Sylvester Stallone and Jennifer Flavin recently made the decision to work on their marriage and reconciled after she had filed divorce paperwork in August.
Their split came as a surprise to many, but having second thoughts (and following your heart) is common in any romance, including many Hollywood love stories.
Sherene De Palma, partner of New York-based firm Hannon De Palma, exclusively told Fox News Digital that a couples’ decision to divorce can simply be due to their “outdated” agreements with each other.
“People change their minds about getting divorced for all sorts of reasons,” De Palma said. “Some of the most common reasons I have seen over the last 20-plus years of representing high net worth individuals and public figures include preserving the couple’s image and not wanting to look bad to the public, colleagues, family members and friends.”
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Sylvester Stallone and Jennifer Flavin called off their divorce earlier this month.
(Paul Morigi)
Flavin had filed divorce paperwork on Aug. 19 in Palm Beach County and accused Stallone, 76, of engaging in the “intentional dissipation, depletion and/or waste of marital assets which has had an adverse economic impact on the marital estate.”
At the time, Stallone confirmed to Fox News Digital in a statement, “I love my family. We are amicably and privately addressing these personal issues.”
Stallone and Flavin, 54, first met in 1988 and later married in London in 1997. They have three daughters: Scarlet, Sofia and Sistine. The “Rambo” actor was previously married to Brigitte Nielsen from 1985-87, and had sons, Seargeoh and Sage, with his ex-wife, Sasha Czack. Sage died of heart disease at the age of 36 in 2012.
However, Stallone and Flavin seemed to put their major differences aside when a Florida judge signed an order last week temporarily suspending the divorce proceedings, giving the couple time to reach a resolution on their own terms.
Sylvester Stallone has three daughters (L-R) Scarlet Rose Stallone, Sophia Rose Stallone and Sistine Rose Stallone with wife Jennifer Flavin.
(Matt Winkelmeyer)
“The Parties agree that it is in the best interests of each of them individually, and more importantly collectively as a family, to resolve all issues attendant to the dissolution of their marriage in a dignified, amicable, and private manner out-of-court,” the order stated. “Each party is satisfied that all immediate issues have been addressed to his and her mutual satisfaction in a separately executed stipulation.”
Since their nuptials, the couple acquired massive amounts of money through his movies, businesses and their real estate transactions, with Stallone reportedly worth an estimated $400 million.
“Reputation is important to all of us, but for celebrities it can be part of their stock-in-trade,” New York family lawyer Katherine E. Miller, founder of the Miller Law Group, said. “A decision to work toward repairing the marriage may well be one of the heart as well as the pocketbook.”
A source recently told People magazine that the couple still has “their differences,” but noted that “in a longterm marriage like theirs, ending it and dividing up their assets would be difficult.” Another insider added that “they are both family-oriented” and “that had a lot to do with their efforts to stay together.”
Patrick Dempsey, 56, and makeup artist Jillian Fink married in 1999. She filed for divorce in 2015, and they announced the end of their marriage in a joint statement.
One year later, the couple, who has daughter Tallula and twin sons Sullivan and Darby, called off the divorce after mending their relationship through counseling.
Patrick Dempsey and Jillian Fink intended to divorce in 2015, but reconciled. They recently celebrated their 23rd wedding anniversary.
(JB Lacroix)
“People change their minds about getting divorced for all sorts of reasons.”
“Our marriage was not something I was prepared to let go of. I didn’t feel like we had done all the work. And we both wanted to do that work. That’s where it started,” Dempsey told People in Sept. 2016. “It’s always destabilizing when you’re potentially breaking up a family, or you have a big section of your life that’s ending.”
“Many couples choose to stay together for the sake of the children, and a decision to reconcile is often driven by the belief that it will be better for the kids,” Miller said. “Celebrities have the added worry that their kids are already in the spotlight and perhaps under more than their share of pressure and that can certainly motivate a desire to keep the family together.”
For Sam Hunt, 37, and Hannah Lee Fowler, their divorce was over almost as soon as it was filed.
Fowler first registered paperwork against her husband in February 2022, and claimed that the country star had been “guilty of inappropriate conduct.” In her filing, which she withdrew and refiled in another county on the same day in Tennessee, she revealed she was pregnant with the couple’s first child.
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Sam Hunt and Hannah Lee Fowler married in 2017, and she attempted to divorce the country star earlier this year, but rescinded the paperwork.
(Jeff Kravitz)
“There is also the case of wishing to maintain the family for career and personal reasons,” De Palma said. “Staying together can also be more economically sound as opposed to having to do a ‘business divorce’ to separate joint assets and martial property.”
Fowler gave birth to their first daughter, Lucy Lu, in May, nearly one month after she called off her divorce from Hunt. He addressed how much fatherhood has changed his life during a concert in June.
“I think being out here, and in the music business and being out on the road has sort of hardened my heart. My heart’s definitely a lot harder in a lotta ways since I left that small town. It’s amazing how that little girl melted that all away overnight a couple of weeks ago,” Hunt said, on the verge of tears.
“I’ve been filled with a lot of gratitude these past couple of weeks. I just want to say up here on the Ryman stage how grateful I am to have been a part of country music for the last 10 years.”
Cardi B and her husband, Offset, have weathered through many relationship storms since they secretly married in September 2017.
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She confirmed she was pregnant with their first child during her first sting on “Saturday Night Live” in April 2018, and gave birth to their daughter, Kulture Kiari, in July.
Five months later, she revealed in an Instagram video that she had split up with the rapper after more than one year of marriage amid rumors of infidelity.
Offset and Cardi B have broken up multiple times, but ultimately stayed together for the sake of their family.
(Steve Granitz)
“It’s nobody fault. I guess we grew out of love, but we are not together anymore,” she said at the time. “I don’t know, it might take time to get a divorce, and I’m going to always have a lot of love for him because he is my daughter’s father.”
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On Dec. 14, he made a public apology on Instagram and pleaded for his wife to come back into his life.
“I only got one birthday wish, and that’s to get my wife back, Cardi,” he said. “We going through a lot of things right now, a lot of things in the media. I wanna apologize to you, Cardi. I’m trying to be a better person. I wanna get this off my shoulders, I wanna get this off my back. I apologize to you, Cardi. I love you.”
By January 2019, the pair were back on again and working on their relationship. He was by her side when she won best rap album at the 61st Grammy Awards in 2019.
Cardi B and Offset secretly married in September 2017, and welcomed their first daughter in June 2018.
(Dimitrios Kambouris)
Nearly one year went by before the “Bodak Yellow” singer filed for divorce again, only to call it off in November. In June 2021, she revealed she was pregnant with their second child, and gave birth to their son, Wave Set Cephus, in September.
“From time to time, you find a couple that is about to divorce simply because their agreements with each other have become outdated,” De Palma said. “They are not the same people they were when they first met, or married, or had their children.
“When/if that couple actually updates the agreements in the relationship to reflect who they are today, even the most contentious relationship can be revitalized and live on into a thriving future.”
