Nicole & Keith: No more Babygirl

I guess the summer of celebrity romance is over because pretty much as soon as fall arrived, we have our first major celebrity split of the season: Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban have been the top gossip headline since Monday when news first broke that they are over after 19 years of marriage. And the divorce rollout over the last 48 hours has been increasingly messy. But there were signs that it was headed this way from the jump. Because from the jump the reporting on their separation was that Nicole was trying to save the marriage and Keith wasn’t having it and was already living apart from her and their two daughters, Sunday and Faith. 

So that was Monday. Yesterday, Tuesday, Nicole filed for divorce with source quotes about how Nicole felt “betrayed”. And it emerged that they’d already worked out the money and the parenting arrangements weeks ago. So the split wasn’t happening in real time with the public finding out, which makes the timing of it going public that much more interesting. 

Speaking of timing, Maggie Baugh, a member of Keith’s band, posted this on Sunday. 

During his song, “The Fighter”, written about and for Nicole, Keith changed the lyrics. The original lyrics are: 

"When they're tryna get to you, baby I'll be the fighter"

What Keith sang that night was: 

"When they’re tryna get to you, Maggie, I’ll be your guitar player"

Well that’s a f-cking choice. And this is why there’s now speculation that Maggie might be the “new woman” people in Nashville believe Keith is involved with. If Keith really is dealing with Maggie, for her to put this on blast on her socials is bold AF. I’m not convinced it could be that obvious, that Maggie who is just kicking off her career, would want her first major introduction to a wider audience to be this scandalous. But then again, she’s 25 years old, of a generation raised on Instagram drama and Real Housewives. Maybe that’s an upside for those in her cohort. 

Back to the timing though, this is what I’ve been hearing from people I’ve talked to with connections to Nashville and Hollywood. Those who know Keith have told me that he can’t keep a secret and that all summer he seemed evasive about… something. Given that he and Nicole had already negotiated the terms of their separation at least a month ago, word is he was the one pushing to make it public while she was waiting for a better time and concerned about their daughters going back to school. 

Once they were settled in school, Keith was allegedly getting more impatient so one theory that insiders are going with is that he initiated the leak on Monday about their separation to force her hand. Hence her “abrupt decision” to file for divorce. 

People online are pointing to this interview that Keith did in June too – not the one where he hangs up in response to an intimate question. This is when he’s asked about how he and Nicole met. And he clearly does not want to talk about it.

@jonesyandamanda

Prior to this, Keith Urban loved chatting about Nicole Kidman with us! He encouraged it, actually. keithurban nicolekidman

♬ original sound - Jonesy & Amanda - Jonesy & Amanda

Hard to argue with the read that Keith is over it – and this had not been his energy throughout their marriage. There has never been any direction that I’ve heard of in the time he and Nicole were together not to ask about her, his marriage was never a no-go zone…until it was. 

Keith isn’t just flopping in his marriage, though. His most recent album, High, released a year ago, isn’t performing as well as his previous records. It’s not getting that much country radio play either. He’s been on tour since May and that hasn’t helped all that much. Just before that, he was also filming a new reality competition show produced by Taylor Sheridan and Blake Shelton called The Road that’s about artists competing for the chance to open for Keith. The show premieres on October 19 so – will be interesting to see if Keith does any press for it in the coming days… and how that might look. 

But also interesting: Taylor Sheridan produces Nicole’s show, Lioness, and Paramount just announced today that they’re moving ahead with season three. By the way, The Road is also a Paramount title and, well, you tell me who the more valuable talent is between these two now exes. 

None of this is looking great for Keith. And it’s not only because Nicole’s celebrity is bigger than his. Not to say he’s not a big deal but come on, she’s Nicole Kidman, she hits every demo. The custody thing though? Sunday and Faith will spend 306 days with Nicole to Keith’s 59. That’s over 80% for her. And I get it, he’s on tour, but she makes 88 movies and TV shows a year, she works a lot too. So let’s not give grace to a father’s professional commitments over a working mother’s. We just established that she’ll be back on set for Lioness. She spent the summer shooting the Practical Magic sequel. She also wrapped earlier this year on Scarpetta (which she insisted on filming in Tennessee). Plus David E Kelley’s new series, Margot’s Got Money Troubles. Season three of Big Little Lies is in pre-production. There are three other projects in development. The girl is BUSY, just as busy as he is. And now she’s single and will be parenting the overwhelming majority of the time. Almost every gossip who is also a parent would have clocked those custody numbers and side-eyed Keith. The gossip public has claimed her as their Babygirl now.