Skip to Content

Hollywood leading man Michael Douglas and his actress wife Catherine Zeta-Jones have been quietly taking a break from their 12-year marriage, though they have not yet filed for legal separation or initiated a divorce action.

Shortly after PEOPLE went public with a cover story, the decidedly-private celebrity duo issued brief statements through their publicist’s Cece Yorke and Allen Burry. Both confirmed, “The two are taking some time apart to evaluate and work on their marriage.”

The A-list couple last appeared together in April, and have been seen vacationing separately with their two kids during the ensuing months.

She wed her 25-year older husband during a lavish nuptial affair at Manhattan’s Plaza Hotel in 2000 and they renewed their vows in 2010 while he was battling stage-four throat cancer.

Zeta-Jones, 43, supported him during his health issues and he, in turn, supported her when she struggled with medication imbalances associated with bipolar II disorder.

Things seemed to disintegrate when he returned from the Cannes Film Festival in May, right around the time the 68-year-old actor told British newspaper Guardian that his throat cancer was caused by the sexually transmitted papillomavirus. The next day he backpedaled and claimed to have been misquoted.

Last month at the premiere of CZJ’s movie ‘Reds,’ she lamented the fact that her children, Dylan, 13, and Carys, 10, were away at summer camp. When they returned in mid-July, she and the kids spent time together swimming, body boarding and surfing at the beach near their vacation home in Canada. They are now back in New York.

He is currently yachting off the coast of Sardinia and has remained silent. According to the newest PEOPLE cover, the marriage has crumbled:

Photos: WENN, PEOPLE