When Billy Bob Thornton and Angelina Jolie got married in 1999, no one saw it coming. This strange couple was 20 years apart in age and were both seeing other people at the same time, which made things even more interesting.
One person who was shocked was Laura Dern, an actor who is engaged to Billy Bob. Everyone, including Laura, found out about her partner’s wedding to Angelina at the same time. This threw their relationship plans for a loop.
Billy Bob and Laura started dating in 1997, not long after Laura broke up with Jeff Goldblum and while Billy Bob was still going through a divorce from his fourth wife, Pietra Dawn Cherniak. When Billy Bob met Angelina on the set of Pushing Tin in 1999, they had been together for two years, were engaged, and were getting ready to get married.
Their short-lived relationship ended with an unexpected wedding in Las Vegas in May 2000, which caught Laura by surprise. Laura talked about how quickly things changed: “I left our house to work on a movie. While I was gone, my boyfriend got married, and I haven’t heard from him since.” She felt suddenly lost and confused, and there was no way to get over what happened.
Even though Billy Bob has never said he did anything wrong, he did say he was sorry in an interview in 2001: “Others may say that you left our girl and married someone else.” But it was good for me and someone else. It’s my regret that it hurt.
In an odd turn of events, Laura and Angelina had known each other before. Angelina and Laura were both kids when Laura babysat them. Bruce Dern and Jon Voight were friends, and Laura remembered watching Angelina when she was two years old and she was eight years old. The whole thing was even more surprising because of this link.
Melissa Etheridge, Laura’s friend, was there for her after the breakup and even helped her move out of the house she shared with Billy Bob. Melissa told Laura Dern, “I was there when Angelina wasn’t being nice to her with Billy Bob.” I had to go through that for myself and then to understand Jennifer and Brad’s point of view. I helped Laura and Billy Bob move out of their house. It was so gross that I broke in to get their stuff.
At some point, everyone moved on with their lives. Laura later got married to Ben Harper and has since been tied to Baron Davis, who used to play basketball in the NBA. But Billy Bob got divorced from Angelina in 2002 and chose not to date famous people because he wanted to protect his privacy. He found happiness with a performer and married her in 2014. He wanted a less busy life.
How do you feel about this strange event? Write in the comments!
