I'm not going to say I told you so … but Idid speculate that poor Maria Shriver might have walked out on Arnold because he was a womanizer.
Now comes the news that Schwarzenegger fathered a child with a woman who was a longtime member of the couple's household staff.
"After leaving the governor's office, I told my wife about this event, which occurred over a decade ago," Schwarzenegger said Monday night in a statement issued to The Los Angeles Times after the paper began questioning him about the incident. "I understand and deserve the feelings of anger and disappointment among my friends and family. There are no excuses and I take full responsibility for the hurt I have caused. I have apologized to Maria, my children, and my family. I am truly sorry."
Truly sorry. Full responsibility. And yet … who moved out of the couple's mansion when all of this came to light? Maria, not Arnie. A source told The Daily Beast, "She asked him to leave the house and he refused."
At least he seems to have done the right thing for the child, who was born before the Gov's first run for office, in 2003: Schwarzenegger has always provided financial support. How was he able to do that without Shriver finding out about it? "They always had separate bank accounts," The Daily Beast's source said. "They did not co-mingle their money ... Maria felt strongly that if she had her own money she could always walk out the door if something happened. But when you have separate bank accounts, it's very easy to keep secrets from one another."
The woman with whom Schwarzenegger had the affair retired in January, after twenty years of working for the couple.
What a week for male politicians and women employed in a domestic capacity. I have to wonder if Schwarzenegger's staffer enjoyed their affair or felt forced into it, and also how long it went on. It's interesting that she remained employed for nearly ten years after fathering a child by him.
Stay In The Know
Marie Claire email subscribers get intel on fashion and beauty trends, hot-off-the-press celebrity news, and more. Sign up here.
And poor Maria. Happy couples are all alike, as Tolstoy might say — but, man, there are a lot of crazy things that go on in the lives of the unhappy ones.
-
'Baby Reindeer' Is Netflix's Latest Viral Hit—Will It Get a Season 2?
The miniseries from Richard Gadd has a very definite ending.
By Quinci LeGardye Published
-
The Best Unisex Perfumes Were Made to Be Shared
Yours, mine, and ours.
By Sophia Vilensky Published
-
The Spice Girls’ Mini-Reunion at Victoria Beckham’s 50th Birthday Party Is a Precursor for a Forthcoming Tour, Sources Say
“I’ll tell you what I want, what I really, really want”...is this to be true.
By Rachel Burchfield Published
-
COVID Uncoupling
How the pandemic has mutated our most personal disunions.
By Gretchen Voss Published
-
They're Single. They're Straight. They're Friends. And They're Having a Baby.
You want a child. You don’t want to do it alone. What do you do? For an increasing number of women, the answer is raising a kid with their BFF.
By Sarah Treleaven Published
-
My Husband Left Me After 16 Years—So I Bought a Fixer Upper Across the Country
"This house could hold me. It had survived being abandoned, too."
By Danelle Lejeune Published
-
A Decade ’Til “I Do”
Darlena Cunha had been married for 10 years when she decided it was finally time to have a wedding.
By Darlena Cunha Published
-
5 Insane Stories of Family Drama Ruining Weddings
Because the Markles aren’t the only ones going through it.
By Megan Friedman Published
-
I Eloped at 25, Divorced at 26, and Dated My Way Across Europe All Summer
But the right guy may have been waiting for me back home the whole time.
By Elise Linscott Published
-
How the Normalization of Anal Sex Has Shifted the Conversation About Consent
And why it's more important to be having these discussions than ever.
By Gigi Engle Published
-
New Study Says Women Don't Really Care About Marriage or Baby Daddies
What even are men?
By Rebecca Gale Published