<ul class="summary-list"><li>Screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick tell BI secrets and spoilers from "Deadpool &amp; Wolverine."</li><li>Chris Evans contributed to writing the profanity-laced Johnny Storm scene in the end credits.</li></ul><p><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/deadpool-wolverine-details-references-easter-eggs-explained-2024-7">"Deadpool &amp; Wolverine"</a> marks the third time screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick have teamed with Ryan Reynolds to pen an outlandish and foul-mouthed script for a Deadpool movie.</p><p>Though every movie in the franchise has had its challenges, Reese and Wernick admit this one had the most twists and turns. First, they weren't the original screenwriters. Wendy and Lizzie Molyneux ("Bob's Burgers") took a first stab, but when Marvel wanted to go another direction, Reynolds called his mates.</p><p>With Deadpool now a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe after Disney bought Fox — the studio that owned the franchise — Reese, Wernick, and Reynolds (Zeb Wells and director Shawn Levy also have screenwriting credits on the movie) had an embarrassment of riches at their disposal for a third movie. But while that led to a wealth of ideas, there were precious few they all felt could be turned into a full movie.</p><div type="image" title="Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese in suits" height="1800" width="2400" msid="112411945" hostid="261" sizebytes="365472"></div><p>"We were a little paralyzed because Marvel made their entire universe our oyster, and we just couldn't figure out what we wanted to do," Reese said. "It had been four or five months. We had different stories, but we felt we were chasing our tail."</p><p>To add more pressure, with a writers' strike on the horizon, they began considering if it made more sense to pause the project until the labor dispute ended. But then Reynolds informed the team that Hugh Jackman had agreed to return to play Wolverine.</p><p>"Once Hugh came onboard the movie kind of wrote itself," Wernick said. Now there was a path.</p><p>"It has to be a buddy movie; it has to be a two-hander. We didn't want to use Logan because we were worried that we would dishonor his perfect ending, so then we knew we had to use a variant, so that brought in that whole idea," Reese said. "Things rapidly fell together. I think once we made those decisions, I think within about a week, we had an outline."</p><p>The result is another box office smash in the "Deadpool" franchise. The movie took in $211 million domestically its opening weekend, beating the first "Deadpool" to become the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/r-rated-movies-opening-weekend-highest-grossing">biggest opening ever for an R-rated movie</a>. After passing the $500 million mark worldwide before even entering its second weekend in theaters, the movie is destined to be a $1 billion earner.</p><p>Below, Business Insider chatted with Reese and Wernick about some of the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/deadpool-and-wolverine-cameos-celebrities-appearances-2024-7">biggest spoilers</a> and secrets in "Deadpool &amp; Wolverine."</p><h2 id="9b2df319-8a96-4072-8c69-f3f7a37e08a0">Ryan Reynolds did some of those *NSYNC moves in the "Bye Bye Bye" opening sequence.</h2><div type="image" title="Deadpool and a TVA soldier in &quot;Deadpool &amp; Wolverine.&quot;" height="1000" width="2406" msid="112411942" hostid="261" sizebytes="68408"></div><p>In the movie's opening, Deadpool slaughters a group of Time Variance Authority officers using the bones of Wolverine from the "Logan" movie while doing the full choreography from the hit *NSYNC 2000 single "Bye Bye Bye." </p><p>Though Reynolds has gone on record praising the talents of dancer Nick Pauley, who did <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/deadpool-wolverine-nsync-bye-bye-bye-dance-scene-ryan-reynolds-2024-7">most of the dancing in the scene</a>, Wernick said there are some shots of Reynolds in the suit doing the moves.</p><p>"I think he did some," he said. "But I've seen Ryan dance, he does not dance as well as that dancer."</p><h2 id="c0c9fa4d-4b52-4642-aa9e-088e1bcfb8f4">An outline of how Marvel characters Johnny Storm, Elektra, Blade, and Gambit would fit in the movie was developed before asks went out to the actors.</h2><div type="image" title="Deadpool and Wolverine cast side-by-side" height="2616" width="3925" msid="112411944" hostid="261" sizebytes="513692"></div><p>One of the highlights of the movie is seeing Marvel characters pre-MCU get a final moment to shine.</p><p>When traveling through the Void, Deadpool and Wolverine come across Fantastic Four member Johnny Storm (aka Human Torch). He has a sudden demise, though he gets a glorious epilogue in the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/deadpool-and-wolverine-end-credits-scene-explained-2024-7">end-credits scene</a> (more on that in a minute). But that turns out to be just an appetizer, as later in the movie, our heroes get help back to Earth from Elektra (Jennifer Garner), Blade (Wesley Snipes), and Gambit (Channing Tatum).</p><p>Reese said before asks went out to the actors, they put together an outline of how the characters would fit into the movie.</p><p>"It definitely starts from story; we come up with the idea up front and then approach the actor," he said. They wait to fully write the scenes, though — that way, they don't waste time on them if an actor turns down the invitation to appear.</p><p>Thankfully, Reese said convincing actors hasn't been too difficult. "We do have the luxury of a pretty easy incoming call to make to an actor: 'Do you want to be in 'Deadpool'?"</p><p>The screenwriters had particular fun developing Gambit, as Tatum's hopes of playing the character onscreen were seemingly dashed when the project was <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/channing-tatum-marvel-movies-gambit-scrapped-2022-2">scrapped after the Disney/Fox merger</a>.</p><p>"We've read at least <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/channing-tatum-deadpool-and-wolverine-gambit-movie-2024-8">two Gambit movies</a>," Wernick said. "Channing has been trying to push that ball up the hill as long as we've probably been trying to push Deadpool up the hill. Hopefully, this will allow him the opportunity to get his own movie. We just told Channing over at Comic Con we want to be the guys to write it." </p><h2 id="5c3cccbb-aa14-4a19-a243-27edf8bfe07b">Chris Evans signed onto the movie largely because of the profanity-laced end-credits scene, which he cowrote with Reynolds.</h2><div type="image" title="Chris Evans attends New York Comic Con on October 14, 2023." height="3264" width="4900" msid="112411949" hostid="261" sizebytes="290670"></div><p>Now back to Evans. According to the screenwriters, what really got Evans excited about his appearance in the movie wasn't so much about playing Johnny Storm again (he played the character in the early 2000s "Fantastic Four" movies released by Fox) as it was about getting to go on a profanity-laced tirade in the end-credits scene.</p><p>In the movie, Storm dies at the hands of Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin) after Deadpool tells her the names Storm called her on their ride to her fortress. The audience never sees Storm say those things, so it's easy to believe Deadpool is lying.</p><p>The end-credits scene proves Deadpool was telling the truth. Using a tool from the TVA, Deadpool shows the audience footage inside the transport that sent Wolverine, Deadpool, and Storm to Nova, which includes Storm going on a full rant against Nova.</p><p>"That was Ryan's idea and it was so great because I think it was really the reason Chris was willing to do the cameo," Reese said. "Ryan wrote the stream of angry insults, and Chris pitched in a little bit."</p><p>"I think it was just a way for him to do something that he's never been able to do in a Marvel movie," Wernick added.</p><h2 id="185b9f7c-1817-4e60-982a-c2f3cdcf12b3">Reynolds came up with the Hugh Jackman divorce joke.</h2><div type="image" title="Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool/Wade Wilson and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine/Logan in &quot;Deadpool &amp; Wolverine.&quot;" height="2000" width="3000" msid="112411946" hostid="261" sizebytes="495968"></div><p>Deadpool loves to get under people's skin, and that includes spouting snarky one-liners. One of his most brutal ones is directed at Wolverine: "He's usually shirtless, but he's let himself go since the divorce." It's a cheeky reference to Hugh Jackman's <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hugh-jackman-wife-deborra-lee-furness-relationship-timeline-split-2023-9">separation from his wife of 27 years, Deborra-Lee Furness</a>.</p><p>Reese and Wernick want to make it clear that they don't know Jackman well enough to write a joke like that.</p><p>"That was not ours," Reese said. "We would never have presumed to write that line in a million years. That line comes as a function of Ryan and Hugh's relationship and their comfort level."</p><p>This isn't the first time a movie they wrote features a revealing line that they didn't write themselves.</p><p>In the 2009 movie "Zombieland," after Bill Murray is shot, he's asked if he has any regrets, and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://youtu.be/1-2QNo07Dj8?si=JzcXj9w061cHpU8V&amp;t=429">he responds: "'Garfield,' maybe,"</a> referring to his role voicing the character in the 2004 box office bust. It turns out that was an improvised response.</p><p>"Bill Murray himself made fun of 'Garfield' when he improvised a reaction to a line we wrote for him," Reese said. "We would have never presumed to do that — he did it. It's all about the person's comfort level and being willing to make fun of their own predicament and their own lives."</p><h2 id="0d73f5bb-0765-4a2b-b0ad-5542ab5dfe67">Reynolds originally wanted Deadpool to fight zombies and Marvel villain Mephisto.</h2><div type="image" title="Lady Deadpool in &quot;Deadpool &amp; Wolverine.&quot;" height="1000" width="2427" msid="112411941" hostid="261" sizebytes="30278"></div><p>A major moment in the movie is the final fight sequence, when Deadpool and Wolverine face off against all the Deadpool variants who were in the Void, including Ladypool (voiced by <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-plays-ladypool-deadpool-and-wolverine-cameo-blake-lively-2024-7">Reynolds' wife, Blake Lively</a>).</p><p>As Madonna's "Like a Prayer" plays, Deadpool and Wolverine battle the seemingly endless onslaught of Deadpool variants in a long single shot, which is known in Hollywood as a "oner."</p><p>The screenwriters said this sequence has been in Reynolds' mind for years.</p><p>"When he picked up the phone for the first time on 'Deadpool 3' to reach out to us, I think it was late 2021, his original vision was zombies, that it was Deadpool in a oner battling zombies," Reese said.</p><p>Also? The fight would take place in Hell.</p><p>"We had a fair amount of versions where it was like Deadpool goes to Hell, where this character <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.marvel.com/characters/mephisto">Mephisto</a> was our villain," said Reese, referring to a character from the Marvel comics who oversees a version of Hell. "He would be fighting through these hellish demons to 'Like a Prayer.'"</p><p>The Mephisto plot was eventually scrapped, but Reynolds' quest to do a oner to "Like a Prayer" lived on.</p><p>"That was something living in his head," Wernick said. "God bless him, he got it."</p>

'Deadpool & Wolverine' screenwriters reveal secrets and spoilers, including the movie's original villain and who wrote that Hugh Jackman divorce joke

Los Angeles, Actor <keyword id="36288" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="hugh-jackman" source="Orion">Hugh Jackman</keyword> has announced separation from his wife, fellow actress <keyword id="74630" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="deborra-lee-furness" source="Orion">Deborra-Lee Furness</keyword> after 27 years of marriage. The Australian couple is separating on amicable terms, however, saying that they feel blessed to have had a strong marriage which lasted for nearly 30 years.<br /><br />Speaking to <keyword id="23713" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="People-magazine" source="Orion">People magazine</keyword>, the Aussie couple said: "We have been blessed to share almost 3 decades together as husband and wife in a wonderful, loving marriage. Our journey now is shifting and we have decided to separate to pursue our individual growth."<br /><br />They continued: "Our family has been and always will be our highest priority. We undertake this next chapter with gratitude, love, and kindness. We greatly appreciate your understanding in respecting our privacy as our family navigates this transition in all of our lives."<br /><br />The statement, signed 'Deb and Hugh Jackman', concluded: "This is the sole statement either of us will make."<br /><br />The couple in their 27 years of marriage share two kids, Oscar, 23, and Ava, 18.<br /><br />The two actors first met in 1995 on the set of the Australian TV series 'Corelli', where they had an instant attraction to one another. Lee, who was already an established actress, and Jackman, who was back then an upstart actor fresh out of drama school, married less than a year later.<br /><br />"Deb, she was a big star...I got picked up, and Deb is in the front seat of the car. I'll never forget," Hugh Jackman told People in 2017 of their first meeting.<br /><br />"She took off her seatbelt and she turned around and put out her hand and took off her sunglasses and said: 'Hi, I'm Deborra-lee Furness, nice to meet you.' I remember thinking, 'I like this girl.'"<br /><br />The two wed on April 11, 1996, and over the years became one of Hollywood's most beloved couples. Deborra-Lee Furness is currently gearing up for her upcoming Australian mystery thriller film 'Force of Nature: The Dry 2' while Hugh Jackman will reprise his role as Wolverine in 'Deadpool 3'.<br />

Hugh Jackman, Deborra-Lee Furness announce separation after 27 years of marriage

<p class="drop-cap">In July, when Sofía Vergara and Joe Manganiello separated after seven years of marriage, my friend texted me with a link to an article about the breakup. "Love is dead," she wrote. My friend had recently ended a long-term relationship, and she was bereft over the once happy couple. She wasn't the only one. My social-media feed filled with similar declarations. Crying-face emojis. "Oh no! Not them, I thought they would make it."</p><p>For the fans, celebrities' lives function as a funhouse mirror. We see ourselves in them, except with better skin, hotter partners, and more money. Their clothes, baby names, and relationships become our aspirations. Because of the roles they play in culture-defining movies and shows, and the lives they display to us in magazines, celebrities are the stage managers of modern romance. And we project onto them all of our cultural and social anxieties. If Taylor Swift can find a supportive male partner, then maybe there is hope out there for the rest of us. But if Lisa Bonet can't make her marriage work, can we?</p><p>Hugh Jackman, Britney Spears, Kevin Costner, the prime ministers of Canada and Finland, and Reese Witherspoon are among the many, many high-profile couples who announced they would be <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/celebrity-couples-divorce-breakups-split-2023">ending their marriages this year</a>. It's not just celebrities: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.aarp.org/home-family/friends-family/info-2023/gray-divorce-trend.html">Divorce among boomers is skyrocketing</a>, and women of all ages <a target="_blank" href="https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2023/07/marriage-divorce-rates.html">are increasingly noping out of marriage altogether</a>.</p><p>2023 was the year of the divorce — the year of the breakup. The year of the undoing of love. Headlines speculate about what is happening. Perhaps <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/16/magazine/couples-therapy-orna-guralnik.html">relationships are changing</a>. We just <a target="_blank" href="https://slate.com/human-interest/2023/08/ariana-grande-justin-trudeau-sofia-vergara-divorce.html">survived COVID</a>. Do we <a target="_blank" href="https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/11/fleishman-is-in-trouble-review-relatable-elegy-for-being-young-and-fun">want more from life</a> now? Is Venus in retrograde?</p><p>The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/09/20/married-parents-ideal-children/">Washington Post</a><em> </em>editorial board, <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/BradWilcoxIFS/status/1705917576230936705?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1705921794266337402%7Ctwgr%5E90dac23cb193580c7eda39ef4613ec9ef35f0fa8%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdailycitizen.focusonthefamily.com%2Fthe-good-news-you-havent-heard-about-marriage-divorce-rate-hits-50-year-low%2F">Brad Wilcox</a> of the right-leaning Institute for Family Studies, and the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/17/opinion/marriage-happiness-career.html">columnist David Brooks</a> made for a Greek chorus of panic and concern. Ross Douthat joined in, remarking in The New York Times that something was clearly going on, whatever the reason — and that the decline in marriage today was "the simplest possible explanation for declining happiness." <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/09/opinion/barbie-ken-ideology.html">Using Barbie and Ken as an analogy</a>, Douthat lamented: "For women maybe first, and for men too, eventually, less wedlock means more woe."</p><p>But we've been here before. A panic over the state of marriage and social order always follows a period of rapid social change. It's an exhausting cycle, which we repeat ad nauseam. Every historical push for political freedom has led to a push for personal freedom. As a result, there is a rise in divorces. And then, a panic over the decline of social order. And finally, freedom.</p><p>Right now, America is in the throes of backlash to historic pushes for equality. And we have the opportunity to rage against this social shift, or to further expand our definitions of freedom — making divorce more accessible and less taboo and, in the process, making us all a little happier.</p><hr /><p class="drop-cap">In 1866, newspapers and social chatter were still dominated by the Civil War, and the violent split of the country. That was, until Peter Strong filed for divorce from his wife Mary Strong. Mary was alleged to have had an affair with her brother-in-law, a widower turned Union war hero, Edward Strong. While being sued for divorce, Mary fled with one of the couple's daughters. The case tore apart the rarified world of wealth and class in New York City and revealed that behind the veneer of money and respectability lay the same old human errors of the heart, and other organs.</p><p>Newspapers reported on the case with lurid fascination. Society was still reeling from another high-profile divorce 10 years earlier: Catherine Walker sued her husband for divorce on the grounds he'd been unfaithful to her with prostitutes in debtors prison. Newspapers published daily court updates of the trial. Other high-profile divorces of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/1870/10/08/archives/the-bishop-divorce-case-new-counsel-for-the-plaintiff.html">that era were covered breathlessly</a> in the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/1870/07/29/archives/the-roux-divorce-case-postponement-of-the-trialinteresting.html">pages of The New York Times</a>. By 1887, the <a target="_blank" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=b17ff20644e26878c090725ac87ca210f4579b7586829c0d551bb1b23ba975e3&amp;postID=657738adf1dbb59a62a6496f&amp;postSlug=why-celebrities-are-getting-divorced-society-is-changing-2023-12&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers.com%2Farticle%2Fnew-york-daily-herald-divorce-in-america%2F136393724%2F">New York Herald</a> published a story that argued that marriage was society's most sacred link and that more than crime, the rise in divorce was a sign of American decline and "barbarism."</p><p>But despite the doomsaying, American society did not end or devolve into barbarism. America was, in fact, undergoing a seismic period of change that would start to make the nation more equitable for everyone. The American Civil War ushered in a push for equal rights under the law. Calls for emancipation and enfranchisement of enslaved people coincided with calls for the emancipation and enfranchisement of all women in society. And while the century ended with women still not receiving the right to vote, the push catalyzed a burgeoning feminist movement that included Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Ida B. Wells, and Mary Wollstonecraft.</p><p>"You can only say the sky is falling for so long before the sky actually has to fall," the historian April White told Business Insider in an interview. Translation: Panic about change usually indicates a brewing feeling that change should come.</p><p>White noted that every highly publicized celebrity divorce prompts a backlash that claims divorce is ruining society. But the conversation seems to always precede more freedoms for women.</p><p>Take Blanche Molineux, a New York socialite, whose story White chronicles in her 2022 book, "The Divorce Colony: How Women Revolutionized Marriage and Found Freedom on the American Frontier." Molineux obtained a divorce from her husband (a man who may or may not have killed her ex-lover) by traveling to North Dakota in 1902 and establishing residency for a quickie divorce. Quickie, in this sense, meant waiting 11 months.</p><p>"This moral panic in the 1890s ended up giving us greater access to divorce," White explained. "And so in this case, after Blanche Molineux's divorce, the newspapers were full of comments about how the family is crumbling, the nation is crumbling, we have to stop divorce. And then 20 years later, the family hasn't crumbled, the nation hasn't crumbled."</p><p>Molineux was perfectly fine, except for the fact that she was trapped in a marriage that made her deeply unhappy and fearful. And when you feel trapped and scared, it doesn't matter what laws or societal judgment stands in front of you; when you reach breaking point, you will do what you need to make a change — even if that means moving to North Dakota for almost a year. "All of the panic and all of the probation and all of the judgment had exactly the opposite effect these people were trying to accomplish," White explained.</p><hr /><p class="drop-cap">One hundred and fifteen years after Molineux got her divorce, I was in Wichita for my brother's wedding, while my 12-year marriage was falling apart. Unable to sleep after the ceremony, with my kids and husband up in the room, I sneaked downstairs to the lobby for free cookies. A news station was playing a late-night documentary about the life of Princess Diana.</p><p>I sat down and watched, and immediately began crying. The documentary detailed how Diana had to fight against centuries of tradition to divorce Prince Charles. It was corny, but crying, eating stale cookies, and watching images of Diana in her black revenge dress gave me a way to see myself out of my own marital mess.</p><p>For years, I had been quietly grappling with the imbalance in my relationship — his comfort and goals taking priority, and mine being deferred indefinitely. Surely, if Diana could take on the monarchy to get her freedom, I could take on a tight-knit evangelical family. And more important, watching her smiling in that black dress, I could see myself, on the other side of tragedy and finally happy.</p><p>That same year, the #MeToo movement, which started in 2006, reached a zenith, provoking a global conversation about gender and emotional labor. Why do husbands add <a target="_blank" href="https://news.umich.edu/exactly-how-much-housework-does-a-husband-create/">seven hours of domestic work a week to a woman's life</a>, per a recent study? Why do women do more of the cooking than <a target="_blank" href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/10/30/1209473449/worldwide-women-cook-twice-as-much-as-men-one-country-bucks-the-trend">their male partners, a gap that appeared to grow wider this year</a>? Almost <a target="_blank" href="https://www.aamft.org/Consumer_Updates/Domestic_Violence.aspx">20% of all marriages involve physical abuse</a>, and emotional abuse is far more pervasive, according to the AAMFT. <a target="_blank" href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-017-0939-z?fbclid=IwAR31q4Gy-NOYk-Irc6KUNJc5Cj1-ZAQQISuhnfrKm6OMDZJ-Io_5bPV-Wys">Married heterosexual women have historically not been happy with their sex lives</a>.</p><p>The cultural anxiety was, and remains, palpable. That movement culminated in the historic US midterms of 2018, bringing more female representation to all levels of government. And yet, many women who have talked to a heterosexual man in the past five years have probably heard some version of how since #MeToo, he can't flirt without being accused of sexual assault. Any spouse (especially one with kids) will remember when the pandemic began and this reality was laid bare: Mothers became our social safety net, taking over childcare and homeschooling often on top of their full-time jobs. Many fathers got really into making sourdough bread.</p><p>In sum, it makes sense for us to be in the grips of yet another panic in 2023, as we try to "get back to normal" while taking stock of these cultural shifts. And, as history has shown us, it's only natural that celebrities would <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-celebrity-divorces-work-lawyers-publicists-2023-12">model that new reality first</a>.</p><p>Celebrities are often a bellwether of cultural change because they have access to things that the average person does not. They are us, but with the money and the cultural power to test out a version of freedom that's withheld from the rest of us — or at least, that's what it feels like from our side of the screen. Whether it's a singer like Kelly Clarkson or a socialite like Mary Strong, their push for personal change becomes a fantasy for the rest of us. When Glennon Doyle Melton and Abby Wambach model a new kind of co-parenting, what they are demonstrating is not the breakdown of social order but another way to approach it. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kevin-costner-divorce-christine-baumgartner-yellowstone-2023-12">Kevin Costner</a>, on the other hand, modeled what not to do.</p><p>A few months after my tearful evening with cookies and a Diana documentary, I read Gwyneth Paltrow's essay on her "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.vogue.co.uk/arts-and-lifestyle/article/gwyneth-paltrow-conscious-uncoupling">Conscious Uncoupling</a>" from her then-husband, Chris Martin. It showed me how divorce didn't have to be combative, that there were other ways to break, and that it didn't have to end my world, and I could fight for my freedom.</p><hr /><p class="drop-cap">This divorce news cycle is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.thecut.com/article/why-is-everyone-so-eager-for-men-and-women-to-get-married.html">being weaponized in a Republican push to ban no-fault divorces</a> and promote marriage at all costs. Conservative commentators worry that divorce is becoming trendy. There is research that suggests divorce is catching. When one couple gets divorced, it can have a ripple <a target="_blank" href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2013/10/21/is-divorce-contagious/#:~:text=The%20findings%20suggest%20that%20the,over%20the%20overall%20divorce%20rate.">effect throughout their community</a>, with other couples following. But that study shouldn't incite panic. In fact, it should inspire the opposite reaction.</p><p>Forcing women into institutions and relationships that don't serve them doesn't lead to longer or healthier relationships. The research shows just the opposite. A 2019 study by the US Census Bureau found that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2019/12/the-upside-of-divorce.html">liberal divorce laws had led to better gender equality and stronger marriages</a>. The study said that in countries where divorce laws were more liberal, the actual number of marriages were at least 9% higher. Suicides among women was lower by 8% to 16%. And rates of domestic violence were lower by about 30%. Additionally, in places with liberal divorce laws, women were 7% more likely to have jobs outside the home. And that's just the beginning: Other research suggests that laws that make divorce easier to access improve the welfare of even couples that choose to stay married.</p><p>It's hard to study the impacts of divorce law on societies, because relationships are subject to the vast array of human faults and desires. But writing in a study of Chile's divorce laws, Misty Heggeness, an associate research scientist at the University of Kansas Institute for Policy and Social Research, found that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304387818317474?via%3Dihub">implementing pro-homemaker divorce laws increased school enrollment anywhere from 3.4 to 5.5 percentage points</a>. She also found that the faster divorce was available, the less likely the children in the family were to drop out of school. A 2005 study out of Australia found that there was no social, emotional, or academic difference between teens 17-18 who came from divorced households and those who didn't. To explain this phenomenon, <a target="_blank" href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15819644/">researchers pointed to Australia's strong social safety net and enforcement of child support</a>.</p><p>Basically, despite the pearl-grabbing and hand-wringing over divorce in America, what studies find is that when we are free to choose — to stay or to go — our lives all get just a little bit better. In any case, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2023/07/marriage-divorce-rates.html">divorce rates in America are actually at an all-time low</a> because more and more people are opting out of marriage. The marriages that do happen seem to be lasting longer. Turns out, when people are empowered to enter relationships not out of financial benefit and social coercion, they end up stronger.</p><p>We are in a time of social recalibration, so it's no wonder the many, many celebrity breakups this year have become something of a fascination for us. But what if we didn't try to stuff ourselves back into traditional systems pre-COVID, pre-#MeToo, that rely on women as the social safety net? What if we used this time of breaking to find new ways to imagine our relationships and to support families?</p><p>If there is one thing history has taught us, it's that, as Blanche Molineux once said, women desire "freedom above all else in the world" and are "justified in seeking it."</p><p><strong><em>Read more about the year of celebrity divorce:</em></strong></p><ul><li><p><a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-celebrity-divorces-work-lawyers-publicists-2023-12">Divorce sucks. For rich and famous celebrities, it's even worse.</a></p></li><li><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kevin-costner-divorce-christine-baumgartner-yellowstone-2023-12">Kevin Costner's divorce is so messy that it's worthy of its own TV series</a></p></li></ul>

The divorce wave reflects major shifts in how we live

<ul class="summary-list"><li>"Deadpool &amp; Wolverine" leaves the door open for more adventures with Ryan Reynolds' antihero.</li><li>The actor previously joked that he'd only make "Deadpool 4" if he's "capital B broke."</li></ul><p><em>Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Deadpool &amp; Wolverine."</em></p><p>"<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/deadpool-and-wolverine-cameos-celebrities-appearances-2024-7">Deadpool &amp; Wolverine</a>" finally brings Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) and Logan (Hugh Jackman) together in a violent adventure across the multiverse that leaves the door open for future appearances from the actors, like a potential "Deadpool 4."</p><p>The movie sees Wilson search for an "anchor being" whose mere existence would save his universe from dying. His search brings him to a washed-up version of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hugh-jackman-wolverine-deadpool-3-8000-calories-bulk-up-2023-3">Wolverine</a> in an alternate timeline who struggles with his grief after the death of the X-Men, the famous team of mutants.</p><p>By the end of the film, both heroes are left in a place where they could return for future projects in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.</p><p>Here's what we know about the chances of "Deadpool 4."</p><h2 id="bbdc2b11-f6c3-41e8-8a1e-8dce94e9cb81"><strong>Ryan Reynolds joked that "Deadpool 4" won't happen</strong></h2><div type="image" title="Ryan Reynolds at the world premiere of &quot;Deadpool &amp; Wolverine&quot; in July 2024." height="2331" width="3500" msid="112051013" hostid="261" sizebytes="266682"></div><p>Reynolds touched on the possibility of "Deadpool 4" when appearing on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" on Tuesday. He explained that <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/blake-lively-and-ryan-reynolds-relationship-timeline-2019-5">his family</a> wouldn't be happy if he jumped into another sequel so soon after "Deadpool &amp; Wolverine."</p><p>"My wife and children will divorce me. I have no prenup with any of them. I will be capital 'B' broke and in turn, probably doing 'Deadpool 4' 'cause I'd need the money," he said.</p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jhs9cxFfRtE?si=E-snkFiwSTOJTr0B" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0"></iframe><p>Although it sounds like he's completely ruling out "Deadpool 4," the actor is known for being incredibly playful during press tours, and he hasn't confirmed that he's saying goodbye to the role for good.</p><p>Plus, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-is-wolverine-alive-hugh-jackman-return-deadpool-logan-death-2024-7">Jackman famously left Wolverine behind</a> after 2017's "Logan" — and look how that turned out.</p><p>If "Deadpool &amp; Wolverine" does well at the box office — and the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/deadpool-wolverine-box-office-record-r-rated-previews-1235958901/">opening weekend numbers</a> are looking good — it surely won't be long before Marvel offers to dump a truckload of cash at Reynolds' door for him to reprise his role in the future.</p><h2 id="8b5c3755-c846-4d9b-8188-35b44d95279f">The door is seemingly open for "Deadpool 4" and beyond</h2><div type="image" title="Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine and Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson/Deadpool in &quot;Deadpool &amp; Wolverine.&quot;" height="2000" width="3000" msid="112051012" hostid="261" sizebytes="250612"></div><p id="8b5c3755-c846-4d9b-8188-35b44d95279f">At the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/deadpool-and-wolverine-end-credits-scene-explained-2024-7">end of "Deadpool &amp; Wolverine,"</a> the two heroes finally stop squabbling long enough to band together and prevent Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin) from wiping out the multiverse with Paradox's (Matthew Macfadyen) time-ripper machine.</p><p>It's an act of selflessness that impresses Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) and the Time Variance Authority, and they decide to let Wolverine stay in Deadpool's universe.</p><p>In the film's happy finale, Deadpool even patches things up with his ex-girlfriend, Vanessa (Morena Baccarin).</p><p>This means that there's a clean slate for "Deadpool 4," should Reynolds and Marvel Studios find the right story to tell going forward. If not, there are other golden opportunities for the foul-mouthed hero to show up elsewhere.</p><p>Earlier in July, it was widely reported by multiple outlets that the Russo brothers, MCU veterans, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russo-brothers-return-to-marvel-avengers-superhero-fatigue-2024-7">are in talks to return to Marvel to direct "Avengers 5"</a> for a 2026 release date, and "Avengers: Secret Wars," expected in 2027. The latter takes its name from a multiverse crossover event in the comics.</p><p>These back-to-back movies would be the perfect time for Deadpool to crossover with all the other MCU heroes. Plus, it would be the ultimate payoff for the opening scene in "Deadpool &amp; Wolverine," where Wilson unsuccessfully applies to join the Avengers. Only time will tell.</p>

Ryan Reynolds says he'll only make 'Deadpool 4' if he's 'capital B broke.' Here's what to know about a potential fourth film.

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c38e2972ab31e702f15efb6-1677/9345755851a086748ad2k.jpg" border="0" alt="patrick whitesell" data-mce-source="Flickr/Fortune Live Media/Creative Commons" data-link="https://www.flickr.com/photos/fortunelivemedia/9345755851/in/photolist-ff6zwm-ff6VBG-feRy7X-feRDkM-ff6xgG-ff6Xs9-feRFNT-ff6G6Y-ff6EnE-feRAmM-ff6Sgw-feRsDv-feRvSZ-ff6MW3-HPCbqu-feRoFV-ff6TQC-ff6LUs-feRo42-ff6QfU-feRrBz-feRtaz-ff72Aj-feRJbB-ff6Moy-ff77qs-feRmZX-feRMmt-feRMZR-ff73WU-ff6P97-feRr1v-feRKjn-ff6HcW-feRj5n-ff6PEs-ff6ZVW-axs6GZ-ff71vQ-ff6GHy-feRfUt-ff6yk3" /><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/fortunelivemedia/9345755851/in/photolist-ff6zwm-ff6VBG-feRy7X-feRDkM-ff6xgG-ff6Xs9-feRFNT-ff6G6Y-ff6EnE-feRAmM-ff6Sgw-feRsDv-feRvSZ-ff6MW3-HPCbqu-feRoFV-ff6TQC-ff6LUs-feRo42-ff6QfU-feRrBz-feRtaz-ff72Aj-feRJbB-ff6Moy-ff77qs-feRmZX-feRMmt-feRMZR-ff73WU-ff6P97-feRr1v-feRKjn-ff6HcW-feRj5n-ff6PEs-ff6ZVW-axs6GZ-ff71vQ-ff6GHy-feRfUt-ff6yk3">Flickr/Fortune Live Media/Creative Commons</a></span></p><p class="caption">Patrick Whitesell is one of Hollywood's top talent agents.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>Patrick Whitesell is a co-CEO of <a href="http://wmeentertainment.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WME, a talent agency</a> that represents some of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/hollywood" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hollywood's</a> biggest <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/celebrities" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stars</a>.</li><li>His wife, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-lauren-sanchez-the-ex-tv-anchor-reportedly-dating-jeff-bezos-2019-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ex-TV anchor and pilot Lauren Sanchez</a>, is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-reportedly-dating-former-tv-anchor-lauren-sanchez-2019-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly dating Jeff Bezos</a>, who announced his divorce from his wife, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mackenzie-bezos-could-be-richest-woman-after-divorce-jeff-bezos-2019-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MacKenzie</a>, on Wednesday. </li><li><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/janeroberts/2015/08/19/hollywood-power-brokers-to-watch/#468a3d53d15f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Whitesell is worth an estimated $440 million</a> and represents actors, musicians, and comedians that include <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/matt-damon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Matt Damon</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/tina-fey" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tina Fey</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/hugh-jackman" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hugh Jackman</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/jake-gyllenhaal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jake Gyllenhaal</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/john-krasinski" target="_blank" rel="noopener">John Krasinski</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/whoopi-goldberg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Whoopi Goldberg</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/conan-obrien" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Conan O'Brien</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/adele" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adele</a>, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/childish-gambino" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Childish Gambino</a>.</li></ul><p> </p><p>As co-CEO of talent agency WME, Patrick Whitesell is one of Hollywood's top power players. </p><p>Along with his co-CEO, Ari Emanuel, Whitesell represents actors, musicians, and comedians that include Michelle Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jude Law, John Krasinski, Whoopi Goldberg, Conan O'Brien, and Amy Schumer.</p><p>Whitesell has been married to ex-TV anchor and pilot <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/lauren-sanchez" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lauren Sanchez</a> since 2005, but they reportedly separated in the fall of 2018. Sanchez is now reportedly dating Amazon CEO and world's richest person <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/jeff-bezos" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jeff Bezos</a>, who announced his divorce from his wife, MacKenzie, on Wednesday. </p><p>Here's a look at Whitesell's life and career.</p>

Meet Patrick Whitesell, the high-power Hollywood agent whose wife is reportedly dating Jeff Bezos

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c36811e630d9b2593146269-2400/gettyimages-627666862.jpg" border="0" alt="lauren sanchez jeff bezos patrick whitesell" data-mce-source="Todd Williamson/Getty Images for Amazon Studios" data-mce-caption="WME's Patrick Whitesell, Lauren Sanchez and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos attend Jeff Bezos and Matt Damon's 'Manchester By The Sea' Holiday Party on December 3, 2016 in Los Angeles, California." /><p class="source"><span>Todd Williamson/Getty Images for Amazon Studios</span></p><p class="caption">WME's Patrick Whitesell, Lauren Sanchez and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos attend Jeff Bezos and Matt Damon's 'Manchester By The Sea' Holiday Party on December 3, 2016 in Los Angeles, California.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is reportedly dating entrepreneur and former TV anchor Lauren Sanchez.</strong></li><li><strong>Earlier on Wednesday, Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos announced that they were divorcing after 25 years together.</strong></li><li><strong>The New York Post reports that Sanchez is still married to Hollywood agent Patrick Whitesell, though the pair have separated.</strong></li><li><strong>The National Enquirer says that it's on the verge of publishing an exposé on the alleged affair between Bezos and Sanchez, with claims that its reporters tailed the pair for months.</strong></li></ul><p>Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos reportedly has a new romance in his life: Former TV anchor Lauren Sanchez.</p><p>On Wednesday, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-divorce-mackenzie-bezos-2019-1">the billionaire exec and his wife MacKenzie Bezos announced that they were divorcing, saying in a joint statement</a>: "We want to make people aware of a development in our lives. As our family and close friends know, after a long period of loving exploration and trial separation, we have decided to divorce and continue our shared lives as friends."</p><p><a href="https://pagesix.com/2019/01/09/jeff-bezos-has-been-seeing-former-tv-anchor-lauren-sanchez/?_ga=2.96030876.1613234206.1547078913-1453009999.1547078913">The New York Post</a> and <a href="https://www.nationalenquirer.com/celebrity/jeff-bezos-divorce-lauren-sanchez-cheating-affair-photos-exclusive/">the National Enquirer now both report</a> that that Jeff Bezos, 54, is romantically involved with 49-year-old Sanchez, a former "Good Day LA" news anchor with Fox who also works as a helicopter pilot and entrepreneur.</p><p>The TV host is also still married to Patrick Whitesell, the co-CEO of prominent Hollywood talent agency WME. Whitesell counts Matt Damon, Christian Bale, and Hugh Jackman among his clients.  According to the New York Post, Sanchez and Whitesell separated in the fall. It's after this that Bezos reportedly "became closer" with Sanchez. Sanchez has three children - two from her marriage to Whitesell and one from a previous relationship.</p><p>The National Enquirer says it conducted a four-month investigation into Bezos and Sanchez's alleged affair, and suggests that it was its impending report - due to be published in full later this week - that sparked the announcement from Bezos.</p><p>"During a blockbuster four-month investigation, The ENQUIRER tracked Bezos, who turns 55 on Jan. 12, and secret lover Sanchez across five states and 40,000 miles, tailed them in private jets, swanky limos, helicopter rides, romantic hikes, five-star hotel hideaways, intimate dinner dates and 'quality time' in hidden love nests," the National Enquirer wrote in a story teasing its upcoming investigation.</p><p>Bezos has an estimated net worth of around $137 billion, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-mackenzie-net-worth-billionaires-divorce-2019-1">and news of his impending divorce has sparked fevered separation as to what it will mean for his fortune</a>. It's not clear whether Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos signed a prenuptial agreement or formed another arrangement regarding what might happen if they split. The couple have been married for 25 years, and have four children.</p><p>An Amazon spokesperson did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.</p><hr /><p><em><strong>Got a tip?</strong><span> </span>Contact this reporter via Signal or WhatsApp at +1 (650) 636-6268 using a non-work phone, email at rprice@businessinsider.com, Telegram or WeChat at robaeprice, or Twitter DM at <a href="https://twitter.com/robaeprice">@robaeprice</a>. (PR pitches by email only, please.) You can also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-tip-business-insider-securely-guide-signal-securedrop-2017-6">contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop</a>.</em></p><p> </p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/safest-walk-ice-penguin-2017-2">The safest way to walk on ice is to impersonate a penguin - here's why</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/1Owa3Ngp-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

Jeff Bezos is reportedly dating former TV anchor Lauren Sanchez while she's still married to a high-powered Hollywood agent

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c371bbebd77306445625572-2400/lauren%20sanchez.jpg" border="0" alt="Lauren Sanchez" data-mce-source="Stefanie Keenan/WireImage" data-mce-caption="Lauren Sanchez is a licensed pilot."><p class="source"><span>Stefanie Keenan/WireImage</span></p><p class="caption">Lauren Sanchez is a licensed pilot.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced on Wednesday that he and his wife MacKenzie are divorcing.</strong></li><li><strong>Hours later, reports surfaced in the tabloid press that Bezos has been dating former TV anchor Lauren Sanchez.</strong></li><li><strong>Sanchez has a pretty cool life.</strong></li><li><strong>As well as a TV career, she is a licensed helicopter pilot, founded her own aerial filming company, and has starred in movies including "Fight Club."</strong></li></ul><p>Hours after Jeff Bezos announced he and his wife MacKenzie are divorcing, the tabloid press was buzzing with stories about the Amazon CEO's new romance.</p><p>According to New York's Post's Page Six, TMZ, and the National Enquirer among others, Bezos is dating former TV news anchor Lauren Sanchez.</p><p>The Enquirer said it had trailed Bezos and Sanchez for some time, and on Thursday published images of the pair together. <a href="https://www.nationalenquirer.com/celebrity/jeff-bezos-divorce-lauren-sanchez-cheating-affair-photos-exclusive/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In one photo on the Enquirer's front page</a>, the duo appear to be holding hands.</p><p>Sanchez has been in the public eye for much of her career, and seems to lead a pretty cool life. Here are six fast facts about the TV star-turned-pilot:</p><h2>1. She's had a long career as a reporter and news anchor</h2><p>Sanchez started her journalistic career as an intern on LA Channel 13 while on a scholarship at the University of Southern California, according to an interview with <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/rambling-reporter/meet-tv-anchor-turned-pilot-who-flies-helicopters-movies-1053207">The Hollywood Reporter</a>.</p><p>She went on to be a host at various news channels, becoming a longtime co-anchor on Fox 11's "Good Day LA," as well as appearing as a host and correspondent on "Extra."</p><h2>2. She's a licensed plane and helicopter pilot</h2><p>Sanchez learned how to fly while working as a news anchor, and she started flying planes in 2011 before going on to get her helicopter pilot's license in 2016.</p><p>Her interest in aviation seems to have been sparked at an early age, as her father was a flight instructor and mechanic who rebuilt planes.</p><p>"I was always in the hangar growing up but knew nothing about flying," she told the Hollywood Reporter.</p><h2>3. She founded her own female-led aerial filming company</h2><p>Sanchez founded <a href="https://blackopsaviation.com/">Black Ops Aviation</a> in 2016, a "female owned and operated" aerial filming company, which has shot footage for Amazon, Netflix, and Fox among others.</p><p><strong>You can watch the company's demo reel here:</strong></p><p>Sanchez also leant her aerial filming knowledge to Christopher Nolan as a consultant on "Dunkirk."</p><h2>4. She's played a news anchor in a bunch of movies and TV shows</h2><p>As well as being an anchor in real life, Sanchez has starred as a news anchor in movies including "Fight Club," "The Day After Tomorrow," and "The Fantastic Four," <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0761078/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to IMDB.</a></p><h2>5. She used to host a dancing reality show "So You Think You Can Dance"</h2><p>Sanchez was an original host on the first series of Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance," but reportedly left the show after the first season to have her second child.</p><h2>6. While she is still married to Hollywood agent Patrick Whitesell, the pair are reportedly separated</h2><p>Whitesell is co-CEO of Hollywood agency WME, and his clients include Matt Damon, Christian Bale, and Hugh Jackman. Whitesell and Sanchez married in 2005, and sources told the New York Post that they separated in the fall.</p><div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/3-ql3UqRdhA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><div><iframe width="1280" height="722" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/w1O1f4yYBl8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/japan-high-speed-rail-2018-12">How Japan Solved High-Speed Rail</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/WNBMHSj7-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

6 things you need to know about Lauren Sanchez, the former TV anchor and pilot reportedly dating Jeff Bezos

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c10656877a16523316e7b98-2400/gettyimages-1052208326.jpg" border="0" alt="Jeff Bezos" data-mce-source="Getty" /><p class="source"><span>Getty</span></p><p class="caption">Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>Gossip tabloid the National Enquirer claims to have conducted a four-month investigation into an affair between Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and former TV anchor Lauren Sanchez. </strong></li><li><strong>On Wednesday, the Amazon CEO announced he and his wife MacKenzie Bezos were divorcing.</strong></li><li><strong>Hours later, the National Enquirer published a story about Bezos' alleged romantic involvement with former TV host Lauren Sanchez.</strong></li><li><strong>The Enquirer says it has photos of Bezos and his new partner, and plans to publish them - and that it has access to "one <span>steamy picture too explicit to print here."</span></strong></li><li><strong><span>The National Enquirer has long-standing ties to President Donald Trump - fueling speculation that the investigation of Bezos, a critic of the president, could have been politically motivated. </span></strong></li></ul><p>The news of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' impending divorce has taken a dramatic turn.</p><p>On Wednesday, the billionaire technology exec announced he and wife of 25 years MacKenzie Bezos were splitting. Hours later, the National Enquirer, a well-known celebrity gossip tabloid, claimed that it had conducted a four-month investigation into an affair between Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, a former TV host - and that it plans to publish the full story on Thursday. </p><p><a href="https://www.nationalenquirer.com/celebrity/jeff-bezos-divorce-lauren-sanchez-cheating-affair-photos-exclusive/">The Enquirer says its reporters tracked Bezos and Sanchez</a> "across five states and 40,000 miles, tailed them in private jets, swanky limos, helicopter rides, romantic hikes, five-star hotel hideaways, intimate dinner dates and 'quality time' in hidden love nests." The front-page headline, the Enquirer revealed, will be "The cheating photos that ended his marriage." </p><p>Indeed, the publication also claims that it's obtained photos of the two "doing the dirty," and suggests it has access to "raunchy messages and erotic selfies - <span>including one steamy picture too explicit to print here." It says that the full report will include "more shocking photos of the pair," though it has yet to print any. </span><span></span></p><p><a href="https://pagesix.com/2019/01/09/jeff-bezos-has-been-seeing-former-tv-anchor-lauren-sanchez/">The New York Post also published a report</a> about Sanchez and Bezos' alleged relationship shortly before the National Enquirer did so on Wednesday. While the Post did not mention the National Enquirer by name, it suggested that the Bezoses timed their announcement to preempt the possible release of photos of Bezos and Sanchez.</p><h2>The President Trump connection </h2><p>Commentators have already been watching the divorce with fascination, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-mackenzie-net-worth-billionaires-divorce-2019-1">given what it could mean for Bezos' $137 billion fortune</a>. The involvement of the National Enquirer - which has a long-standing association with President Donald Trump - adds a new dimension to the story, with some already speculating that the investigation could be politically motivated.</p><p>Bezos, who is also the owner of the Washington Post, is a long-time critic of President Trump, and the two have a long-standing public feud.</p><p>Meanwhile, David Pecker, the CEO of National Enquirer's parent company American <keyword id="6354777" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Media">Media</keyword> Inc. (AMI), was <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/12/media/national-enquirer-donald-trump-michael-cohen/index.html">known for a long time as an ally of Trump even before he entered politics</a>, and the publication has reportedly squelched several stories that would reflect poorly on the future president. </p><p lang="en" data-aria-label-part="0"><a href="https://twitter.com/chrislhayes/status/1083146614951288837">MSNBC journalist Chris Hayes tweeted</a>: "Given everything we know about how Pecker's National Enquirer has functioned as essentially an arm of Trumpworld, this prompts some questions."</p><p lang="en" data-aria-label-part="0"><a href="https://twitter.com/eorden/status/1083156792258060288">And Erica Orden, a CNN reporter, noted</a>: "<span>One of the bylines on this National Enquirer story about Jeff Bezos is Dylan Howard, the AMI editor who was involved in AMI &amp; [former Trump lawyer] Michael Cohen's efforts to silence women who claimed affairs with Trump."</span></p><p lang="en" data-aria-label-part="0"><span>It's worth noting, however, that <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/08/donald-trump-national-enquirer-allies-defect-david-pecker-michael-cohen">Pecker seems to have flipped on Trump and is cooperating with prosecutors</a> investigating hush money allegedly paid to women with whom Trump had affairs, even as the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/12/media/national-enquirer-donald-trump-michael-cohen/index.html">National Enquirer is said to have downplayed its coverage of the president</a>.</span></p><p lang="en" data-aria-label-part="0"><span>The National Enquirer did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. An Amazon spokesperson also did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. </span></p><p>Lauren Sanchez is still married to Patrick Whitesell, the co-CEO of prominent Hollywood talent agency WME. Whitesell counts Matt Damon, Christian Bale, and Hugh Jackman among his clients. According to the New York Post, Sánchez and Whitesell separated in the fall, and that she and Bezos "became closer" afterwards. The National Enquirer, meanwhile, reports that their secret relationship has been ongoing for eight months.</p><p>Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos announced their separation in a joint statement on Twitter earlier on Wednesday. "We want to make people aware of a development in our lives. As our family and close friends know, after a long period of loving exploration and trial separation, we have decided to divorce and continue our shared lives as friends," they wrote. </p><p>Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos have four children together. Sanchez has three children - two from her marriage to Whitesell and one from a previous relationship.</p><hr /><section data-track-content="" data-post-type="post"><p><em><strong>Got a tip?</strong><span> </span>Contact this reporter via Signal or WhatsApp at +1 (650) 636-6268 using a non-work phone, email at rprice@businessinsider.com, Telegram or WeChat at robaeprice, or Twitter DM at<span> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/robaeprice">@robaeprice</a>. (PR pitches by email only, please.) You can also<span> </span><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-tip-business-insider-securely-guide-signal-securedrop-2017-6">contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop</a>.</em></p></section>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-chrome-drive-youtube-gmail-out-of-life-2018-11">I cut Google out of my life for 2 weeks, but the alternatives prove why Google is so much better</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/yBCrykQR-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

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