Larry King Seeks Eighth Divorce
TV personality Larry King is seeking his eighth divorce.
April 14, 2010 — -- Breaking news, courtesy of Larry King: the veteran media personality is getting his eighth divorce.
King, 76, filed for divorce from Shawn Southwick, 50, today in Los Angeles Superior Court, citing "irreconcilable differences" and asking for joint custody of their children.
TMZ quoted King's lawyer, Susan Carter, as saying, "It's a very sad day in Larry's life and he hopes the divorce will be amicable. Larry loves his children very much and will be an integral part of their lives."
Shortly after, Southwick filed her own divorce papers through her lawyer, Joseph Mannis. She also cited "irreconcilable differences" and asked for primary custody of their kids along with spousal and child support.
ABCNews.com's requests for comment from Carter and Mannis were not immediately returned.
King and Southwick were married in a hospital room in 1997 just before he underwent surgery to clear a clogged blood vessel. They have two sons -- Chance, born March 9, 1999, and Cannon, born May 22, 2000.
Rumors of trouble between King and Southwick swirled in 2008, when reportedly she checked into rehab. At the time, King's spokesman, Howard Rubenstein, denied reports that their marriage was on the rocks.
"He only has good feelings about her. He's deeply concerned about her well-being. He has enormous affection for her. He denies berating her," Rubenstein told The New York Daily News.
"She is not anorexic. Nor has she been diagnosed as depressed," he added. "She has taken medications because of her migraine headaches that she's had since she was a young girl. She developed a dependency on painkillers as a result of being prescribed medication for the migraines."
King has been married eight times to seven women. In 1962, King divorced Alene Aknis, then remarried her in 1967 before divorcing her again in 1972.
According to The New York Daily News, during Southwick's 10th anniversary in her marriage to King, she boasted that she was "the only [wife] to have lasted into the two digits."