When we’re talking about Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban’s messy divorce, please pay attention to which outlets are pushing certain narratives. One of the reasons why Kidman was able to walk away from Tom Cruise mostly unscathed is because she had the support of CAA (one of the most powerful agencies in Hollywood) and she had the support of certain media groups, including the Murdochs’ octopus-like media tentacles in Australia, the UK and America. Keith Urban is no Tom Cruise – meaning, Nicole really doesn’t have to work this divorce the same way. Most people are already on her side, and her team is doing what they need to do to keep her narrative out there in People Mag and TMZ. But! Sexism still exists, and people love to infantilize white dudes. That’s why rumors have already been thrown out there about another “reason” for Keith leaving Nicole: she works too much, she travels too much, her career emasculates poor Keith. Well, here’s an added bonus: Keith didn’t like that Nicole was taking sexy roles in movies like Babygirl. Interestingly, it’s a Murdoch-owned outlet putting this story out there.
Keith Urban was unsupportive of Nicole Kidman as she promoted her sexually explicit movie, “Babygirl” last year, multiple sources told Page Six. Kidman filed for divorce earlier this week, while Urban had already taken off his wedding ring when he performed on stage in Hersey, PA, Thursday night.
In 2024, the country crooner failed to join his wife at the Venice Film Festival as she debuted the film in August and again when it opened at the Toronto Film Festival that September.
In the movie, Kidman, 58, is a high-powered CEO who launches into an affair with her handsome intern, played by Harris Dickinson, 29, while dissatisfied with her sex life with her husband, played by Antonia Banderas, 65.
“Keith didn’t like the film and he didn’t even like Nicole promoting the movie,” said a Hollywood insider. Another source alleged that the 57-year-old Urban feared that he would be mocked because of the film’s subject.
Indeed, on July 1, the singer appeared to end an interview on Australia’s Mix 102.3 “Hayley & Max in the Morning” when he was quizzed about his wife’s starring roles with young men.
“What does Keith Urban think when he sees his beautiful wife with beautiful younger men like Zac Efron having these beautiful love scenes on TV and radio?” host Max Burford asked.”I think his team hung up on us because they didn’t want us to ask that question,” the producer added. “He’s gone, see you Keith.” His co-host Hayley Pearson said she believed they “upset” Urban because he “doesn’t like the personal stuff.”
A source, however, later told People that Urban didn’t leave the call.
What’s crazy is that Babygirl was a product of Nicole’s pledge to work with more female directors. Eight years ago, Kidman pledged to work with a woman director every 18 months. In those eight years, Nicole worked with 19 women directors. Babygirl was one of those 19 projects – Halina Reijn wrote and directed the film, and because Nicole signed on, Reijn was pretty much guaranteed financing (fun fact: Nicole was also the one to secure the rights for INXS’s “Never Tear Us Apart”). My point is that Nicole was doing all of this for feminist reasons, to get women’s stories made and to give a lot of female directors their big breaks. Do I think she also enjoyed the Babygirl script? Sure. While I wasn’t wild about the movie, I respect the hell out of Nicole for doing that role and really going for it. Very few actresses would have gone there. It wasn’t all heaving bosoms, heavy-petting romance either, it wasn’t commercialized sexiness, it was dark and awkward and weird. And Nicole did it that way too, and she honestly did some great work in it.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
