I scrolled through the comments when I first replied and I saw one comment that was completely unsympathetic to Catherine. I think hoping it was a stunt is more about making excuses for Lily and hoping Catherine wasn’t really hurt. It seems like we all agree that Dominic is sleazy. Regarding whether or not Catherine should take Dominic back, most of the comments come from a place of concern and sympathy for her rather than judgement.
While I agree the focus should be on the married person who cheated, I do think Lily and others in that position need to take some responsibility for their actions if they know the person is married. Even if he tried to convince her they were separated or having problems, I’d say call me when you’ve filed divorce papers. Way too many people, men especially, play that “I’m separated” card for me personally to ever believe it.
But yes, he is the one who is married and made himself available, as you said, and he deserves to bear the brunt of the criticism and negativity.
A woman shouldn’t have to answer for a man’s behaviour/marriage. She didn’t intervene in his marriage. He did.
You might imagine you’d do differently but you’re making assumptions about being told the truth, etc. You might say “call me after the divorce,” but you’re also probably not working in an industry where marriages are myriad, complex, cross-continental, etc. There’s a lot of money in Hollywood marriages (let alone to some titled aristocrat), there’s a lot of international travel…the lifestyle is more complex than average. So whether knowingly or unknowingly, you, too, could easily find yourself in that position were you in her shoes.
I understand where you’re coming from, but if she was aware he was still actively married and chose to engage in this nonsense anyway, it’s just as gross of her as it is of him. It’s not feminist to prance around with another woman’s husband, nor is it misogynistic to call out both parties in the affair. They’re both responsible here.
Rumor(!) has it that she also had a thing with Hammer (who was still with his wife)when they made their movie…
Honestly, this perspective reads as a lot of mental gymnastics to justify sleeping with someone you know deep down you shouldn’t be sleeping with. I think as empathetic human beings, we should respect boundaries set by others whether or not we know them. I didn’t sit down and have a conversation with every stranger to set boundaries to not hit them in the face, but I don’t do it because it would hurt them. What’s the difference?
because marriage doesn’t come with fixed social norms. There isn’t one way to do it. There isn’t a blanket norm that applies here, such as “violence is wrong.” Every child in elementary school is taught to keep their hands to themselves, and to use words instead of fists. This isn’t the case with marriage.
There are marriages of convenience. There are open marriages. There are marriages where a wife looks the other way because she enjoys a certain lifestyle provided by her spouse, and vice versa. There are marriages where a husband or a wife has permission to dabble with whomever. There are marriages that exist only on paper, and divorces that take a decade to negotiate. There are married people “taking a break” or “trying new things.” There are many, many different norms for marriage.
It isn’t up to a woman (or anyone) to inspect a man’s marital status inside and out. It’s HIS responsibility to maintain his own relationships, not hers. I might not make the same choice as Lily James but that decision would be arrived at via my own personal ethical calculus or a balance of potential cost/benefits. I wouldn’t shame her for arriving at a different decision simply because her ethical calculation is slightly different than mine. There’s a lot of room here…and so the world turns.
Leave the “different marriages” aspect out of it because that’s not what I care about. Of course if he fed her some story about his marriage being over, him being separated, whatever, she has no blame in this. If he told her his marriage is fine (as his wife said) and he doesn’t think his wife will find out, and she sleeps with him anyway, that’s being complicit in a betrayal of trust and the possible causing of great emotional pain to another person. And yes, that is just as wrong as causing physical pain.
Mental gymnastics is right.
And it is up to anyone with a lick of sense to at least try to screen their partner. What kind of willful ignorant naivete are you encouraging in people? Lily is in her thirties, she is not a kid.
That’s an interesting point that you have raised here @GrnieWnie. Sometimes people forget that adult women have sex for the sake of having sex. They are not here for a relationship nor for a longterm affair. It becomes quite impossible to screen the relationship/marital status of the other consenting party in this situation. It puts a lot of onus on the woman who is not in any commitment (and doesn’t wish to be), when the other party should not be engaging in sex outside his marriage if he is in a committed monogamous relationship.
I’m with you for the most part. Truth is, it’s not my business, so while I will play detective and speculate, my current self is not into judging what consenting adults do. Having said that, if there’s blame to be parceled out it should be directed at the person in the relationship, they made the commitment. The other person will have to live with not being trusted by those who knows what they got up to and that’s understandable. Until we live in a world where humans are perfectly logical, I don’t think we’ll see the other person not being blamed by society and until we live in an equal society, that’s likely going to be more often the woman. Things are slowly changing, that director who cheated on his wife with Kirsten has not had the same career, that wouldn’t have been true even a 15yrs ago.
@Grniewnie: I definitely think other women or other men have some degree of responsibility if they knew someone is in a relationship. How much of it is theirs is based on their age, whether or not kids are involved, and other factors. Lily is 31, so unless he lied and told her they had an open marriage or said they were separated, I don’t think it should be as if she did nothing wrong. But most of the responsibility is on him. You made a good point about misogyny and how we look at relationships.
It seems to me like there’s got to be more to this story. Yes, he is an actor that has been on two relatively popular shows (The Affair and The Wire, which was fantastic IMO) but I don’t think he has the same kind of power that his wife does. She’s an Irish royal. If I were him, I would be very worried about the ramifications of my actions given what I imagine to be her substantial wealth and connections. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s calling the shots behind the scenes and ordering him to acquiesce and put up a united front while they work through this mess.
That being said, I hope she takes him to the cleaners. This is such gross behavior.
So apparently the castle people say she owns, Glin Castle was bought by both of them, with the help of her sisters, because it failed to sell at an auction. So perhaps West is the one who has the financial power or at least equal to hers, and it’s perhaps a reason why she’s so willing to forgive him.
I don’t think, if she’s the one calling the shots in the marriage, he would have felt so bold to publicly say that older women should accept men when they cheat.
That smirk on his face in the linked photos needs to be slapped right off.
This is first time I’m seeing photos of the wife – she looks how I imagine Cressida Bonas will look in 30 years!
What the heck Lily? I’ve always rooted for her, but this is gross. He’s gross. I can’t see how this is worth it, and so freaking public! I feel bad for his wife.
I wonder what the power dynamic is there. Not trying to excuse it but surely it’s a factor.
So much drama. Something odd is going on. Why were they ‘canoodling’ with their manager and other people around, as if the affair was acceptable? Maybe they had a bit of open marriage, as long as it was discreet but this particular relationship broke the rules….
I’m starting to agree that something weird is going on. I have never read so much about Glinn Castle before yesterday. Wonder if the pandemic has really hurt their rooms for rent at the castle business and a little messy publicity that they are both in on might up the bookings. They both seem devoted to the castle. Lily James may have gotten played.
Glad to see he figured out how to wear a mask correctly when he’s alone in the car. SMH.
Nothing to add about how gross he is and LJ ruined Mama Mia 2 for me, so never had any love for her…. BUT to those in the UK / Europe – isn’t there quarantine restrictions just now? Can he really just fly in and out of the country like that? I’m in New York and haven’t seen my mum in Scotland for over a year and this makes me ragey that they are just swanning about in the middle of a pandemic like this.
Has anyone else noticed that the oldest child is 13 but they have only been married for 10 years? Looks like they had two kids together before they got married. That’s completely fine – no judgement! – but it is… unusual, I think, for an aristocratic woman, to have two kids “out of wedlock.” I wonder if it indicates previous commitment issues on his part?
“I wonder if it indicates previous commitment issues on his part?” Or it could possibly indicate that they have a less than traditional marriage now.
This is so weird and messy. Not taking anyone’s side in this. Why would they even put themselves out there like that? Very “The Good Wife”.
Dang, what is this?? I don’t even know! Just a simple affair and a coverup? Or a total setup from the get-go? What the heck. My friend is sometimes wary when an actor/actress is very good at playing an awful character; she would’ve likely hated the show The Affair but I was engrossed! She might’ve been right about Dominic West in this case.. he played a great, cheating cad and seems there was good reason?!?!
Wow! This kind of mirrors his character’s storyline in The Affair…married up, lots of kids and has an affair with a younger woman. Weird his wife looks so forgiving in those photos too. Maybe they have an open marriage?
This is not a PR stunt.
Affair. I can spot the body language of the dude.
I’ve been in an affair — I was the mistress. Guy told me he was done with his GF, and I’m sure this scumbag told Lily he was separated and getting a divorce.
My affair played out disgustingly. He left me to stay with the GF after I caught him. Then my best friend said NOPE and called the GF. Turns out this guy was engaged and they’d been together 7 years. Needless to say, she was shocked, I was shocked, the guy was crying and playing victim.
Scumbag scumbag scumbag. The wife deserves better. And if Lily was not duped, she better watch her career. People, generally, don’t like adulterers, especially when kids are involved.
They’re actors though, so the body language thing is hard to say. Someone called the paps; that’s for sure. I don’t know if it’s a PR stunt or if they’re just incredibly careless and don’t care and want coverage at any cost.
What a massive mess!!! The posed photos afterwards?!?? WHAT?? LOLOLOL
how humiliating for the wife to do these pictures! clearly she is posing for these embarrassing pictures to stick it to Lily…who is probably off on a date with the next guy and could care less anyways.
Men who cheat like this are not worth the crap on my shoe. Love shouldn’t hurt.
So now there are pictures on Twitter of Dominic and Lily at the airport together. She’s packing the dress she wore on those pictures and they look quite cozy together. I don’t think this affair is over. This was just hours before the photo-op with this wife. This is either the most casual or the messiest affair i’ve ever seen loll.
https://twitter.com/mottisjandra/status/1316055546433286145
But why is she packing at the airport?
Their poor kids.
Funny fact: Catherine’s ex-husband is the current Earl of Durham. And his current wife is Marina Hanbury. And Marina’s sister is Rose Hanbury. Yes, that Rose.
The Wikipedia info is quite enlightening. Apparently, the family estate, Glin Castle is owned by Dominic, Catherine and her sisters. So there’d be a lot to untangle financially.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_FitzGerald
I dont think this was for pr. The bruise on Lilly’s leg is one clue🥴I’m so shocked that Catherine agreed to pose for pictures. They clearly are in a open marriage(at least from his part) and the guy bragged about how she’s okay with it as long as he comes home & helps care for the children. Yikes. No self respecting modern women should do this. Its intresting that they married after they had 4 children. I always assumed that because she’s aristocrat that it was much earlier!! Also I noticed that he’s leaning away as she moves to kiss him. Yikes.
As for lilly, goodluck trying to get casted as girl next door/innocent protagonist. Now her whole image is in jeopardy and I doubt she’d get to do period dramas after this
They had 3 kids together at the time of their wedding (4 now and their youngest should be about 5) but he has an older daughter from a previous relationship. He and his wife originally met and dated while they were in Uni. He talks a lot about how she was a hot girl then and had lots of boys to choose from and dumped him. Not excusing his behaviour, but maybe he still holds an unresolved grudge. Like I love you but you’re gonna pay for how you hurt me.
If you have 4 children the last thing that seems a good idea or is even faintly logical is to stage a pr stun which makes it seem as if you are cheating on your wife.The kids are on social media and this will be torture for them .I am very surprized though by the incredibly awkward , staged photos of him and her outside their home.That someone thought that was a good idea along with the signed notes demonstrates a distinct lack of judgement.She has money and the home is hers so what does she need him for?
If you have 4 children the last thing that seems a good idea or is even faintly logical is to stage a pr stun which makes it seem as if you are cheating on your wife.The kids are on social media and this will be torture for them .I am very surprized though by the incredibly awkward , staged photos of him and her outside their home.That someone thought that was a good idea along with the weirdly worded signed note demonstrates a distinct lack of judgement.She has money and the home is hers so what does she need him for?
Well, he’s a famous actor. He probably has women throwing themselves at him all the time. I’m not sure why people are shocked by this story.
Commenting purely to lol at the term Irish nobility/royalty. We don’t have nobility or royalty, just people with “notions”. Her family were once lords back when Ireland had these things under British rule but basically now… they have a big house. There are many of these in Ireland which have been turned into hotels because the families aren’t massive landowners anymore and can’t afford to live there. I’m sure they’re perfectly nice people, who happen to be descended from a family who once were running the country for the English back in the 1400s or whatever but nobility or roaylty they are not at least in Ireland.
All of this is just. So weird. I’m sorry, I don’t get it at all. The backlash against Lily James is just strangely archaic to me for some reason. While I know that cheating is a touchy subject for a lot of people emotionally, the fact is that the world we live in is not very fair to women in general. Women pay a steeper price for these types of transgressions than men do, and that’s just a fact, not an attempt at absolving anyone for their behaviour.
A lot of it came down to the fact that women often didn’t have a great deal of economic agency, historically speaking. A married woman’s economic stability was dependent on her husband, which meant she had a much greater incentive to forgive him for straying, but it also meant she couldn’t exactly hold him accountable for what he had done. So of course the person who bears the brunt of the fallout is the other woman. They are by far the easier, far less protected target in all of this. If anyone has a way of holding the other woman accountable without making her a victim of the rampant and disgusting misogyny in our society, I’m all for it. But if that’s not possible, then maybe people should rethink their reaction a little bit, in light of that.
Anyway, I don’t know wtf is going on here with all of these people at all. But there’s just a very weird, trolling quality to the way they behaved with the paps, and it’s making me suspicious. This lady is no stranger to weird partnerships and marriage set ups though. As someone else pointed out, her ex-husband is the Earl of Durham, who she divorced in 2005, who famously proposed to his third wife, Marina Hanbury (who was 22 years younger than him), on Facebook Messenger, a few months after meeting her. He confessed his love for her on the same platform. The rules, as always, continue to be different for the posh, aristocratic toffs, where their objectively tacky, trashy behaviour is seen as quirky and endearing and different.
So I fully believe that these two are just having a lot of fun at everyone else’s expense. That note strikes me as more cheeky and, again, like they’re trolling the paps, than anything else. I don’t even think that he slept with Lily James, tbh. I think they were caught canoodling or whatever, but aside from that, they just don’t strike me as two people who have slept together and have the hots for each other at all. That’s just my personal impression though.