How Rebecca Gayheart overcame Brett Ratner, vehicular manslaughter, and THAT nude video to find love and loss with Eric Dane
FRANCE, EUROPE: 'Jawbreaker' star Rebecca Gayheart reunited with ex-husband Eric Dane, 49, who is known for his roles in 'Gray’s Anatomy' and 'Euphoria'. The family was seen holidaying together in Europe. Gayheart and Dane got married in October 2004 and were married for 14 years, before announcing their split in 2018 citing irreconcilable differences. The former couple has two daughters Billie Beatrice Dane, 12, and Georgia Dane, 10. Gayheart sought spousal support and joint legal and physical custody of their two daughters in the divorce. Gayheart and Dane are on good terms and reportedly amazing co-parents.
The family was seen vacationing in France on Monday, August 15, 2022, four years after the couple split. Gayheart posted pictures from their vacation on Instagram. She captioned the post, “This is us, family vacay 2022.” She also included French flag, celebrating, and coronary heart emojis, as well as hashtags like “Good times” and “Eurodanes.” In the image, the 'Euphoria' actor stands in front of the rest of the family, arms stretched wide, his face filled with excitement. Georgia, Billie, and Gayheart are pictured in the background as the family walks down a street in France. In 2019, Dane stated that he and Gayheart are mates, "We’ve two youngsters. It isn’t sophisticated…it does not must be." Gayheart stated it was "tough" for them to co-parent, leaving her to do many things herself. She stated, "I’ve been parenting, 'just about solo'. With the pandemic and the social distancing, it has been tough. However, they have been right here with me in order that’s been good. It’s very constant that they have been in a single place."
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The former couple has come a long way. Previously, Gayheart had been in a relationship with filmmaker and producer Brett Ratner who has been accused by six women of sexual harassment. Gayheart, then 15, had met Ratner, then 17, on the day she moved to New York City in 1986. Gayheart’s first role was in a student short film by Ratner, and the two carried on a romantic relationship that spanned 13 years. She and Ratner got engaged in 1997.
In 2001, Gayheart was involved in a car accident that left a nine-year-old boy named Jorge Cruz Jr dead. On November 27, 2001, she pleaded no contest to vehicular manslaughter and was sentenced to three years probation, a one-year license suspension, a $2,800 fine, and 750 hours of community service. She was accompanied in the courtroom by Ratner. Later, the two ended up separating from each other for undisclosed reasons.
As for Dane, the 'Euphoria' star has struggled with severe depression and drug addiction. “It’s a very serious thing,” Dane later told TODAY during an appearance in 2017. “I felt very conflicted because I couldn’t figure out what I was depressed about, but it’s very real. And that was the scary thing when you wake up and you’re like, ‘I don’t want to get out of bed.’”
In 2009, a scandalous nude bathtub video of Dane and Gayheart with former Miss US Teen Kari Ann Peniche was leaked and posted on the now-defunct site Gawker. For many years, the 'Euphoria' star declined to publicly comment on the tape. However, he broke his silence during a 2014 interview, calling it his “one regret.” He told People, “We’ve all made mistakes. My one regret is that I got the person I love most wrapped up in all that: Rebecca.”
“We will continue our friendship,” they said in a statement to E! News at the time of their split, “and work as a team to co-parent our two beautiful girls as they are the most important thing in the world to us.”
While speaking with Glamour, Dane opened up about the video leak, “I often think about that answer I gave. And looking back now, was it a mistake? Absolutely not. Three consenting adults, one of them being my wife? I wasn’t doing anything wrong. I was most likely referring to the drug use that was alluded to in the video, and was that a mistake? Again, I don’t necessarily think I was breaking any laws and corrupting anybody.”
He added, “We were just three people taking a bath. Dane’s lawyer Marty Singer noted in a statement at the time that it was “not a 'sex tape'”, calling it “a private, consensual moment involving a married couple, shot several years ago, which was never intended to be seen by the public.”
The former couple was spotted on vacation together even after their split. Gayheart still uses Dane's last name on her Instagram handle. The vacation was surely some nice downtime for the former couple before Dane and Gayheart go back to working on different projects. Gayheart is reportedly prepping for the upcoming 'Urban Legend' movie which is in the pre-production stage, while Dane has four movies lined up. He will be seen with KJ Apa in 'One Fast Move', according to IMDb.