Surprising no one, Star Magazine’s cover story this week is total crap. They claim that Nicole Richie and Joel Madden got married a few weeks ago. If that was the basic gist of the report, I wouldn’t think anything of it. After all, a bunch of different sources were running variations on the “Joel and Nicole might be secretly married” story, including us. Star Magazine took it to a different level though. According to Star, “The long-time loves exchanged vows during an intimate at-home ceremony on Oct. 14 with Joel’s brother and bandmate Benji as a witness. But the couple were hardly alone on their big day. They were actually married — along with 45,000 other people worldwide! — as part of a mass wedding by the Unification Church.” Of course this was crap. Joel Madden called Star Magazine out with a low-key, two-sentence posting on Good Charlotte’s website:
Hold those congratulations: Nicole Richie and Joel Madden haven’t gotten hitched. The new issue of Star claims they’ve wed, but Madden, 30, denies it on his band’s website.
“I keep getting emails from old friends and family asking about a wedding. NO we didn’t get married,” he blogs.
Richie, 28, and Madden are parents to 1-month Sparrow and 21-month-old daughter Harlow.
Last May, they said they have no immediate plans to wed.
“I think for both of us, we are going to do it because we want to, not because that’s what you do,” Richie told CNN’s Larry King. “We’re going to do it when the time’s right.”
Added Madden, “We’re really focused on our family, and … we already feel kind of married, you know? Our family system that we have down, we feel like this is a real family and marriage, one day it will come.”
What more is there to say? They might get married at some point, they might not. It’s their business, and they seem to be keeping their stuff pretty private these days, save for the odd People Magazine cover celebrating their cute kids. Most sources claim that Joel is the one who really wants to get married, and that Nicole is the one who doesn’t seem to care. I have no idea if that’s the case. But I do hope that both of them agree on their decision not to marry. I’d hate to think either of them was holding some kind of grudge.
I love how non-news makes headlines. Oh they’re not married? Surprise. In other newsworthy items, Nicole is not pregnant or Nicole and Joel are still together.
Any ‘news’ about either of them makes me cringe.
“We’re really focused on our family, and … we already feel kind of married, you know? Our family system that we have down, we feel like this is a real family and marriage, one day it will come.”
Seriously? I don’t get that. Why have kids and say we feel like we’re married..? If that’s the case, why NOT get married already? Make it legal. I don’t get why they are holding back. It sounds like a canned answer. What are they waiting for? I really hope neither of them is holding out for someone better to come along..
In the top picture Joel Madden looks like Samantha Ronson… hahahaha
See I have really grown to like these two-and it’s not just because Harlow is adorable. Nicole has really calmed down and seems to be a fantastic and devoted mother. She like JG are always seen out with their kids with no nanny in sight (not saying they don’t have one, just that they are very hands on).
i say as long as they are happy and healthy then they should do what they want and no bow to the pressures of the media and social conventions.
:edit: Iggles why do that have to get married? Look at Goldie and Kurt, they never bothered t get married and are considered one of the most stable couples in hollywood. Sometimes marriage isn’t for a set of people. why force them into it ?
Obvious – Good point about Goldie and Kurt. (I love those two! “Overboard” is one of my favorite movies.)
Still, when a couple has kids and refuses to marry there’s definitely a story behind that. I think Goldie and Kurt have addressed it in the past, though for the life of me I can’t remember what they said. I do know Goldie was previously married and didn’t work out.
Granted longtime non-wedded bliss can and does work out for many people. However, when you are young and have a bunch of kids I think it makes a profound difference.
Marriage to some can be “just a piece of paper” but it does shift the dynamics — no matter how hard things get or how difficult it is raising the kids you and your partner have made a lifelong commitment. I think it’s different from living together. (I live with my boyfriend and we’re definitely not married). I think some couples who have lived together successfully are afraid to take that step with the thought, “If it’s not broke don’t fix it”.
Anyway, these my are views on the situation and I know not everyone shares it.
OMG Birdie GOOD CALL! That made me spit my coffee!~ Hahaha!
Not all countries place such an emphasis on OMG GET MARRIED as we do here. Many of my relatives in Sweden had kids before getting married (and not in an ‘oops, we’re pregnant’ kind of way). A lot of it is culture and what sort of things are emphasized as important; additionally, healthcare for families in that country is not contingent on being married. So I think in many ways, Nicole and Joel’s situation mirrors that. Financially, they don’t need to get married and, honestly, societal values are probably different within Hollywood culture than what the mainstream experiences. When you have people like Khloe and Lamar marrying in a big to-do after dating for a month, I can see how the value of marriage has been cheapened within that demographic — it’s seen more often as a big publicity stunt and complication (pre-nups!) than anything else. Looking at it in that context, I don’t blame the pair for wanting to avoid it for now in favor of just focusing on their family and growing their relationship.
GC is the best group of all time!