Kate Bosworth has announced her split from husband Michael Polish.
The actress, 38, took to Instagram to announce the breakup on Thursday morning, sharing a tender photo of the pair kissing along with an gushing tribute to love in the caption.
After several paragraphs reflecting on romance, Kate wrote: ‘Our hearts are full, as we have never been so enamored and deeply grateful for one another as we do in this decision to separate.’
While touching, some fans were left confused at the overly gushing tone of the post about the marriage breakdown, with one user commenting: ‘This isn’t real life,’ while another said: ‘Only in Hollyweird.’
The couple married in 2013. Bosworth is step-mother to Polish’s daughter from a previous marriage.
Exes: Kate Bosworth announced her split from husband of nearly eight years Michael Polish via a gushing Instagram tribute on Thursday
Kate’s rather poetic post began with two quotes, which she attributed to ‘Big Sur, 2011,’ the title of the film where they met.
‘“Do you want to split a burger?” Yes.’
‘“How ‘bout a shot of whiskey?” Hell yes.’
Kate went on: ‘The beginning is often the best part of love. Fireworks, magnets, rebellion — the attraction. The onset signals a wide open expanse of possibility. Split a burger with someone when you are falling in love, and you can die happily knowing this is your last meal.
‘Buy a bottle of whiskey and share shots, pour me a waterfall. Play that perfect song on the jukebox and dance with someone you have known your whole life, though you met minutes ago.’
‘Inherently we fear an ending. To lose what you have because you got what you wanted. To be attached to the expectation of the outcome. The great Unknown.’
‘What if we chose not to fear but instead, to love. If that most delicate and vulnerable last flicker to the flame became another type of furnace entirely.
‘Perhaps this will sound strange to some, romantic to others. To us: this is truth.
Still ‘enamored’: After several paragraphs reflecting on romance, Kate wrote: ‘Our hearts are full, as we have never been so enamored and deeply grateful for one another as we do in this decision to separate.’ They are seen during the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party above
Getting to the core of her message, the LA-born actress wrote: ‘Our hearts are full, as we have never been so enamored and deeply grateful for one another as we do in this decision to separate.
‘Together, over the last ten years, Michael and I have chosen love, every time. We hold hands as tightly today as we entangled fingers on our wedding day.
‘Our eyes look more deeply into one another, with more courage now. In the process of letting go, we have come to acknowledge that our love will never end. The connection does not simply disappear. The love deepens, the heart expands.
‘We know the 4 am calls are coming. Songs will be exchanged to communicate only what songs can do.
Kate added that the pair were still planning on working together, writing: ‘We laugh as we plan for our next movie together and are excited to share our latest collaboration.’
‘We believe the most epic love stories are those which transcend expectation. Our greatest honor has been to experience love like this, and to continue to marvel at the beauty of love’s evolution. What happens when we reach the end of something and realize … we are just at the beginning.
Still working together: Kate added that the pair were still planning on working together, writing: ‘We laugh as we plan for our next movie together and are excited to share our latest collaboration’
‘This is love,’ she wrote, finishing: ‘And we will drink that down.’
Though the breakup post felt poignant to some commenters, others were struck by the unexpectedly positively tone.
‘This sounds like Hollywood bulls***. When you love someone that much, you make it work,’ wrote one Instagram commenter.
‘Sad… but if this relationship is that beautiful, why separate? This is definitely glamorizing separation. This is not real life!’ shared another.
‘Hollywood. Where marriage in something you try on like a pair of shoes,’ one more wrote.
Others were inspired, saying: ‘this is BEAUTIFUL. They’re getting divorced by holy moly. I can only hope to be this positive about future tragedies in my life.
Mixed reactions: Though the breakup post felt poignant to some commenters, others were struck by the unexpectedly positively tone
Kate and Michael, 50, were last photographed together in January of this year, ahead of his 38th birthday.
The couple met in 2011 during the making of the adventure drama Big Sur, which she starred in and he directed.
Bosworth and Polish announced their engagement in August 2012 and married on August 31, 2013 at The Ranch at Rock Creek in Philipsburg, Montana.
‘I never even dated my husband-to-be,” Bosworth told InStyle UK at the time.
‘He said to me after just a few weeks, before we were even together, “I’m going to marry you.” He just knew.”
In June, the star described Polish as a former ‘mentor’ in an interview with InStyle, saying their ‘relationship has sort of segued now into a very firm partnership.’
‘He’s 14 years older than me; he’d been doing this for a lot longer than I had. And he just really took me by the hand and said, “We’ve got this; you’ve got this.”‘
The Blue Crush star was previously involved with Orlando Bloom from 2002 from 2005.
Way back when: The Blue Crush star was previously involved with Orlando Bloom from 2002 from 2005
Last December, it was reported that Bosworth and Polish were shopping around a ‘modern day Western’ series to buyers called Bring On The Dancing Horses, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
But Polish found himself in hot water after allegedly assaulting a crew member last fall while shooting the project in Montana, as reported by Variety.
Art director Jack Renner filed suit via a district court in Butte, Montana back in March, accusing the director of attacking him.
Polish reportedly became ‘enraged’ at Renner, charging at him and causing him to fall and hit his head. Renner suffered severe enough injuries that he was sent to the hospital.
Bosworth is alleged to have been present for the incident.
Polish’s team turned the tables, accusing Renner of being the aggressor.
Offering a statement, his attorney David Jonelis of Lavely and Singer said: ‘“The nonsense lawsuit filed by Jack Renner is simply his latest desperate attempt to take advantage of those who welcomed him with open arms into the production of Bring On The Dancing Horses’ in the middle of a global pandemic – despite his propensity for engaging in inappropriate and intoxicated conduct during the course of the production.
‘Since his pre-lawsuit efforts to extract a quick settlement from Michael Polish failed miserably, he has now resorted to filing this baseless case, in which he claims that he was somehow harmed by his own off-set, after-hours attempt to assault Mr. Polish – an incident which reflected so horribly on Mr. Renner that he ultimately quit the production the very next day. Mr. Polish looks forward to disposing of Mr. Renner’s frivolous claims once and for all in a court of law.’