Phil Collins Responds To Rumors He Divorced His Wife Via Fax Machine

Is it all just a pack of lies? (See what we did there?)
Does this look like the face of a man who'd ask for a divorce via fax?
Slaven Vlasic via Getty Images
Does this look like the face of a man who'd ask for a divorce via fax?

It’s the stuff of music legend: After 10 years of marriage, Phil Collins reportedly asked second wife Jill Tavelman for a divorce via fax machine.

Did that really happen? In a new interview with ABC News to promote his memoir Not Dead Yet, Collins finally addressed the rumor about his 1994 split ― or “Faxgate” as he calls it.

“[It] really hurt my career, or my public persona,” the 65-year-old musician said. “And it was based on an untruth... So, I just thought it would be an opportunity just to lay it all out, and if I say it didn’t happen, I’m trusting that people will believe me.”

Collins ― whose daughter with Tavelman, Lily, is now an actress ― went on to marry Orianne Cevey, whom he met on tour in 1994 while she was working as a translator. The couple split in 2008, with Collins shelling out a reported $46.76 million in their divorce settlement, but they’ve since reconciled.

Phil Collins with wife Orianne Cevey and his daughter Lily in 2000.
Ron Galella, Ltd. via Getty Images
Phil Collins with wife Orianne Cevey and his daughter Lily in 2000.

In the new memoir, the former Genesis frontman opens up about his spotty record with marriage.

“I am disappointed that I have been married three times,” he writes, according to E! News. “I’m even more disappointed that I have been divorced three times... I’m a romantic who believes, hopes that the union of marriage is something to cherish and last.”

Before You Go

Here's Richard Gere, Cindy Crawford and some guy who deeply regrets being photographed between such a ridiculously good looking couple. (1988)

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