Billy Bob Thornton abruptly dumped his fiancée for another woman, shocking many and making headlines.
The mystery was heightened by the couple’s significant 20-year age gap and the fact that they were both seeing other people at the time.
Actress Laura Dern, Billy Bob’s fiancée, was among those taken aback.
Laura says that her hopes for a relationship took a detour when she learned that her partner was married to Angelina Jolie.
According to E! Online, Laura and Billy Bob first became romantically involved in 1997, shortly after Laura’s divorce from Jeff Goldblum and while Billy Bob was still going through with his fourth wife, Pietra Dawn Cherniak.
After meeting on the set of Pushing Tin in 1999, Billy Bob and Angelina were engaged and preparing for marriage in just two years.
Laura was caught off guard when their brief courtship ended in an impulsive marriage in Las Vegas in May 2000.
“I left our home to work on a movie, and while I was away, my boyfriend got married, and I’ve never heard from him again,” Laura recalled, reflecting on the abrupt turn of events as reported by InStyle.
She was left feeling perplexed and unexpectedly alone in the circumstance, with no way out.
Billy Bob never publicly acknowledged any misconduct, but in a 2001 interview, as reported by the Mirror, he expressed sorrow.
“People might claim that you abandoned our girl and wed someone else,” he remarked. However, it pleased both me and the other person. Sorry if that hurt you.
The unusual turn of events in the story came when Yahoo learned that Laura and Angelina had connected while Laura babysat Angelina when they were younger.
Laura’s father, Bruce Dern, remembered that time. Bruce said, referring to the 1978 movie Coming Home, “I remember Laura babysat for Angelina one night when she was about 8 and Angelina was 2 years old. Jon and I were making Coming Home. Jon Voight is a buddy of mine. They invited [Laura] to come over [to babysit Angie] as they were spending the night at [director] Hal Ashby’s place.
After their breakup, Laura’s friend Melissa Etheridge helped her move out of their shared home with Billy Bob and offered her support.
In an interview with Andy Cohen on his SiriusFM radio show, Melissa stated (via the Sun): “I was around when Angelina was not doing nice things with Billy Bob to Laura Dern.” I experienced that myself before learning about Jennifer and Brad’s other side. I assisted Laura in moving out of her home with Billy Bob; the place was so filthy that I felt like breaking in to remove their belongings.
After that, everyone involved continued living their lives. After a while, Laura married Ben Harper, with whom she had two kids. She has since been linked to former NBA player Baron Davis.
Billy Bob ceased dating celebrities in 2002 due to his respect for their privacy following their divorce from Angelina. Later, in 2014, he wed a puppeteer in an attempt to live a more low-key existence away from the limelight.
