January 12, 2009: You Know I'm No Good

Amy Winehouse's jailbird husband files for divorce.

by Jeffrey Cottrill

British jazz singer and tabloid train wreck Amy Winehouse doesn't always find love to be a losing game. Or so she says. News reports reveal that she has been cavorting in St. Lucia with aspiring actor Josh Bowman, 21. "I love it here and have never felt so happy," she told News of the World recently. "In fact, I don't think I'm ever going home." Winehouse -- who's notorious for her drug addictions and outrageous public behavior -- even claims that she's now off drugs for good.

Evidently word of her new love got around to her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil. The former video-production assistant, who's serving time in prison for a failed drug test (after a previous sentence for assault), has instructed celebrity divorce lawyer Henri Brandman to initiate a divorce.

More information on dividing marital property: Who Gets What? Yours, Mine, and Ours Avoiding Common Pitfalls Dividing Marital Property How Do Property Disputes Go Wrong?

"I can confirm that I have been instructed to commence divorce proceedings," Brandman told People on January 12, "on the grounds of Amy's adultery." Meanwhile, the Daily Mail noted the day before that Fielder-Civil, 26, may well petition for half of Winehouse's fortune, estimated to be around £10 million (or $14.85 million U.S.).

Fielder-Civil had already stated intentions to end the marriage. "I have to let her go to save her life," he told News of the World in November while Winehouse was recovering in a London hospital. He claimed he had been the one who introduced her to heroin and crack. "I am not abandoning her. I am doing this out of love," he said.

For her part, Winehouse also claims that the whole marriage was based on drugs and nothing else. She told News of the World that she would deal with the marital split after returning home from her current Caribbean vacation. "I don't know what's going on with us now," the 25-year-old star said, "and for the time being, I've just forgotten I'm even married." She also said that Fielder-Civil was "rubbish in bed" and that Bowman "couldn't be more different from my husband."

Amy Winehouse and Blake Fielder-Civil married in Florida in May 2007.

• Frequently Asked Questions about Infidelity
• After the Loving: Post-Divorce Financial Planning
• Someone Right For You

More articles     Find a lawyer      Divorce FAQs       Divorce newsletter

Tuesday, May 15
at 8 pm to 8:30 EST
Out With the Tragedy: Turning Divorce into a meaningful experience
with Allison Pescosolido and Andra Brosh, founders of Divorce Detox
Learn More

Listen to podcasts of previous TeleSeminars.