Nicole Kidman has officially filed for divorce from Keith Urban after 19 years of marriage, following reports of the couple’s separation.
On Tuesday, Kidman submitted the petition in a Nashville court, citing that the marriage had “suffered irreconcilable differences.”
The Oscar-winning actress, 58, and the Grammy-winning country star, 57, who were both raised in Australia, first met in 2005 at a Los Angeles gala celebrating Australians. They tied the knot in Sydney the following year and share two teenage daughters.
Throughout their nearly two-decade marriage, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban were frequent red carpet partners — she joined him at country music awards, while he often accompanied her to major film events like the Oscars.
Court filings include both a dissolution of marriage and a detailed parenting agreement, which still requires a judge’s approval.
“The mother and father will behave with each other and each child so as to provide a loving, stable, consistent and nurturing relationship with the child even though they are divorced,” the parenting plan states. “They will not speak badly of each other or the members of the family of the other parent. They will encourage each child to continue to love the other parent and be comfortable in both families.”
According to the agreement, Kidman will serve as the girls’ primary residential parent, with custody for 306 days of the year. Urban will have them for the remaining 59 days. The children, now 17 and 14, have always lived in Nashville, and the documents suggest that will remain unchanged.
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Financial disclosures in the filing show that both parents earn over $100,000 (€85,000) a month. Neither will seek spousal or childcare support. Assets will be split roughly evenly, with each keeping what is in their own name, including royalties and copyrights for their artistic work.
The paperwork indicates the separation had been underway for some time. Urban signed the parenting plan on August 29, while Kidman signed on September 6. By Tennessee law, the divorce will not be finalized for at least 90 days.
This marks Urban’s first marriage and Kidman’s second. She was previously married to Tom Cruise from 1990 to 2001 and shares two older children with him.
Speaking last year at the premiere of Netflix’s The Perfect Couple, Kidman dismissed the notion that she and Urban had an ideal relationship. “You’re heading for trouble if you consider yourselves the perfect couple,” she told the Associated Press. “I’m not a believer in perfect.”
Earlier in the year, Urban delivered a moving tribute to Kidman at the AFI Life Achievement Award ceremony, crediting her with standing by him during his struggles with substance abuse.
“Four months into our marriage, I’m in rehab for three months,” Urban recalled. “Nic pushed through every negative voice, I’m sure even some of her own, and she chose love. And here we are 18 years later.”
Kidman’s acclaimed career includes roles in Days of Thunder, Eyes Wide Shut, Moulin Rouge! and The Hours, which earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress. More recently, she has starred in television projects such as Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, winning Emmys both as an actress and a producer.
Urban, meanwhile, has been a leading figure in country music since the 1990s, with hit songs like Somebody Like You and Blue Ain’t Your Color. His career has brought him four Grammys and more than a dozen Academy of Country Music Awards.
