Salma Hayek is speaking out.
Since her 2009 marriage to wealthy French businessman François-Henri Pinault, the 54-year-old actress has faced claims and rumors that she only ended up with the Kering CEO for his cash.
Among the skeptics was actor Dax Shepard, who admitted during a recent episode of his podcast “Armchair Expert” that, at first, he didn’t understand what Hayek saw in Pinault, 58.
“I was like, oh, OK, she married a rich guy, maybe that’s why she married him, I don’t know,” the actor confessed, per Yahoo! Entertainment. “I meet him and I’m like, this guy is so foxy — oh my God, the confidence, his eyes, he’s so good-looking and charming and I was like, oh, this motherf–ker could’ve been broke. He’s a bombshell.”
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The praise kept coming, too, as Shepard, 46, called Pinault “a f–king nice, fun, generous, kind, warm guy,” who is also “super sexy.”
Salma Hayek shut down rumors that she married her husband, French billionaire François-Henri Pinault, for his money. (Photo by Jerod Harris/FilmMagic)
Hayek agreed with those sentiments and addressed accusations of gold-digging herself.
“You know the thing is that in pictures you cannot begin to guess the magic in him,” said the Oscar nominee. “He’s made me become a much better person, and grow in such a good, healthy way.”
She continued: “And you know when I married him, everybody said, ‘Oh, it’s an arranged marriage, she married him for the money. I’m like, ‘yeah, whatever, b—h.’ Think what you want: 15 years together, and we are strong in love.”
Hayek said that such claims leave her feeling “offended,” per the outlet, and noted that while some people do marry for money, rich men like her husband are subject to a certain kind of “discrimination” that sees the world deem them unworthy of real love.
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“Immediately you think because somebody’s rich, [they] might not be a good person. Might be somebody materialistic, might be somebody that doesn’t have values, might be somebody that is even stupid or that doesn’t deserve it,” she explained. “In order to have a lot of money, you did it the wrong way, there is all this preconception.”
She also admitted that she wasn’t immune to such preconceptions either.
“And I had that by the way. It was the last thing I wanted — it was not my type at all. And I came in with the preconceptions and he [melted] them all away,” admitted Hayek, who has a net worth of $200 million herself, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
Salma Hayek has an estimated net worth of $200 million of her own. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
Furthermore, she explained that Pinault isn’t “controlling” and isn’t a “workaholic” who only thinks about money.
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“My guy finishes work, no matter how hard it was — and trust me he has a lot of responsibilities — [with a] big smile on his face, happy to be home, happy to see me and the kids, make us laugh,” she gushed. “When we go on vacation he completely shuts off, he’s in the moment. And so it’s not just an insult to me — I’m not the one being judged only. ‘Oh, she’s an actor, she’s going for the money.’ They cannot begin to imagine what a joy that human being is.”
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The actress suggested that people lean into stereotypes because it “gives us comfort to have these archetypes,” but she tries to do the opposite.
“Putting things into boxes — I don’t like that, I’m a rebel,” explained the star.
The pair, who tied the knot in 2009, shares two kids together.