Julia Roberts and Danny Moder: The love story that threatened to tarnish the image of America's Sweetheart
With her girl-next-door looks and dainty persona, it was just a matter of time before actress Julia Roberts earned the coveted title of 'America's Sweetheart'. The 'America's Sweethearts' actress was at the peak of her fame in the early '90s to 2000s, thanks to her string of successful films. Alongside her films, even her dating life was booming. Roberts dated a huge list of men while she was still sitting pretty on top of her success. From Keifer Sutherland to Liam Neeson, the actress seems to have dated many successful men during her time.
However, one particular relationship nearly tarnished her carefully created image of 'America's Sweetheart'. Her relationship with current husband Daniel Moder has a very shady beginning. The actress was dating actor Benjamin Bratt, when she crossed paths with cameraman Daniel Moder on the sets of 'The Mexican'. While Roberts was in a serious committed relationship with Bratt for over four years, Moder was married to a woman named Vera Steimberg. But that didn't come in the way of them falling for each other. While the couple was still with their respective partners, they began having an affair.
As soon as Bratt caught wind of his girlfriend cheating on him, Roberts and he had a very nasty breakup. According to reports, although Roberts always claimed that she walked out of their relationship because Bratt wasn't ready to settle down, the truth was Bratt wanted to settle down and have children with the actress but she reportedly refused. Things didn't end well for Moder either. His wife, Vera, filed for a divorce after she found out about his extra-marital affair with Roberts. Radar Online reported that Roberts even paid Vera a whopping $100,000 to urge her to divorce Moder.
During this time, Roberts earned the title of "homewrecker" for breaking Moder's marriage. But it seems like she didn't care much about what tabloids talked about her, for the 'Pretty Woman' actress was spotted wearing a shirt, which seemed to throw shade at Moder's wife Vera. In 2001, the actress was spotted running around town in a t-shirt that read "A Low Vera". If you thought the actress would apologetic about her questionable fashion choice, you couldn't be more wrong. Later in an interview with Oprah Winfrey's O magazine, the actress firmly defended her t-shirt and its shady slogan. She said, "I stand by my shirt," pointing the finger at the tabloid press who "dramatize these things until there's a state of frenzy. People see frenzy and they go, 'What?' Then they clamor toward the frenzy. We all do it. It's a primal, natural response."
This wasn't the first time for the 'Notting Hill' actress to use her style to throw shade at people. In the past, the actress broke her engagement to Kiefer Sutherland after she found out he was cheating on her. Following their split, the actress is said to have thrown shade at Kiefer by seeking comfort in the arms of his best friend, Jason Patric. On the eve of their what would have been their wedding date, Roberts turned up to a photoshoot wearing Patric's shirt and his baseball hat.
Moder and Roberts eventually got married in July 2002 after his divorce to Vera was finalized. The couple shares three children together and seems to be happily married. In Gwyneth Paltrow's podcast, Roberts revealed that her husband is still her "favorite human". Although the couple had a rocky start to their relationship, they seem to be happy and content with their marriage.