Celebrity Divorce

Erin Brockovich's husband has filed for divorce, TMZ has learned.

Eric Ellis just filed the docs in L.A. County Superior Court, citing "irreconcilable differences." The couple was married in 1999. They have no minor children. A date of separation is not listed.

Eric wants spousal support, and doesn't want to pay Erin a penny. He's her third husband.

In case you don't know -- even though you should -- Erin was the subject of a 2000 biographical film named after her, starring Julia Roberts.

Erin was instrumental in constructing a case against Pacific Gas & Electric energy company in California in 1993 -- which allegedly tried to hide evidence of mass chemical contamination in a neighboring town. The case resulted in a $333 million settlement.

Just days after news broke of the demise of his marriage, Jessica and Ashlee Simpson's newly single father Joe Simpson was spotted out in L.A. on Thursday sporting a much more, er, youthful look.

Doing his best Ellen DeGeneres impersonation, the 54-year-old rocked blonder highlighted locks, a fitted yellow sweater, black skinny jeans and matchy matchy spiffy kicks.

As TMZ reported, Joe's wife Tina Simpson filed for divorce last month -- after being legally hitched for 34 years -- claiming their marriage has become "insupportable because of discord or conflict of personalities."

Tom Cruise just filed a $50 million lawsuit against Life & Style and In Touch magazines, claiming the mags defamed him by reporting he had abandoned 6-year-old Suri.

In the lawsuit, filed in L.A. federal court, Tom takes issue with the July 30th cover of Life & Style, which reads, "SURI IN TEARS, ABANDONED BY HER DAD" -- as well as the October 1st cover of In Touch, which shows a picture of Suri above the headline, "ABANDONED BY DADDY."

According to the suit, Tom claims the mags' headlines are FALSE -- insisting, he "loves his daughter dearly and would never abandon her."

Tom is suing for $50 million plus punitive damages for defamation and invasion of privacy.

In Touch and Life & Style are sister magazines owned by the same publishing company Bauer Publishing.

Cruise's lawyer, Bert Fields says:

"Tom is a caring father who dearly loves Suri. She's a vital part of his life and always will be. To say he has 'abandoned' her is a vicious lie. To say it in lurid headlines with a tearful picture of Suri is reprehensible."

Fields goes on: "Tom doesn't go around suing people. He's not a litigious guy. But when these sleaze peddlers try to make money with disgusting lies about his relationship with his child, you bet he's going to sue."

Fields goes on to bash the mags, saying, "These serial defamers are foreign owned companies with their global headquarters in Hamburg. They take money from unsuspecting Americans by selling their malicious garbage. Having to pay a libel judgment may slow them down."

Fields says any money Tom gets from the mags will go to charity.

We haven't heard back from the Romney campaign office -- however Mitt's attorney was quoted about the Stemberg divorce in Time magazine, saying ... “This is a decades-old divorce case in which Mitt Romney provided testimony as to the value of a company. He has no objection to letting the public see that testimony.”

9:49 AM PT -- A rep for Tom Stemberg also released a statement ... saying, "Over the past several years, the judge in this case has made it very clear that the gag order imposed should not be violated. We have never violated this order and will continue to adhere to the court’s ruling on this case."

Mitt Romney LIED under oath when he testified in the divorce of his good friend and screwed the friend's wife out of a lot of money in the process ... so claims the ex-wife of Staples' founder Tom Stemberg.

Multiple sources connected with the divorce tell TMZ ... during Tom's uber nasty divorce case with ex-wife Maureen, Mitt Romney gave a deposition and testified during the trial that Staples was worth virtually nothing. Romney testified that the company was worth very little and Tom was a dreamer and "the dream continues."

Romney characterized the Staples stock as "overvalued," adding, "I didn't place a great deal of credibility in the forecast of the company's future."

Partly as a result of Romney's testimony, Maureen got relatively little in the divorce, but we're told just weeks after the divorce ended, Romney and Tom went to Goldman Sachs and cashed in THEIR stock for a fortune. Short story -- Romney allegedly lied to help his friend and screw the friend's wife over.

And there's more ... Our sources say years later, Maureen, who suffered from MS and had multiple bouts with cancer, got a visit from one of Tom's guys, who gave her papers informing her that Tom was cancelling her health insurance. Our sources say the irony here is that we're told Tom was working as one of then Governor Mitt Romney's chief health care advisers.

Sources tell us ... Tom also got custody of the couple's one child, making allegations of abuse against Maureen. And get this ... in the mid-90s, after the divorce, Tom sent the boy a letter saying, although he loved him, because of issues related to the divorce "it will not be possible for you to be a part of our family for the foreseeable future."

Jessica Simpson's mother Tina has filed for divorce from Jessica's dad Joe.

Tina filed the papers in Texas last month, claiming, "The marriage has become insupportable because of discord or conflict of personalities."

Tina and Joe were married in 1978. They have no minor children.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Tina claims she has separate property from Joe and wants to keep it. It's unclear what that property is.

In the county where Tina filed, there are specific rules about how divorcing spouses have to behave toward each other during proceedings -- they can't curse at each other, harass each other over the phone, or physically attack each other ... basically they HAVE to act like civilized adults.

If one spouse violates the rules, they could be found in contempt of court.

Joe filed a response to Tina's divorce petition days later, insisting Tina get nothing from the split.

Joe and Tina both played a pivotal role in turning their daughters Jessica and Ashlee into pop superstars.

A rep for the family just released a statement, saying, "It is an amicable split and there is no third party involved. Any other related allegations are completely false. The family appreciates your respect for their privacy at this time."

6:45AM PT Gloria Allred is in court in Boston and she is representing Maureen Sullivan Stemberg (below). We just got the details about Romney's testimony in the Stemberg divorce. Click here to read it.

7:30AM PT The court hearing where the Boston Globe is asking a judge to unseal Stemberg divorce documents -- including Romney's testimony -- has been continued until Thursday morning. We're waiting to see if Allred comments on the case.

8:05AM PT Gloria and Maureen walked out of court. They did not comment.

Mitt Romney was heavily involved in the extremely messy divorce of one of his key supporters ... and the Boston Globe is going to court first thing Wednesday morning in an attempt to unseal the court file as well as lift a gag order ... TMZ has learned.

The divorce was between Staples co-founder Tom Stemberg and his first wife Maureen. We're told the divorce battle lasted for years and was extremely ugly.

Sources tell us Romney gave both a deposition in the divorce and testified in the trial. According to our sources, the Boston Globe got a tip that there was "juicy information about Romney" in the sealed documents.

Romney, Stemberg and Maureen were all served papers by the Globe notifying them that the paper was trying to unseal the case and lift the gag order enforced on all parties.

According to an article in the Boston Globe in 2005, Maureen received nearly 500,000 shares of Staples stock in the divorce ... but sold half her shares before the company went public.

Stemberg and Romney's business ties go deep. Bain Capital helped launch Staples ... widely seen as the first big success for Romney's venture capital company -- and Romney sat on Staples' board of directors for many years.

Our sources say Tom has filed papers opposing the Globe's motion. Romney's lawyers have not responded.

Tom has been a major Romney supporter, even speaking for five minutes at the Republican National Convention.

We're told Gloria Allred represents someone connected with the divorce and we believe -- though we have not confirmed it -- that is Maureen.

Eva Longoria has a nasty red blotch on the back of her neck -- and she's probably THRILLED about it ... 'cause it used to be a tattoo of her ex-husband's basketball jersey number.

Back in January, Longoria began laser treatments to erase 3 Tony Parker-inspired tats -- the "NINE" tattoo ... the wedding date tattoo on her wrist ... and Tony's initials (which were put on a very private, undisclosed location).

Tattoo removal doesn't happen overnight -- it takes multiple sessions, which have to be spaced out over several months.

Former NFL star Bob Whitfield has 21 days to fork over $75,000 to his reality star ex-wife Sheree Whitfield for overdue child support ... or else.

According to legal docs obtained by TMZ ... Bob admits he failed to make 38 monthly child support payments of $2,142 to the "Real Housewives of Atlanta" star ... more than $81k.

Bob claimed he simply didn't have the money -- and had asked the court to lower his obligation ... but that was denied.

Now, the two sides have struck a deal in which Bob has agreed to hand over $75k before Nov. 11 ... or face the consequences in court.

In addition to the $75k, Bob has also agreed to pay $1,000 per month for the next 12 months -- before reverting back to the original $2,142.

Dennis Quaid's wife, Kimberly Buffington-Quaid, has filed for legal separation ... but sources tell us it's only a formality and the legal docs will be changed to a full-on divorce in several months.

Kimberly is asking for joint legal and sole physical custody of the couple's 4-year-old twins. She's down with Dennis getting visitation.

Kimberly, who's repped by disso-queen Laura Wasser, also wants spousal support and attorney's fees.

Kimberly filed for divorce in March but withdrew her petition 2 months later.

A source connected with the couple say "Kimberly is fed up with Dennis' cheating and wants out of the marriage." The source added, "He's not a good husband."

Here's the snag. They moved to California during the summer, and there's a 6-month residency requirement before someone can file for divorce, so she has to wait it out a few more months before pulling the trigger.

As you know, the couple has been through a lot. The twins almost died shortly after birth because they were given a massive overdose of a drug at the hospital.

Dennis and Kimberly have been married for 8 years.

Rupert Sanders has proven ... you CAN bang a hot Hollywood actress behind your wife's back and still make it all good again ... and we have the pics to prove it.

Rupert and Liberty Ross shared a great big HUG after leaving a counseling session in Beverly Hills Wednesday. We broke the story ... just weeks after the Kristen Stewart cheating scandal broke, Liberty and Rupert were seeing the counselor.

We also told you ... Liberty went to see a divorce lawyer after the story broke but she has not pulled the trigger and wants to save the marriage.

Our sources say Liberty has laid down some ground rules for any reconciliation ... which includes an extramarital banging ban.

Judging by the hug, it seems they're making some serious progress ... but neither Rupert nor Liberty was wearing a wedding ring at the time of the embrace. They arrived and left separately.

Seems to be the season for forgiveness ... just a few days ago, Robert Pattinson was photographed hangin' out with Kristen.

Another positive sign for Kobe Bryant's marriage -- the NBA star took his estranged wife Vanessa out on a romantic lunch date today ... and they totally SPLIT A SANDWICH & SOUP COMBO MEAL!!!

The two rolled in to the PDM Bakery and Cafe in Newport Beach, CA this afternoon looking and acting very coupley -- despite the fact their divorce is still pending.

Sources tell us ... Kobe and Vanessa split the Tuscan chicken sandwich (served hot) and tortilla soup combo meal -- and washed it down with a pair of iced teas.

We're told the Bryants hung out at the restaurant for about an hour ... and couldn't have been nicer.

Vanessa filed for divorce back in December ... but it seems like they're all but reconciled these days. Not only did Vanessa support Kobe in London during the Olympics, she also attended the Lakers pre-season game last night.

Dr. Paul Nassif's lawyer tells TMZ, his client absolutely, positively did NOT inflict the bruises and marks depicted in disturbing photos released by Adrienne Maloof's personal chef.

Adrienne's chef Bernie Guzman -- who has appeared on several episodes of "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" -- just posted the eight photos on his Facebook page, strongly insinuating Paul is responsible for the injuries.

Bernie wrote several messages on his wall as he posted the photos, saying, "ADRIENNE MALOOF WAS PUSHED TO THE GROUND. PUNCHED & BEATEN ... HE IS A BEAST."

Bernie goes on: "THIS IS ABOUT SAVING THE LIFE. OF A MOTHER AND HER CHILDREN ... EVERYONE NEEDS TO SEE THESE PICTURES ... NOW!"

Dr. Nassif's lawyer, Marty Singer, tells TMZ, "Any suggestion that the photos show my client struck Adrienne Maloof is a complete fabrication." Singer goes on, "No physical assault ever occurred."

Dr. Paul Nassif wants way more than the custody arrangement he just settled for -- which gives Adrienne Maloof the lion's share of time with their 3 kids -- we've learned he's gunning for a 50/50 split.

We broke the story, Nassif and Adrienne Maloof reached a temporary deal Monday ... in which Adrienne gets weekdays and every other weekend with the children.

As part of the deal, Maloof agreed to drop the temporary restraining order against Nassif that barred him from interacting with the kids without a monitor present.

Short story -- while Adrienne's allegations were pending, Paul was in a tight spot. Although he denies the claims ... he had to cut a deal now, or not see the kids.

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ ... Paul is getting his ducks in a row to fight any lingering allegations against him, and he's going back to court in January with the end game of joint custody.

Adrienne Maloof and her estranged husband Paul Nassif have settled their nasty custody battle, TMZ has learned -- and Adrienne gets the lion's share of time with the children.

Sources close to the warring couple tell TMZ, Adrienne gets weekdays and every other weekend with their three sons. Paul gets to see them every other weekend, overnights included.

Paul and Adrienne were set to battle out their custody dispute in court tomorrow, but we're told they've already called a truce -- and both sides are happy with the new arrangement.

As for the messy allegations coming from both sides -- including allegations of child abuse -- we're told Paul and Adrienne have agreed to employ full-time security to watch over the children at all times.

10:02 AM PT -- Sources close to the couple tell TMZ, the custody settlement is only temporary. Paul and Adrienne will revisit the agreement in 90 days when they plan to implement a permanent schedule.

We're told Adrienne is happy the kids have "one primary home" but is glad they still get to see their dad.

Adrienne Maloof has no problem overlooking Chris Brown's violent history -- telling TMZ she LOVES him -- even as she's accusing her estranged husband of abusing their children.

Maloof -- who is knee deep in a nasty divorce with Dr. Paul Nassif -- was outside B.O.A. Steakhouse Friday night ... when we asked the question on everyone's mind ... what she thinks of Rihanna and Chris Brown reuniting?

Maloof skirted the question at first, but finally says ... "I love Chris Brown, he's very talented. My children love his music. He's awesome."

Interesting comment ... considering Adrienne is getting ready to square off with Paul in a child custody dispute filled with allegations of violence against their 3 boys.

As TMZ reported, Adrienne was recently awarded temporary custody of the kids when she accused Paul of physically abusing them -- a claim Paul adamantly denies.

"Two and a Half Men" star Melanie Lynskey -- who plays the neighbor Rose on the show -- has filed for divorce from her "Always Sunny in Philadelphia" star husband Jimmi Simpson, TMZ has learned.

Melanie filed the docs on September 25th in L.A. County Superior Court, citing "irreconcilable differences."

The couple was married in 2007 and have been separated since April 2012. They have no minor children.

According to the divorce docs, both Melanie and Jimmi have waved their rights to spousal support.