Before Billy Crudup married Naomi Watts, his love life was filled with a series of scandals.
In the early 2000s, the “Morning Show” star found herself at the center of the controversy after leaving Mary-Louise Parker, who was seven months pregnant at the time, for co-star Claire Danes.
Although Crudup and the Danes dated for four years, their romance allegedly ended “just as it began, in a scandalous outburst.”
Keep scrolling for a full breakdown of the nested timeline.
Crudup and Parker started dating
Crudup started dating Parker in 1996 after meeting him while starring in a scene reenactment of William Inge’s “Bus Stop.”
The couple eventually lived together, and their relationship continued to flourish for the next seven years – until Crudup met the Danes while filming “Stage Beauty” in 2003.
Crudup and Parker broke up
Crudup, who was 35 at the time, broke up infamously from the “Weeds” actress just two months before they were expected to give birth to their first child together.
“This has been tough for Mary-Louise,” a source close to Parker told People at the time. “Being pregnant together and both wanting it and now it’s happening – it was so hard.”
Parker, then 39, gave birth to their son in January 2004 and named him after his father, William.
Parker subtly hinted at the situation in her 2015 memoir “Dear Mr. You,” after keeping quiet about the scandal for over a decade.
“I realize now that everything I go through is part of my life, part of a larger story that is mostly beautiful,” she wrote.
The beginning of Crudup and Danes
Crudup not only dated Parker at the beginning of their romance, but the Danes were also in a relationship with singer Ben Lee at the time.
The couple was seen relaxing in NYC a few months after they broke up with their respective partners, despite representatives insisting they were just friends.
In the summer of 2004, the duo were “seen sniffing all over New York City” and eventually moved into a Soho penthouse together.
However, after starting their relationship so publicly, they decided to keep most of their love away from the press.
In fact, Crudup once told the New York Times that her love life “doesn’t deserve to be exploited to feed the appetites of circulation counters and bored readers.”
Crudup and the end of the Danes
The couple at the time dated for three years before Danes reportedly broke up with the “Almost Famous” actor in 2006 for her current husband, Hugh Dancy.
However, in 2013, Danes told Vogue that “dating Billy” was crucial to her growth and that it helped her “transcend” into an “adult.”
Then, in 2015, Danes gave more insight into her crush with the “Sleepers” star in an interview with Howard Stern.
“I was in love with him and needed to discover that, and I was 24,” the “Fleishman Is in Trouble” star said at the time. “I didn’t know exactly what those results would be.
“[The backlash] it was a scary thing. This was really difficult. I didn’t know how to do this. It’s not important. We’re friends – we’re friends.
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Crudup finds The One
Crudup, who took a break from the dating scene, found love with Watts in 2017 after breaking up with Liev Schreiber.
Six years later, the ultra-private couple sparked engagement speculation when Watts was spotted with a ring on it. HE finger.
The “King Kong” star announced that she and Crudup got married on June 9, 2023, after months of dodging questions about their relationship status.
Despite their difficult backgrounds, Parker wished his ex-wife and new wife “well” in an interview published on June 14, 2023 with The Guardian.
“Honestly, I wish them happiness because he is the father of my son,” she said.
“So I’m happy for them,” he continued. “I’m happy they found each other.”