Model Jerry Hall is “heartbroken” after media mogul Rupert Murdoch told her their marriage was over via email, according to The Mail+.
The Mail+ reported that Hall, 66, was waiting for Murdoch, 91, to join her in the UK when she received an email from the chairman and chief executive of News Corp.
The email said that their six-year marriage was over and that she should only communicate with him via his barristers from then on, the media outlet said, citing insiders.
“I still love him. I am devastated,” Hall reportedly told a friend, per The Mail+.
A source told The Mail+ that Hall is “truly devastated” by what has happened and “insists that it was all a bolt from the blue.”
The source added: “One day they were making plans to be together for the summer in London, then there was this message instructing her to only contact him via lawyers.”
The Mail+ sources said the couple faced difficulties in their marriage during the pandemic. Hall assumed a “gatekeeping” role to protect her elderly husband, who owns Fox News and the WSJ, from contracting COVID-19, the newspaper reported.
Hall believes that his family perceived this as her trying to cut their contact with her husband, according to The Mail+. She now blames Murdoch’s children for “souring” the marriage, according to The Mail+.
The newspaper also reported that earlier this year, there were discussions with Hall and the Murdoch family about what money she would receive when Murdoch, who is reputedly worth $17.9 billion, died. A source told The Mail+ that it was said that some family members were concerned that no further provision should be made for Hall.
Though reports say that Murdoch announced the marriage was over, it was Hall who initiated the divorce.
Hall filed for divorce from Murdoch on Friday, per Reuters, citing “irreconcilable differences.”
She sought unspecified spousal support and attorney’s fees from Murdoch, the California court filing said. Hall also asked the court to terminate its ability to be able to award support to Murdoch, Reuters reported.