WWW- Renee Zellweger said yesterday she didn’t mean to insult her future ex-husband, country star Kenny Chesney, when she cited “fraud” as the reason for seeking an annulment.
The term “was simply legal language and not a reflection of Kenny’s character,” the Oscar-winning actress said in a statement pleading for privacy.
“I would personally be very grateful for your support in refraining from drawing derogatory, hurtful, sensationalized or untrue conclusions,” she said.
But matrimonial lawyers said an accusation of fraud forms the very core of an annulment.
“I guess she went to a different law school than the rest of the lawyers in America,” attorney Raoul Felder said. “People don’t just throw that term about.”
Annulments – declaring a marriage never legally existed – have become exceedingly rare in America, in part because they’re tough to get.
“We see very few annulments today because divorce laws are so liberal,” said Sanford Lotwin, whose Manhattan firm has handled only two in recent years.
The bride or groom can cite incapacity as grounds for an annulment, which usually means one party was below the age of consent or mentally incompetent. More often, the reason given is fraud, or “a material misrepresentation” by one party.
“The usual fraud is a refusal to have children,” Felder said. “Or you see it if somebody is homosexual, or has some kind of disease, or claims they’re from nobility when they’re not.”
Zellweger, 36, and Chesney, 37, are seeking to end their marriage just four months after they tied the knot. They are not commenting on why the union hit the skids, though Chesney said in a statement that “this is an incredibly sad time.”
The singer, known for the hit “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy,” has been getting advice from his best friend, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, ESPN Hollywood reported.
Felder and Lotwin said they were baffled why two celebrities would take such a hard road to ending a marriage when they could just as easily divorce.
“The basic advantage [to an annulment] is that at a cocktail party when the guy asks if you were ever married, you can say no,” Felder said.