Meg Ryan is primarily known for the plethora of rom-com roles she has done over the years but the media might remember her for her alleged affair with Hollywood star, Russel Crowe after her divorce with Dennis Quaid. Despite the sparks flying between them after her separation from her husband of 9 years, the media was quick to label her as the Scarlet Woman.
Despite her being candid about the whole divorce and affair rumors, Ryan found herself embroiled in a controversy that would perhaps follow her to her grave. In the dark, Carrie Fisher, a fellow industry fellow who very candidly revealed the details of her own affair with a co-star Harrison Ford, emerged as a supporter declaring that the Gladiator star was tough to resist.
Carrie Fisher Was Supportive Of Meg Ryan’s ‘Affair’ With Russel Crowe
Meg Ryan and Russel Crowe met on the set of their box-office bomb film, Proof of Life, in 2000, and soon their co-star relationship cultivated into a budding romance. It was also a time when the news of Ryan being separated from her long-time husband, Dennis Quaid, went viral. However, unknown to many Quaid and Ryan’s marriage was broken long before the arrival of Crowe (via E! News).
But since both news clashed and were made public around the same time, the media was quick to brand the You’ve Got Mail as a cheater or rather a Scarlet Woman as Ryan herself stated to E! news. In this moment of desperation, confusion, and controversy, Carrie Fisher, her When Harry Met Sally co-star came to Ryan’s defense, stating to People,
“He’s a tough thing to resist. I was just glad I had a friend that got him. If I can’t have him, I want to hear what he’s like—at some point, when she’s willing to talk.”
Unfortunately or fortunately, neither of them ever got Crowe, for much like the 99% romances of Hollywood, Ryan and Crowe were a dead thing by the Christmas of that year (via Mirror).
Contrary To Popular Belief Russel Crowe Did Not Break Up a Marriage
After rumors of a romance between the two Hollywood stars went viral, it was alleged that Russel Crowe was the reason Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid had divorced. However, Ryan has refuted these claims on multiple occasions, even stating to E! News back in 2007 that her marriage was broken–nobody else broke it up.
Although she had claimed in the same interview that the two exes were faithful to each other, she told InStyle in 2008 (via Today),
“Dennis was not faithful to me for a long time, and that was very painful. I found out more about that once I was divorced.”
And as for her short fling and Gladiator star, the Sleepless In Seattle star added,
“I think he took a big hit. But Russell didn’t break up the marriage. He was definitely there at the end, but it wasn’t his fault. I was a mess. I hurt him, too, at the end. I couldn’t be in another long relationship, it wasn’t the time for that. So I got out.”
Contrary to what Hollywood portrays, not everyone has happy endings when it comes to romance, certainly not the famed romantic-comedy star Meg Ryan.
