Arnold Schwarzenegger’s ex-wife Maria Shriver, who is the niece of the late President John F. Kennedy, is reflecting on their “brutal” divorce in her new memoir “I Am Maria.”
Shriver Recalls ‘Brutal’ Divorce
In an excerpt from her memoir that was obtained by People Magazine, Shriver, 69, wrote about the difficult events that began to unfold in January of 2011. At the time, she had been married to Schwarzenegger, now 77, for 25 years, and they had four children together.
“Then a year and a half later, all hell seemed to break loose,” she wrote, referring to the years after her mother Eunice Kennedy Shriver died in 2009. “My First Lady job came to an end. My father died. And then came another devastating, life-altering blow: my twenty-five-year-long marriage blew up. It broke my heart, it broke my spirit, it broke what was left of me.”
In 2011, Shriver was stunned when Schwarzenegger admitted that he had fathered a child with their family’s housekeeper during an extramarital affair fourteen years before. Shriver admitted that “without my marriage, my parents, a job,” she was “terrified.”
Frankly, we can’t blame her.
Shriver ‘Was Consumed By Grief’
“I was consumed with grief and wracked with confusion, anger, fear, sadness, and anxiety. I was unsure now of who I was, where I belonged. Honestly, it was brutal, and I was terrified,” she continued. “As I sat on my hotel room floor in the dark, alone with tears streaming down my face, I thought to myself: Maria, this doesn’t have to be the end of you.”
Not knowing where else to turn, Shriver actually went to a convent. There, she learned that she’d spent her life “measuring herself by some impossible standard.”
We imagine that must be a common feeling among the Kennedys.
“I’ve also had to come face to face with other misguided beliefs — about aging, about being alone,” she explained. “I used to believe that if you didn’t have a partner, you must be unworthy and unloveable. I’ve learned that nothing could be further from the truth.”
Related: Maria Shriver Defends Son-In-Law Chris Pratt After He’s Slammed Over ‘Healthy Daughter’ Comments
Schwarzenegger Weighs In
It wasn’t until December of 2021 that Schwarzenegger and Shriver’s divorce was finalized. They have remained friendly and are even photographed together at times. In 2023, Schwarzenegger stated that while their divorce “was very very difficult in the beginning…eventually, you move on.” He also said that he and Shriver are “really good friends,” and that they “are very proud of the way we raised our kids.”
“If there’s Oscars for how to handle divorce, Maria and I should get it for having the least amount of impact on the kids,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “The sweetness and kindness you see in them, that’s from my wife. The discipline and work ethic is from me.”
Divorce is never easy. Indeed, it’s particularly difficult when a couple is married as long as Shriver and Schwarzenegger were. We applaud Shriver for overcoming this “brutal” divorce, and we hope that she has since found happiness again!
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