Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have earned rare retractions from The National Enquirer and Star, who reported earlier this month that the couple was divorcing, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The retractions come after the couple’s attorney, Marty Singer, sent letters to the publications’ parent company, American Media.
The Enquirer and Star also issued apologies to the couple for the articles.
“In the October 10, 2016 issue of The National Enquirer, we did not intend to report that Tom Hanks was having any kind of an inappropriate relationship with Meg Ryan, or that he and Rita Wilson were divorcing,” the Enquirer stated. “We apologize for and regret any implication to the contrary.”
“In the October 3, 2016 issue of Star magazine, we did not intend to report that Tom Hanks was having any kind of an inappropriate relationship with Felicity Jones, or that he and Rita Wilson were divorcing,” Star’s own apology read. “We apologize for and regret any implication to the contrary.”
Star’s October 3 cover story ran under the headline, “Rita & Tom The Fight to End All Fights!” The Enquirer, meanwhile, ran an item days later with the sub-headline, “$400 million marriage crumbling over Hanks’ love for [Meg] Ryan.”
In a statement, Hanks and Wilson said that they initially laughed off the stories, but ultimately concluded that they were made up of lies we would not put up with any longer.
“In the past, we laughed off their cover stories of our soon-to-be acrimonious divorce because those stories were so far from true, they were laughable. But our marriage is the foundation of our family, is sacred to us, and we couldn’t allow such nonsense as we are about to celebrate our 29th wedding anniversary next April,” the couple said. “For Star and National Enquirer to profit by dishonoring what is so precious to us with such falsehoods were, we decided, lies we would not put up with any longer.”