Why Did Brooke Shields and Andre Agassi Get Divorced?

While the former couple was married briefly, the tennis player had a tremendous impact on Brooke’s life. Here’s why they split in 1999.

Brooke Shields is in the spotlight once again. In the new two-part Hulu documentary Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, director Lana Wilson unpacks the 57-year-old actress’s fascinating (yet highly devastating) life. From childhood stardom to media sexualization, the harrowing project gives viewers a glimpse into the events that shaped the starlet into the woman she is today.

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One such event is the marriage between Brooke and her ex-husband Andre Agassi. While the former couple was married briefly, the tennis player tremendously impacted Brooke’s life. Here’s why they got divorced.

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Why did Brooke Shields and Andre Agassi get divorced? The tennis player admitted to abusing drugs during their relationship.

In 1997, Brooke and former world No. 1 tennis player Andre tied the knot. The couple met in 1993 and shared similar experiences with childhood fame and troubling parental relationships. However, after saying, “I do,” four years later, their marriage quickly deteriorated. After two years, in 1999, Brooke and Andre divorced — and one of the primary causes was the Olympian’s substance abuse issues.

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In her 2014 memoir, There Was a Little Girl, the Pretty Baby star opened up about a startling revelation involving her then-husband. Brooke wrote that in a phone call, Andre admitted to abusing hard drugs while they were together. "He explained to me that for the first whole part of our relationship, he had been addicted to crystal meth," the actress revealed.

Brooke didn’t understand why her husband had waited so long to tell her about his substance abuse problems, considering her mother also struggled with severe addiction. The gold medalist immediately shut the Endless Love star down when she suggested they attend couples counseling. They divorced shortly after.

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Andre Agassi’s jealousy played a factor in his divorce from Brooke Shields.

Andre’s crystal meth addiction wasn’t the only reason he and Brooke parted ways. In the actress’s memoir, she admitted that her then-husband also experienced extreme jealousy.

When Brooke guest starred as an unhinged fan who put Joey’s fingers in her mouth on Friends, she recounted Andre storming off the set in a fit of rage. "He said I made him look like a fool by licking Joey's fingers,” the actress recalled. “He got in his car and drove all the way to Vegas." When he arrived, Andre allegedly destroyed all of his tennis trophies.

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Brooke Shields recently opened up about where she stands with Andre Agassi.

In Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, the actress got candid about her current relationship with Andre. "I've never reconnected with him," she revealed. "That was an important stage and relationship in my life, and I don't regret it. It afforded me a lot of space from my mother and gave me this belief in my own talent. That was one of the main beautiful purposes of the marriage.”

She also explained that she doesn’t hold a grudge against her ex-husband. “I don't know if he does that much reflection on things,” Brooke said. “People process things very, very differently, and I have come to respect that."

Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields is now available for streaming on Hulu.

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