Nashville: Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman has filed for divorce from Grammy-winning country singer Keith Urban, ending a 19-year marriage that united two of Australia’s most celebrated entertainment figures.
The 58-year-old actor petitioned on Tuesday in a Nashville court to dissolve her marriage to the 57-year-old musician, citing “marital difficulties and irreconcilable differences” in the legal documents. The filings include a marriage dissolution plan and a childcare agreement, both submitted for a judge’s approval.
According to the permanent parenting plan, Kidman and Urban have agreed to maintain a loving, stable, and nurturing relationship with their two daughters, ages 17 and 14, despite the divorce. “The mother and father will behave with each other and each child so as to provide a loving, stable, consistent and nurturing relationship with the child even though they are divorced,” the plan states. It adds that the parents will not speak badly of one another or each other’s families and will encourage the children to maintain strong bonds with both parents.
Kidman is designated as the primary residential parent, having the daughters for 306 days per year, with Urban caring for them for the remaining 59 days. The children have lived in Nashville all their lives, and the filings do not indicate any plans for relocation.
Financial arrangements specify that each parent earns more than USD 100,000 per month, and neither will require spousal or childcare support. The dissolution plan also outlines an approximately equal division of joint assets, with each retaining ownership of property, copyrights, and royalties registered in their own names.
The detailed agreements suggest that the divorce had been in preparation for at least a month: Urban signed the parenting plan on August 29, and Kidman followed on September 6. Under Tennessee law, the divorce will take at least 90 days to become final.
Representatives for both Kidman and Urban did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.
Nicole Kidman with Keith Urban and their daughters at the 49th AFI Life Achievement Award, Hollywood, April 27, 2024.
Kidman and Urban, both raised in Australia, met in 2005 at a Los Angeles event honouring Australians and married in Sydney in 2006. This is Urban’s first marriage and Kidman’s second; she was previously married to Tom Cruise from 1990 to 2001 and has two older children with him.
Throughout their relationship, the couple appeared publicly devoted, despite acknowledging some marital difficulties. Media reports of their separation emerged just a day before the divorce filing. Last year, at the premiere of the Netflix series The Perfect Couple, Kidman told The Associated Press that the term did not apply to her and Urban, saying: “You’re heading for trouble if you consider yourselves the perfect couple. I’m not a believer in perfect.”
Earlier, Urban paid tribute to Kidman at the AFI Life Achievement Award ceremony, bringing her to tears. He also credited her for supporting him early in their marriage when he faced substance abuse problems. “Four months into our marriage, I’m in rehab for three months. Nic pushed through every negative voice, I’m sure even some of her own, and she chose love. And here we are 18 years later,” Urban said.
Kidman’s acclaimed film career includes Days of Thunder, Eyes Wide Shut, Moulin Rouge, and The Hours, for which she won an Academy Award for her portrayal of author Virginia Woolf. She has also starred in television series such as Nine Perfect Strangers and Big Little Lies, earning Emmy Awards as both actor and producer.
Urban has been a major country music star since the 1990s, with hits such as Somebody Like You and Blue Ain’t Your Color. He has won four Grammy Awards and more than a dozen Academy of Country Music Awards.
With PTI inputs