Amid speculation that Natalie Portman and husband Benjamin Millepied broke up amid cheating allegations, the Black Swan actress is addressing the state of her relationship, telling Vanity Fair Feb. 21, “It’s terrible, and I have no desire to contribute to it.”
Aside from weighing in on the couple’s latest chapter, Natalie Portman also shared insight into splitting her time between Paris and Los Angeles.
“I lead a very non-Hollywood life in L.A.,” she told the outlet. “I live on the east side. I have some friends who are in the entertainment industry, but many friends who are not, and we don’t do industry things when we hang out. We’re not going to Hollywood parties, we’re having dinners at home in the backyard.”
Her statement comes nearly one year after multiple outlets reported that Millepied, 45, had engaged in an affair.
Natalie Portman and Millepied who share son Aleph, 12, and daughter Amalia, 6 first crossed paths in 2009. At the time, the choreographer was helping the actress prepare for her role as an aspiring ballet dancer in 2010 thriller Black Swan.
“I met my husband on it, so I think I was in, like, dreamland,” Portman said in a 2018 SiriusXM Town Hall interview. “It seemed pretty fun the whole time. We had a whole, like, he was teaching me to dance.”
While their connection wasn’t exactly love at first sight, the 42-year-old noted that their bond grew with time.
“It was definitely exciting and fun,” she added. “It was beautiful. I don’t know about instant. It was like I really got to know him and that was when it seemed like, ‘Oh, right, this is the person.'”
By the time the film was released in December 2010, the pair were engaged and expecting their first child. Just a few months later in February 2011, a pregnant Portman sent a sweet message to Millepied as she accepted the Oscar for Best Actress for Black Swan.
“My beautiful love,” she said on stage, “Benjamin Millepied, who choreographed the film and has now given me my most important role of my life.”
After making France their home in 2014, Portman and Millepied opted to kept details of their marriage private throughout the years. However, in 2016, Millepied offered rare insight into how they balance their artistic careers with their relationship.
“Ultimately I think as a couple, you automatically learn from one another, and hopefully feed each other in ways that are positive,” he told Vanity Fair. “But I think, work…we keep very separate. I think that’s important.”
The same year, Portman quietly debuted her second pregnancy in the midst of an ultra busy schedule, including the release of her Jacqueline Kennedy biopic Jackie. The pair welcomed their daughter the following year.
And while Portman and Millepied have largely kept their family life out of the spotlight, the Star Wars alum occasionally gave her husband a shoutout on social media, including during major relationship milestones.
“Ten years today @benjaminmillepied,” she wrote in August 2022, “and it keeps getting better.”