The National Enquirer and Star magazine apologized to Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson for claiming the couple of nearly three decades was getting divorced.
The National Enquirer said in a statement on its website:
“In the October 10, 2016 issue of The National Enquirer, we did not intend to report that Tom Hanks was having any kind of an inappropriate relationship with Meg Ryan, or that he and Rita Wilson were divorcing. We apologize for and regret any implication to the contrary.”
Star said in its apology:
“In the October 3, 2016 issue of Star magazine, we did not intend to report that Tom Hanks was having any kind of an inappropriate relationship with Felicity Jones, or that he and Rita Wilson were divorcing. We apologize for and regret any implication to the contrary.”
In a statement to Gossip Cop, Hanks and Wilson said they usually don’t care about fake stories about them but finally decided to speak up.
“No true news organization could report that our marriage is on the brink of breaking up, but American Media Inc., owner of Star and The National Enquirer, often run fabricated stories to sell their tabloids. In the past, we laughed off their cover stories of our soon-to-be acrimonious divorce because those stories were so far from true, they were laughable. But our marriage is the foundation of our family, is sacred to us, and we couldn’t allow such nonsense as we are about to celebrate our 29th wedding anniversary next April.
“For Star and National Enquirer to profit by dishonoring what is so precious to us with such falsehoods were, we decided, lies we would not put up with any longer.”
iMediaEthics has written to American Media Inc. and Hanks-Wilson’s lawyer for further comment.
Hat Tip: Reuters
UPDATE: 10/19/2016 6:54 PM EST Hanks and Wilson’s legal rep sent this statement, above, from the pair:
“No true news organization could report that our marriage is on the brink of breaking up but American Media, Inc., owner of the Star and National Enquirer, often run fabricated stories to sell their tabloids. In the past, we laughed off their cover stories of our soon-to-be acrimonious divorce, because those stories were so far from true, they were laughable. But our marriage is the foundation of our family, is sacred to us, and we couldn’t allow such nonsense as we are about to celebrate our 29th wedding anniversary next April. For the Star and National Enquirer to profit by dishonoring what is so precious to us with such falsehoods were, we decided, lies we would not put up with any longer.”