Last week, Jennifer Flavin filed for divorce from Sylvester Stallone. They’ve been married 25 years and the vibe was that something shifted very recently. Maybe it was their three daughters being all grown up (with their own reality show, which is filming now). Maybe it was as Flavin noted in her filing, a money issue and a spending issue. What struck me was how sort of mundane the divorce story really is though? I mean, it’s surprising because they’ve been together for 25 years and they seemed to be close as a family. But the whole thing doesn’t feel scandalous? Not scandalous enough for a People Magazine cover, really. But I sometimes forget that People’s core audience is a lot older. Some highlights from the cover story:
Different temperaments: Behind their smiles and happy statements, trouble lurked. Stallone, 76, and Flavin, 54, “are very different people, age-wise and in temperament,” according to a Hollywood source who has spent time with the couple. “What was once exciting and challenging is now routine and irritating.”
He doesn’t check in with her: His apparent impetuousness could be a problem, a Flavin source tells PEOPLE. “He tends to do things on a whim without asking her before,” says the source. Indeed, Stallone admitted to TMZ he and Flavin had butted heads over his new Rottweiler, Dwight, but denied the dog was the root cause of their split. Nevertheless, adds the Hollywood source, “disagreements on little things add up after so many years together.” That echoes what another source previously told PEOPLE: “It really wasn’t just one issue that made her file for divorce. They have had lots of issues for years and she just had enough.”
The fight about money: In her divorce filing, Flavin claimed “intentional dissipation” of marital assets, as PEOPLE previously reported. Under Florida law, that can include such things as excessive spending, gambling, gift-giving or unnecessary borrowing by a spouse around the time of a split. Flavin is asking that Stallone be prohibited from selling or spending their assets during divorce proceedings, and is also requesting sole use of their $35 million Palm Beach home. But Stallone is fighting Flavin’s claim. His legal team responded to her divorce filing Aug. 29, stating in court documents that the actor “has not engaged in any conduct which constitutes intentional dissipation, depletion and/or waste of marital assets.” He is also contesting her sole use of the house.
After 25 years, I suspect she was just tired of him. Like these sources say, little grudges and petty arguments build up over time, especially when one party or both parties do nothing to change or moderate their annoying behavior. I do wonder if the Rottweiler was the straw that broke the camel’s back – Stallone reportedly got the dog without asking Flavin, and he just expected to dump the dog on her as “protection” while he was off filming in another state. Is that a divorce-able offense? Not really, but I could see how it could be the last thing in a string of incidents.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, cover courtesy of People.
The cynic in me makes me wonder if this isn’t just drama for the reality show! I mean who was going to watch that otherwise? I can’t imagine most people, especially young people would be interested in them!
I can’t believe a dog could be the straw that broke the camel’s back and not him dumping her at the drop of a hat when another woman comes along or his years of cheating on her.
How low does your self-esteem have to be to put up with that for 25 years and then leave because of a dog, although the tattoo that’s another story.
So on one hand I get that in middle age people start really reassessing their priorities and values. My spouse and I are currently undergoing that ourselves. From what my outsider eyes can see, I think Jennifer hit that point too. I can’t imagine Sly was ever easy to live with and her career really took a backseat for his.
At the same time wasn’t Sly saying 6 months ago that he’d be lost without Jennifer? So I really wonder what changed for him in that time?
I don’t think anything probably changed for him, I think he still wants to be married to her and for her to take care of him, but she got tired of it and filed. Sometimes it’s like a switch flips and you’ve had enough and there is no going back. She’s still got a couple of decades of good health left (probably) and her kids are grown, I can see her deciding she was done and that being that.
Their age difference could be an issue too. At 76, he may be having problematic age-related personality changes despite his plastic surgeries & other efforts (mostly failed) to appear “youthful.” Note to Sly: that ship sailed long ago.
The article brings up the age difference right at the beginning. Maybe it was glamorous and exciting when he was 51 and she was 29, but now he’s pushing 80 and that’s not quite so glamorous. I know a couple of women who decided to divorce before they went from exasperated wife to resentful nurse maid.
I’ve been married almost 27 years to a pretty great guy, and we’ve wanted to throw in the towel several times. Whenever someone marvels at how someone could get divorced after such a long relationship, I always say, “I get it. Jennifer woke up one morning and thought, ‘not one more day of this guy’s bull$h!t.” Every woman I’ve ever known who has left their spouse has a moment when they absolutely knew they were done. He’s trash and she’s over it. The end.
Thank you Rachel. I will have been married 30 years in September and my husband is way better than many. However, there were times when I could have walked away (I’m sure it has been the same for him). “I get it.” My husband is 9 years older and even now sometimes I want to go out to a movie or dinner and he does not. Sometimes those little things just grate on you. The trick is not to want to divorce at the same time. JMO. Otherwise, happily married.
I’m her age and going through menopause changes you. At least for me, my tolerance for putting up with crap went waaaaaaay down. I imagine him to be very high-maintenance and she was probably just fed up.
One of my gossip websites says it’s because he got somebody (possibly one of his daughter’s friends) pregnant.
I don’t like the idea of divorceable and non-divorceable offences, especially while a bunch of right wing loonies control too much of this country. One should not be able to abdicate responsibilities, to children, but one should have the right to leave a relationship with another adult for any reason. I have a friend who has spent 20 years in a miserable relationship, and part of her logic seems to be she is technically capable of enduring the misery so she can’t end it.
He’s been a notorious cheater for ages. I’m surprised she didn’t dump his ass many years ago. I think there must have been a “straw that broke the camel’s back” moment where she thought wait, my kids are grown up, on their own, I’ve been successful in my own right, I’m not going to put up with this crap a minute longer.