‘Wednesday’ Star Catherine Zeta-Jones (57) Steps Out in New York Days After Michael Douglas’ Memoir Bombshells
Few Hollywood marriages have drawn as much curiosity as the one between Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas. They met at a film festival in Deauville, France, in 1998, when he was 53 and she was 28, and they married in 2000. Skeptics doubted the pair would last because of the age gap, yet they celebrated 25 years of marriage last year.
Their story hasn’t always been smooth. They briefly separated in August 2013 before reconciling a year later, and they share 2 children, Dylan and Carys. Now Douglas has told his side of the story in a memoir called ‘One Helluva Ride’, published on October 6.
Just 2 days after the book hit shelves, Zeta-Jones was photographed out in New York on Thursday, October 8, in what appears to be her first public sighting since its release. The 57-year-old strolled through Manhattan in a sheer black knit top, glossy leather leggings and pointed black heels, finishing the look with sunglasses and a black quilted handbag. She seemed relaxed and unbothered, despite the confessions in her husband’s tell-all.
The outing coincided with a busy promotional run for her new series ‘Kill Jackie’. She also appeared on ‘Today‘ the same day, where host Willie Geist, who had interviewed Douglas the day before, asked her about the memoir.
Zeta-Jones confirmed that she hasn’t read the book yet. As much as she loves her husband, she explained on ‘Today’ that when she’s tired at night she has “no intention of reading about him.” She added that everyone else should read it.
She also laid out how packed her schedule has been. She had just finished season 3 of ‘Wednesday’ after 7 months of filming in Dublin, then flew to London for ‘Kill Jackie’ promotion and went on to Bilbao, Spain. She teased that fans should hold onto their cowboy hats when they read the memoir.
Geist revealed that Douglas had admitted his wife hadn’t read it. When he mentioned that Douglas had been nervous about how she would react, she laughed and said he had caught her in a good mood.
Her stance softened a little later. On ‘The View’, she said she might read it after all. Co-host Ana Navarro said the chapter about the couple’s first meeting brought tears to her eyes, and Zeta-Jones joked that maybe she should read it when she gets home. She had also told Page Six earlier in the week that she was in the midst of reading it.
The book is a candid look at Douglas’ life, including his relationships before Zeta-Jones. He writes about affairs with Kathleen Turner and Jeanne Tripplehorn while he was married to his first wife, Diandra Luker. He also reveals that he was seeing 5 other women in different cities when he met Zeta-Jones.
According to Douglas, Zeta-Jones made it clear that she would only be monogamous. He says there was nothing physical between them for 9 months, and that he eventually phoned each of the other women one by one to end things. Zeta-Jones has confirmed one romantic detail from the book: that Douglas told her at their first meeting that he would one day be the father of her children.
‘One Helluva Ride’ traces Douglas’ journey from his childhood as the son of Kirk Douglas through 6 decades in Hollywood. It also covers drug use, rehab and his fight against stage IV cancer. The publisher added 80 never-before-seen photos at the last minute, and the book underwent lengthy legal vetting in both the United States and England.
Douglas told The Sunday Times that Zeta-Jones hadn’t been given early access to the manuscript. That helps explain her playful reaction on ‘Today’, and it adds a layer of humor to a book that is anything but quiet.
For now, Zeta-Jones seems content to keep a sense of humor about the whole thing while she promotes her own work. Whether she finishes the book soon or not, her appearance in New York showed that the couple’s public image remains as strong as ever.
Are you curious to read Michael Douglas’ memoir, One Helluva Ride?
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