LOS ANGELES - America's sweetheart Reese Witherspoon and husband Ryan Phillippe have called it quits after seven years of marriage, their reps said yesterday.
"We are saddened to announce that Reese and Ryan have decided to formally separate. They remain committed to their family," the couple's representatives said in a statement.
The "Legally Blonde" star, 30, and the hunky "Crash" actor, 32, have two children, Ava, 7, and Deacon, 3. They married in 1999 after co-starring in the teen thriller "Cruel Intentions," but they never worked together on-screen again.
One of Hollywood's highest-paid actresses, Witherspoon commands $15 million a picture and won an Oscar for "Walk the Line." Phillippe's paychecks are far slimmer, hovering in the $2million-a-picture range, according to industry reports.
The split comes just weeks after a celebrity lensman spotted the glam couple bickering at the New York premiere of "Flags of Our Fathers" - the Clint Eastwood-directed film about the World War II heroes who planted the American flag at Iwo Jima, in which Phillippe stars.
And it follows months of rumors and magazine reports that their marriage was on the rocks, all of which were repeatedly denied.
"They are completely happy, as everyone saw on the Oscars broadcast," a rep declared last March. But witnesses said the couple avoided each other like the plague at a Vanity Fair-hosted bash just hours after Witherspoon won gold for her portrayal of June Carter Cash in the Johnny Cash biopic.
"He sat by himself looking pretty resentful," a partygoer told Life & Style magazine.
Witherspoon, who met the wavy-haired "Gosford Park" star at her 21st birthday party, had confessed marriage wasn't a picnic. "Marriage is hard," she told Vanity Fair in 2004. "[It's] not about expecting someone to make you happy every day or to complete your life."
Phillippe admitted the couple were in marriage counseling in 2002. "The biggest mistake is not doing that, ignoring it and have the marriage fall apart because of laziness," he told the Daily News.
Therapy obviously didn't work. More hints of disenchantment appeared in Phillippe's recent chat with Interview magazine when he twice bemoaned being away from his kids while filming, but didn't pine for his wife.
Divorce papers had not been filed yesterday, but Witherspoon has reportedly consulted Hollywood heavy hitter Robert Kaufman, who represented Jennifer Aniston, Roseanne Barr and Lisa Marie Presley in their splits, TMZ.com reported.
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