Celebrity Divorce

Matt Lauer says he and Giada De Laurentiis never banged ... and reports saying otherwise are flat-out false.

Lauer was heading out of the LAX Saturday when he put the rumors to rest ... telling a photog the reason they've been spotted together in the past was only due to their long-time friendship.

Matt -- who was cool as a cucumber, even in the rain -- was unequivocal about the bogus story. Giada has also said the story was made up.

The "Today" anchor feels bad about what Giada's going through .... her husband has filed for divorce.

Lauer did give us a scare ... it looked like he was getting on the Hertz Shuttle.

Nicholas Sparks and his wife may have announced their separation this week, but they are so far down the road to divorce she's already bought her own house ... TMZ has learned.

Catherine became the owner of a $1.1 million mansion on December 9. It's 2 1/2 miles from the Sparks family home, which makes sense ... they have 5 kids together. The house sits on 4 acres of lakefront property.

As TMZ reported ... Nicholas and Catherine signed a "postmarital agreement" back in August, which indicates they have reached a property settlement deal. They both waived their right to alimony.

Turns out famed author Nicholas Sparks didn't suddenly decide this week to end his 25-year marriage ... it looks like the deed was done months ago, and there are BIG financial repercussions.

TMZ has obtained a "postmarital agreement" filed by "The Notebook" author and wife Catherine back in August. They agreed neither would seek alimony from the other.

They acknowledge neither has a claim on the assets the other accumulates after their separation.

What's pretty clear is this ... they seem way more than "separated," which is what they told People. The document was signed after a quarter century of marriage, and it seems obvious ... Nicholas and Catherine decided last Summer their marriage was over.

Here's what it smells like ... they worked out a property settlement agreement and Catherine got a big chunk of change.

Famed author Nicholas Sparks has separated from his wife after 25 years of marriage.

"The Notebook" author told People, "This is, of course, not a decision we've made lightly. We remain close friends with deep respect for each other and love for our children."

The Sparks have 3 sons and twin daughters, between the ages of 12 and 23.

The language, "we remain close friends" sounds like more than a separation.

We checked and so far there's no evidence anyone has filed legal docs to end the marriage.

Lil Wayne's baby mama Toya Wright is about to be single once again ... because TMZ has learned she's separated from music producer hubby Memphitz ... and they're now living 2,500 miles apart.

According to our sources, Wright (who has a kid with former husband Lil Wayne) and Memphitz have been having big problems ... Memphitz recently moved to LA, leaving her behind in ATL.

We're told Memphitz -- who appeared with Toya on the BET reality show "Toya: A Family Affair" -- no longer wanted to be part of a "celebrity marriage." For him, it's now all about career.

The couple has been married since 2011. Neither side has filed for divorce yet ... but we're told Memphitz will let Toya file the papers. He's made it clear ... reconciliation is NOT in the cards.

As for rumors Memphitz knocked another woman up, not so ... apparently he had a vasectomy years ago.

The more you know.

Slash's rock and roll fortune could soon be sliced in half ... TMZ has learned he didn't have a prenup and his wife is gunning for half.

Sources close to Perla Ferrar tell us she's already hired a lawyer to figure out exactly how much money Slash has earned since their 2001 marriage. The lawyer and at least one pencil pusher are assessing real property, album sales and other assets.

Perla never knew specifics ... but she believes he's made 10s of millions of dollars since they married, and she's entitled to 50%.

She can't touch the G-N-R loot pre-marriage -- which is enormous -- but her claim is anything but chump change.

Slash has released 5 albums since they wed, including one with his band Velvet Revolver that went double platinum.

As we previously reported ... Slash filed for divorce last week, but that doesn't mean the fat lady has sung. He did the same thing in 2010 and withdrew his petition 2 months later.

We're told this time around Perla believes Slash has moved on -- he's already dating someone and has destroyed any chance of a reconciliation.

Warren Sapp ain't out of his ex-wife's doghouse yet ... at least according to court docs which show the NFL legend has still not paid more than $3 million in back support ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Here's the deal ... Sapp filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy back in 2012 ... and all of his many, many debts were made public.

One of those debts is owed to Jamiko Sapp ... the mother of two of his children ... who claimed Warren owed $3,104,207.20 in "domestic support obligations."

Well, according to new docs filed Monday in Florida bankruptcy court, Warren has only repaid $8,236.85 ... less than 1% of the debt.

Meanwhile, Sapp is still living pretty high on the hog ... making $100k bets with rappers and test-driving fancy cars.

The list of celebrities who filed for divorce last month is a mile long and at the bottom of that list ... is Angel McCord ... because hers was one of the last we uncovered.

McCord, best known for being the sister of AnnaLynne McCord, was only married to hubby Brett Donowho for four months before separating in September.

According to court docs, Donowho filed the divorce papers on December 11 and since they were together so briefly, with no kids ... this one should be settled quickly.

Grab your scorecards -- Chris Rock, Jeremy Renner, Giada de Laurentiis, Slash, Elon Musk and even John Schneider all got their 2014 divorces in just under the wire -- days, in some cases hours, before New Year's Day.

Taye Diggs and Idina Menzel took their sweet time pulling the plug on their marriage -- nearly a year after separating no divorce papers were filed -- but the couple finally, and secretly, did the deed.

Diggs and Menzel announced their split in December 2013, but according to court docs obtained by TMZ ... there was no further action until November, when Taye filed the divorce petition in New York.

Looks like they hammered out all their issues -- child custody and divvying up assets -- during the delay ... because the divorce was quickly finalized on December 3.

Diggs and Menzel were married for 10 years and have a five-year-old son named Walker.

Jennifer Lopez hasn't been Jennifer Lopez for a long time, but she's Jennifer Lopez again. We'll explain.

It turns out ... JLo legally changed her name to Jennifer Muñiz when she married Marc Anthony (his real name is Marco Muñiz) and she never changed it back. The couple filed for divorce in April 2012, but it didn't become official until June 2014.

And JLo remained Muñiz until December 31, when court docs show her name legally reverted back to Jennifer Lopez.

Nikki Reed will be living on her own -- now that her divorce from ex "American Idol" contestant Paul McDonald is finalized -- but she'll still have a guard dog by her side.

According to the final judgment in their split ... the biggest asset Paul's leaving the marriage with is the couple's Nashville home. Which is nice ... Music City for the music guy. Makes sense.

Nikki, on the other hand ... gets THREE other homes AND their "security dog" -- a German Shepherd named Enzo.

In the docs, Paul and Nikki agreed to waive off any spousal support.

One last thing ... cars. Nikki gets THREE of 'em -- a Range Rover, a Toyota Tundra, and a Toyota Rav4. The docs make no mention of a vehicle for Paul.

Good news for Uber.

Elon Musk is pulling the plug for the second time on his marriage to Talulah Riley -- and she's leaving with a $16 million payday.

The CEO of Tesla Motors and his actress wife originally married in 2010 and split 2 years later. Talulah got a $4.2 million settlement that time.

The couple reconciled in July 2013, but like so many others -- Chris Rock, Slash, Giada de Laurentiis, Jeremy Renner -- Elon apparently wanted a fresh start in 2015 ... since he filed today on New Year's Eve.

A spokeswoman for Musk and Riley said he's agreed to pay her $16 million for this settlement.

Slash jumped the deadline issued by his wife, Perla and pulled the trigger on divorcing her ... TMZ has learned.

Slash filed divorce docs in L.A. on Tuesday ... citing irreconcilable differences. He lists their date of separation as June 15th, and is requesting joint physical and legal custody of their boys ... 12-year-old London and 10-year-old Cash.

They've been married since Oct. 2001.

TMZ broke the story ... Perla flew to Hawaii -- with their sons -- on Sunday night and told the guitar god he had until New Year's Day to clean up his issues.

Slash also filed divorce docs in 2010, but withdrew his petition two months later when he and Perla worked things out.

Lightning rarely strikes twice.

Add Jeremy Renner to the rash of holiday season break-ups -- his wife wants out of their marriage after just 10 months.

According to docs filed earlier this month, Renner's wife Sonni Pacheco is seeking the split over irreconcilable differences -- but get this ... she's demanding he return her stolen passport, birth certificate and SS card.

The couple just copped to their secret marriage back in September ... and every indication is the break-up will be nasty.

In her divorce docs ... Pacheco says they have a prenup, but adds it should be torn up because it was based on fraud. There's no further detail about what she means by "fraud."

Pacheco wants the moon ... she's asking for spousal support and physical custody of their 1-year-old daughter, Ava Berlin. She's also looking to use the Range Rover until the smoke clears, and for Renner to pony up her rent and moving expenses.

Chris Rock filed for divorce from his wife of 19 years for one simple reason ... he wasn't happy in the marriage, sources directly connected to the couple tell TMZ.

One source says this will be a "simple divorce" and that there is no third party involved -- Chris just did not want to continue in a marriage that was not fulfilling.

Although our sources say the divorce won't be contentious ... obviously there is some bad blood. As TMZ previously reported ... Rock complained Malaak has been preventing him from seeing their 2 daughters -- and he is asking for shared legal and physical custody.

Malaak issued a statement making it seem like they jointly came to the decision to split -- but Chris' people fired back ... making it clear HE was the one who filed for divorce.

Slash's marriage is on the rocks -- TMZ has learned his wife has hightailed it out of L.A. and is already saying they're separated.

Sources close to the couple tell us Perla unexpectedly flew to Hawaii over the weekend with their 2 boys, and threw down a deadline of sorts -- telling Slash they need to work out their issues by New Year's or else.

It's unclear exactly what the issues are -- they've had plenty of blowups during 13 years of marriage -- but one source says ... "this time it's different." Although Perla is telling friends this a separation, we're told she hasn't filed legally.

We called Slash's reps -- they haven't gotten back to us -- but TMZ broke the story back in 2010, when Slash filed divorce docs ... only to withdraw the petition 2 months later.

We're told no one's mentioned the 'D' word this time around ... not yet. That could be especially messy since Perla is Slash's manager and runs all of his companies.

Welcome to the jungle.