It seemed like the Bill Murray divorce was on the verge of getting super ugly. First, his wife Jennifer came out swinging, calling the actor an abusive, drug-addicted alcoholic. Then, Bill shot back the Jennifer was a drunk and a pill popper who wasn’t so nice to their kids. Just when things looked like they were going to escalate to something of Richards/Sheen proportions, the couple quietly settled their divorce.
A month after after his wife sued him for divorce in a shocking filing alleging abuse and infidelity, Bill Murray and Jennifer Butler Murray have worked out an agreement to end their marriage.
According to court documents dated June 13 and obtained by TMZ.com, Butler Murray, 42, has been granted primary custody of their four children and will keep the couple’s homes in Hemet, Calif. and Sullivan’s Island, S.C. Bill Murray, 57, must pay child support and will keep other property in California, New York and Massachusetts.
Bill Murray must also pay Jennifer a lump sum. The Murrays signed a prenuptial agreement in which Bill would pay his wife $7 million in a divorce, and, according to court documents, it is still valid.
In May, Butler Murray filed for divorce on the grounds of drug addiction, physical abuse, adultery and abandonment. She also requested a restraining order against her husband.
According to Butler Murray, she felt forced to move with their children to a new home as a result of the actor’s alcohol, marijuana and sex addictions, among other reasons. According to a newspaper report, the filing said that Murray once “hit his wife in the face and then told her she was ‘lucky he didn’t kill her.”
At the time, the actor’s lawyer, John McDougall, said only: “I can say that Bill Murray is deeply saddened by the break-up of his marriage to Jennifer. They remain loving parents, committed to the best interest of their children.”
Well, I don’t know what snapped them out of it, but I’m glad. With four kids to think about, these two were heading to a bad place, and once the name calling starts, it’s hard to take those things back. It looks like Jennifer is going to get a nice little settlement for herself and the children are going to be provided for- that’s really the best case scenario in a divorce, isn’t it? If the allegations are true about Bill, I hope he gets some help. I still think he’s a fantastic actor and hate to see him getting this kind of publicity.
On a side note, I’d also like to point out how easy it is to settle a divorce financially when there is a pre-nup involved. Too bad Paul McCartney didn’t take that advice.
I am so glad about this. I wanted to put my hands over my ears and do the lalalalala thing when this story broke as I love this guy and I didn’t want my love for him to be compromised. 😀 Good for them (and good for me and everyone else who feels the same about him!)
MSat. Pre-nups have no legal standing in the UK. The only way Paul McC could have stopped HM from getting at his cash would have been to club her over the head and bury her in his shed.
LOL, Geronimo. I read that last part as “bury her head in the shed” – which would be just as sick, and just as funny.
But good for Bill and Jennifer. I actually think the hate in celebrity divorces is directly proportional to how much money is at stake. Murray doesn’t have as much as, say, Paul McCartney. Thus, Murray’s divorce is less hate-filled.
One thing I do know about filing for divorce in SC- you have to live separately for one year before a divorce can be granted UNLESS one of the parties is abusive, addicted or has abondoned their spouse/family. Perhaps the allegations of abuse and addiction were exaggerated to move things along? Just speculating. I hate to think these allegations are true!
Like stringbean said, in SC the allegedlly abusive, etc person has to admit that they were at fault for the break-up of the marriage for it do be over & done with in less than a year. What I’m thinking is that they have worked out a temporary agreement to become permenant after the year. I can’t imagine that Bill would admit to any of that & if he did, it would be all freaking over the news.
stringbean, are you from SC?
how did they get this finalized so fast? my divorce took six freaking months – and that was due to calif law not because we didn’t have an agreement. i should have gotten divorced in sc!
Burying JUST her head in the shed is actually funnier, Kaiser/Hipp!
I like your thinking here, stringbean and bodhi.
Everyone always says ‘shame they didn’t have a prenup’ about Macca and Mucca but the reality is, in the UK prenups are NOT legally binding, so spread the word peeps cos with divorce being the ‘in thing’ at the mome, it’s getting annoying.
Who doesn’t like Bill Murray !!! He deserves to have time away from home and family. He’s the breadwinner. You know B-R-E-A-D-W-I-N-N-E-R. So much is taken for granted by women in the area of finances and she surely isn’t one to let it pass her by, only she must be a bit worn after four children. She did it as her way of saying I’m going to bury me some roots as deep down as they can go. The security and the “I’m married to Bill Murray” fantasy overwhelmed her. I would say they both could use some professional help, at her expense.