REESE’S 21-YEAR FAMILY FEUD OVER!
The star’ s joy as her parents put biga my and scandal behind them to reunite
It was the news Reese Witherspoon never thought she’d hear – after her parents’ split in 1996, amid
accusations of infidelity, alcohol abuse and wild spending by her father, Dr John and Betty Witherspoon have put their differences aside and reunited.
Even sweeter for Reese, not only is their near-50year marriage back on track, but it also ends the bigamy scandal that erupted when John tied the knot with another woman in 2012, despite still being legally married to Betty!
The Big Little Lies star’s parents have exclusively revealed to Woman’s Day they are happily living back in the family home after more than two decades spent apart.
Outside St George’s Episcopal Church in Nashville earlier this month, just minutes from their $1.3 million home, the couple spoke to us as they left the Sunday service.
“He has moved back in with me,” Betty, 69, tells us when asked about their relationship. “I don’t have any lawsuit. I’m still married, we have been for 48 years. It’s been quite a while. I don’t really know when we got back together.”
Reese, 41, filed for an emergency conservatorship for her father, 76, who suffers from dementia, after growing concerned about his new romantic relationship and deteriorating health.
Troubled waters
After John’s 2012 wedding to Tricianne Taylor, Betty sued for bigamy. In the affidavit, she revealed that while she and John had been living separately for 16 years because of his “alcoholism, infidelity, overspending and hoarding”, she did not want a divorce.
“The petitioner still loves her husband,” it reads, “and is concerned about the respondents’ mental health. He suffers from depression ... and has a problem with spending. He has at least five motorcycles, at least five boats and other properties.”
Betty accused Tricianne of taking out loans as “Mrs John Witherspoon” and changing her husband’s will. However, court papers show the case was dismissed in 2012, when Betty dropped her lawsuit and reunited with her husband.
Oscar-winner Reese is said to be overjoyed at her parents’ reunion. The pair caught up over Christmas and they may even renew their wedding vows at the local church. “They are both very well thought of in the community,” a source close to the Witherspoon family tells us.