The Damaging Rumors That Put Julia Roberts' Marriage To The Test

Julia Roberts and her husband, Danny Moder, have been going strong for decades, but their marriage certainly hasn't been perfect in all aspects. From the get-go, things were complicated; they met while both were in relationships with other people (Roberts was dating Benjamin Bratt, while Moder was married) and were accused of sneaking around behind their partners' backs. Roberts admits she may have developed some feelings for Moder but denied there was an overlap. "He sorted his whole thing out, separate and apart from me. And I sorted my life out, separate and apart from him," the actor said in a 2003 interview for O, The Oprah Magazine. Fast forward years later, and they still haven't fully escaped rumors about their relationship.

Roberts and Moder faced speculation of marital woes after sources claimed that Moder often feels overshadowed in their marriage. "Danny was always of the belief that Julia [still] put her career ahead of his and he resented it," a source told Life & Style in 2023 (via Yahoo!). Another insider claimed they had slowly drifted apart and were possibly contemplating a divorce, saying, "Friends fear that after years of ups and downs, this is finally the end. It feels like they just gave up."

Speaking to Oprah Winfrey for Harper's Bazaar in 2021, Roberts admitted that she's not completely immune to these damaging rumors. "It can still hurt my feelings, because I'm so proud of my marriage," she said, noting that she and Moder had just celebrated their 16th wedding anniversary. On the other hand, she finds it amusing how tabloids are able to come up with such nonsense. "What I like is when they write, 'the $150 million divorce,' and then a week later a different tabloid says, 'the $275 million divorce,'" said Roberts. "I'm like, 'Well, somebody got a paycheck in the last week. This is getting good.'"

After 25 years of marriage (as of 2026), three children, and countless divorce rumors, it's safe to say that Julia Roberts has a good understanding of the work that goes into a lasting relationship. She told E! News in 2022 that the formula is actually quite simple. "I always say that same thing and I'm sticking with it. It's making out. Lots of making out," the actor gushed. A big part of it is being attracted to your spouse; luckily, she hasn't struggled with that at all. "He's my best friend but also the only person I want to make out with. So I think it's that combination of things," Roberts said of her husband on the "Smartless" podcast in 2025. Even after all these years, she still feels the same way about Danny Moder and considers herself lucky their paths crossed. "I don't know how — I don't know what small nation of people I saved in a former life," the "Pretty Woman" star enthused.

While a lot of celebrities swear by a long-distance relationship as a great way to keep the spark alive in a marriage, that hasn't been the case for Roberts and Moder. During the interview, she recalled a time where they had to be separated for seven weeks while she was filming "Eat, Pray, Love" in New Delhi, and Moder was tied up in Detroit. Those seven weeks felt like eternity to her. "I was lucky because I at least had the kids with me, but there was just no way [to meet up]," the Oscar winner shared. Once they wrapped up filming, they realized they just weren't built for that kind of setup. "We were like, 'Wow, that will never work.'"