Reese Witherspoon Announces Divorce from Jim Toth After 11 Years of Marriage

Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth

Getty Images

The couple were days shy of their 12th wedding anniversary.

It’s always sad when a celebrity couple announces they’re going their separate ways, and when you haven’t been reading rumors of their purported marital discord in the press for months leading up to the split, the news can hit that much harder. So when Reese Witherspoon announced her divorce from husband Jim Toth, it may have come as a surprise to many — not in the least because, as Brides put it, they’ve been “one of Hollywood’s cutest and most stable marriages” for the past decade. But they’ve decided to go their separate ways, and actress released a joint statement on her verified Instagram account revealing the decision.

“We have some personal news to share…” the statement, which was posted on March 25, began. “It is with a great deal of care and consideration that we have made the difficult decision to divorce.” In the statement, the couple pledged to move forward with “deep love, kindness, and mutual respect for everything we have created together.” They also wrote, “Our biggest priority is our son and our entire family as we navigate this next chapter.” The couple said the reasons for divorce are “extremely personal” and asked for privacy.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Katie Couric (@katiecouric)

Witherspoon and Toth are the parents to a 10-year-old son, Tennessee James. Witherspoon is also the mother to Ava, 23, and Deacon, 19, whom she had with her ex-husband, Ryan Phillippe.

Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth relationship timeline

Toth, a former talent agent with Creative Artist Agency, and Witherspoon met at a gathering at a friend’s house in 2010. She recounted to ELLE in 2012 that Toth stepped in when a fellow partygoer was bothering her. “This really drunk guy was hitting on me, making such an idiot of himself, yelling at me,” she told the outlet. “Jim came over and said, ‘Please excuse my friend. He’s just broken up with someone.'” She says that she was struck by how good of a friend Toth was for getting his buddy out of that situation and attempting to smooth things over. “That’s just kind of who he is, a really good person,” she said in the interview.

Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth got married in March 2011 on Witherspoon’s ranch in California, and they had their son in 2012.

In 2013, the couple were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and driving under the influence. Witherspoon paid a fine and Toth was sentenced to a year of community service, a year of probation, and an alcohol education program. In May of that same year, the Big Little Lies star appeared on Good Morning America and talked about how the couple decided to tell their children about the incident.

“We have to say, ‘When you make a mistake, you take responsibility,’ and we are taking responsibility and doing everything in our power to make it right,” she said.

July 2022 appears to be the last time Witherspoon posted Toth to her Instagram page, which she did to wish him a happy birthday. She posted a carousel of photos, captioning it, “Happy birthday to my sweet hubby, JT! 💗 Don’t know anyone who loves Tour de France / road biking / @arsenal / @nashvillesc / @steelers …. oh and GOLF … basically all sports more than YOU. Love you so much!”

Sunday would have been their 12th wedding anniversary.