latimes.com/news/local/la-mew-arnold-maria-separate-20010510,0,961258.story
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Shriver announce separation
The former California first lady has moved out after 25 years of marriage.
Maria Shriver helped bolster Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign against charges
that he groped women during his movie career.
By Mark Z. Barabak
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
9:47 PM PDT, May 9, 2011
Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, have
separated, with Shriver moving out of their Brentwood mansion while the two
determine the next step in their 25-year marriage.
Shriver has been
residing apart from the actor-turned-politician for the last few weeks. The
former first couple confirmed the separation in a joint statement released
Monday after questions from The Times.
"This has been a time of great
personal and professional transition for each of us," the statement read. "After
a great deal of thought, reflection, discussion and prayer, we came to this
decision together. At this time, we are living apart while we work on the future
of our relationship.
Photos:
A political marriage with star power
"We are continuing to parent
our four children together. They are the light and the center of both of our
lives. We consider this a private matter and neither we nor any of our friends
or family will have further comment. We ask for compassion and respect from the
media and the public."
Over the years, the marriage between the
international celebrity and the daughter of the Kennedy dynasty has come under
close scrutiny, especially during the 2003 recall of Gov. Gray Davis, when The
Times reported on Schwarzenegger's lengthy history of groping women. At the
time, Shriver defended her husband, helping lift him to victory in the
free-for-all contest.
Since Schwarzenegger left office, it had seemed as
though the two were living separate lives. Shriver, a former contributing anchor
on NBC's "Dateline," has worked on her women's empowerment website, guest edited
an issue of Oprah Winfrey's magazine and promoted causes near to her heart, such
as Alzheimer's research. She struggled with the death of her father, Sargent
Shriver, in January, and took her son Patrick and some of his friends on an East
Coast college tour in April.
Shriver, 55, spoke openly about the
uncertainty she felt about moving on to the next phase of her life. "It is so
stressful to not know what you're doing next," Shriver said in a March 28
YouTube video to supporters. Though there was no intimation of a split, Shriver
appeared without her wedding ring. "I'd like to hear from other people in
transition," Shriver said. "How did you get through it? What were three things
that enabled you to get through your transition?"
The former governor,
63, told a Times reporter in April that he yearned for a show business comeback.
It was later announced that Schwarzenegger had signed on to star in three films,
including another installment in the "Terminator" series.
"The whole
industry has not come up with a new line of action heroes so [people say] let's
go see the mature ones -- that's what I call them, the mature ones -- because
there's nothing new around," Schwarzenegger said in the interview. "That's good
news for me."
The couple met in 1977, when NBC's Tom Brokaw introduced
Shriver to Schwarzenegger at a charity tennis tournament. The two married in
1986, and have four children, ages 14, 18, 20 and 21. Their marriage united
Republican Schwarzenegger with Shriver, the daughter of the late Eunice Kennedy
Shriver.
Their odd-couple political match was a source of endless
interest to outsiders, and good-natured ribbing on the part of the couple, who
often found themselves on opposites sides of political campaigns. In 2008,
Shriver delivered a high-profile endorsement of Barack Obama on the eve of the
California primary. Schwarzenegger backed the GOP nominee, Arizona Sen. John
McCain.
Schwarzenegger was immensely popular in his first year in office,
animated by dramatic Hollywood-style campaigning. But he left office last
January sobered by years of budget difficulties and suffering from a fractious
relationship with legislators from both parties.
Shriver emerged as
perhaps the most prominent and powerful first lady in California history,
promoting volunteerism and assuming control of cultural institutions like the
state history museum in Sacramento.
She also presided over the state's
annual California Governor's Conference on Women and Families, turning the event
into an affair that drew tens of thousands of women, a raft of celebrity
attendees and a crowd of corporate sponsors.
Perhaps her most crucial
role as political helpmate came in the waning days of the recall election, after
The Times report on Schwarzenegger's behavior. At a rally in San Diego, the
actor acknowledged before several hundred chanting supporters that, "Yes, I have
behaved badly sometimes."
"Yes, it is true that I was on rowdy movie
sets," he went on, "and I have done things that were not right, which I thought
then was playful. But I now recognize that I have offended people. And to those
people that I have offended, I want to say to them, I am deeply sorry about
that, and I apologize."
Appearing alongside her husband later that day at
a news conference, Shriver blunted the political impact of the story by vouching
for Schwarzenegger, saying the sexual misconduct allegations "show why really
good people don't want to go into politics anymore."
"I don't get into
specifics," she told reporters. "As I say to my children, it always takes great
courage to do -- stand before anybody and apologize," she said. "I think that's
what Arnold did today. I think he handled it and his statement speaks for
itself."
The two celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary on April 26, a
day they let pass without public comment, in contrast to their usual stream of
commentary in various social media.
Their postings over the last few
months offered a picture of a couple leading separate lives. Since
Schwarzenegger left office, he has been jetting around the world, heading to
Brazil's Xingu River with director James Cameron, to London for Mikhail
Gorbachev's 80th birthday party, to Val d'Isère in France for skiing and to
Washington, D.C., to attend a White House summit on immigration.
In late
March, Schwarzenegger announced a collaboration with famed comic book creator
Stan Lee, saying, "I have never had a conversation with Maria about any of this.
I think it will be a big surprise." Shriver mentioned the East Coast college
tour and, in early April, visited the Bahamas while Schwarzenegger headed to
Cannes to receive the Legion D'Honneur medal.
mark.barabak@latimes.com
Times staff writers
Seema Mehta and Maeve Reston contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times