In the space of a year two major stars have been in the headlines for having
had affairs with their hired help and publicly humiliating their partners. The
affairs were made all the more shocking by the individuals involved and what
appeared to be the solidarity of the relationships. However as the details
continue to leak out it seems that things were not all that they seemed.
First up and most recently was Jude Law and his extra martial activity with
his eldest son’s nanny. Having just postponed to his girlfriend, the actress
turned model Sienna Miller three months prior to the affair, he was supposedly
caught in bed with his nanny by his son who later told his mother, Jude’s
ex-wife Sadie Frost.
Rumours began to circulate after she was fired by Sadie however Jude denied
the claims. Nearly 4 months after the supposed affair Jude decided to come clean
when it was rumoured that his ex-nanny was about to sell her story. Ex-wife
Sadie did not have much sympathy following his confession and in a statement to
the press said "I knew it would happen eventually and I am happy it did not
happen with me".
Her marriage to Jude had ended over 3 years earlier and she blamed his
willingness to put his career before his family. Ex-model Sienna who reinvented
herself as an actress and style icon has been busy working on her acting career
despite public scepticism and it surfaced as one of the reasons for Jude's
infidelity. He was apparently unhappy with her new lifestyle and complained to
the nanny that she was either partying or sleeping. He also confessed that he
longed for someone who wanted to be with him and was not interested in
furthering their own career. In short he longed for someone who did not have a
career and would always be by his side. But in choosing to date a younger woman
of 24 years old surely it was asking too much? Surely it was smart of Sienna to
build a career while she had a media presence and not after her relationship
with Jude ended?
In any ways this is similar to the case of David Beckham and his affair with
his assistant Rebecca Lows. After their affair she would go on to make over half
a million pounds from exploiting it by selling her story to tabloids in which
she gave intimate details about her sex life with the football star. One thing
however that Rebecca did mention that stood out was the footballer's wife
Victoria Beckham was hardly ever there, the same thing that Jude complained
about with Sienna.
It is no secret that after the ending of the Spice Girls Victoria has been
trying to get her career back on track and in the last two years has been a
promotional world whirl promoting a solo album, going after movie roles and
acting as model for Rocawear, the label by sleazeball music producer Damien
Dash.
At the age of 32 should she just give up any attempt at a career and stay at
home with her husband and kids?
In the real world this is a personal decision taken my individuals but with
celebrity fiancées and wives with powerful successful men it is somehow
expected.
Learning to manage a career, marriage, home life and children has always been
a difficult balancing act for women and it is no different for celebrity mothers
but at one point it really did look like women could have it all. However,
recent events have highlighted the continuing struggle.
Just one look at Nicole Kidman's ever growing career (lets gloss over
Bewitched shall we...Ed.) and one can easier see that her 10 year marriage to
Tom Cruise clearly brought about many sacrifices mostly on her part.
Many believe that women who enter relationships with powerful men (or in
Victoria’s case, her man became more powerful) surely need to get behind them
and that means in some ways giving up on what you want? Cherie Booth is one of
the highest QCs in the UK and is no means in the shadow of her husband Tony
Blair. Perhaps it comes down to egos, David Beckham and Jude Law may feel
threatened by a strong woman?
One thing is certain, that whatever the answer the debate goes on because
regardless of their partner’s infidelities both women ultimately decided to
stand by their men. Hmmm….. I see another possible debate brewing.