The Touched By an Angel star has filed for divorce from husband-director David Anspaugh (Hoosiers) after two-plus years. The couple have a 2-year-old daughter, Reilly Marie.
No comment from Downey's press rep on the split. But Anspaugh's spokesman has a lot to say--claiming the actress walked on her hubby after he was diagnosed with manic depression.
"Last month, David sought treatment through medication," veteran Hollywood publicist Elliot Mintz says, in New York's Daily News. "It was his belief that correcting this problem could go a long way toward solving their marital difficulities. He'd hoped they could move forward. Instead, she filed for divorce."
The supermarket tabloids, meanwhile, will hit newsstands next week with their version of things. The Star reports that Anspaugh resented Downey's fame. "Hated being called 'Mr. Downey,'" chimes in Thursday's New York Post. And the National Enquirer claims a Hawaiian vacation to patch things up ended when Anspaugh walked out on Downey in a restaurant. The couple deny the reports.
Says Mintz to the Daily News: "David admits that, during his depression, he probably wasn't an absolute joy to be around."
The Irish-born Downey, 34, and Anspaugh, 50, met on a blind date in 1994. They shared a home in Salt Lake City, where her hit CBS series films. And where divorce papers were filed.
Anspaugh is "shattered" and "distraught" by the break up, according to Mintz, and longs for time with his child. (Anspaugh also has another daughter from a previous marriage.)
"He has been trying desperately to talk with his wife," Mintz tells the news tab. "He is the one making the greatest effort to reach her."