Marion Cotillard is focusing on her family following the rumors that she had an affair with her Allied costar Brad Pitt.
As previously reported, Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt, 52, on Monday after two years of marriage. Amid the news, allegations surfaced that Pitt cheated with Cotillard, 40. A source on Tuesday told Us Weekly that “Marion had nothing to do” with the couple’s split.
The French actress — she won the best actress Oscar in 2008 for her portrayal of Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose — denied the claims via Instagram on Wednesday, September 21. In the post, she also revealed that she’s expecting her second child with fellow French actor Guillaume Canet.
“I am not used to commenting on things like this nor taking them seriously but as this situation is spiraling and affecting people I love, I have to speak up. Firstly, many years ago, I met the man of my life, father of our son and of the baby we are expecting. He is my love, my best friend, the only one that I need,” she wrote.
“Secondly, to those who have indicated that I am devastated, I am very well thank you. This crafted conversation isn’t distressing,” she continued. “And to all the media and the haters who are quick to pass judgment, I sincerely wish you a swift recovery. Finally, I do very much wish that Angelina and Brad, both whom I deeply respect, will find peace in this very tumultuous moment. With all my love, Marion.”
The Dark Knight Rises actress and Canet, 43, were friends for more than a decade before they began dating in 2007. They starred together in the 2003 dramatic comedy Love Me If You Dare and 2009’s The Last Flight. (Canet was previously married to Diane Kruger from 2001 to 2006. Kruger went on to date Joshua Jackson. The couple ended their 10-year relationship in July.)
“One moment you’re moving in a particular direction with a person, then one day you wake up and say: ‘She’s the love of my life.’ I never saw it coming,” Canet told The Guardian in 2011. “For me, I need to be with someone who is searching, who is wide awake.” That same year, they welcomed baby boy Marcel, now 5.
Cotillard opened up about Marcel last year. “[Motherhood] changes things because you have to organize yourself differently, and usually when I work I’m totally dedicated. And even if I’m partly myself when I leave the set, there’s something that I bring home with me,” she told Australia’s Buro 24/7. “I’m totally separating my life as an actress. It’s not that difficult.”
Still, Marcel does visit when she’s filming. “You don’t sleep anymore, but at the same time you have this strength that comes from this life that has just arrived,” Cotillard said during an interview with The Talks in March 2015. “It’s a big cliché how your priorities change, but every parent knows that sometimes there’s a thunderstorm and you look at his eyes and everything is all right. It is a revolution of everything you feel. It increases strength. It increases everything — except nighttime.”
Cotillard, who considered herself an “outcast” growing up, doesn’t just focus on acting. The Little Prince star has a passion for the environment and is a Greenpeace spokeswoman. However, she admits that it’s difficult to balance the two. In August 2014, she explained why during an interview with The Guardian — and even name-dropped Jolie. The Maleficent star is a United Nations special envoy and has been getting more involved with politics in recent years.
“Campaigning and acting aren’t compatible,” Cotillard said at the time. “That’s why Audrey Hepburn gave up acting. That’s why Angelina Jolie will give up. I’m not ready to stop yet.”
