The Truth About Alyssa Milano's Relationship With David Bugliari
The following articles has mentions of sexual assault, abortion, and miscarriages.
Celebrity marriages rarely last long: Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries were together for 72 days, Nicolas Cage and Lisa Presley for three months, Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth for eight months before separating, and Cher and Greg Allman went an impressive nine days before she filed for divorce (although the pair stuck it out for another few years).
"Charmed" actor Alyssa Milano also fell victim to the celebrity marriage curse. Back in January of 1999, a 27-year-old Milano married alternative rock band singer and guitarist Cinjun Tate in a bed and breakfast. Her "Charmed" co-stars, friends, and family witnessed the ceremony. Unfortunately, they also witnessed their separation and subsequent divorce 10 months later.
But Milano never gave up on love. In fact, she continued to have loved and lost different men, until the right one finally came along: David Bugliari, a talent agent, met and married the #MeToo Movement activist after only a year of dating. The two thrived during their whirlwind romance, surviving traumatic experiences, managing their careers, and raising two beautiful children. But what brought them together, and what keeps them together?
Before Alyssa met Dave
Long before their marriage, Alyssa Milano grew up in front of millions of viewers as Tony Danza's effervescent daughter in "Who's the Boss?" In her book "Safe at Home: Confessions of a Baseball Fanatic," Milano recalls a time when she was 10 years old, walking from audition to audition with her father. In an excerpt from the book on Today, Milano writes, "On one of these walks, we ended up at an audition for a pilot called 'You're the Boss.' I didn't know what a pilot was, or much of anything special about this pilot other than that the cute guy from 'Taxi' was going to be in it ..." She landed the role and was whisked out of her home in Brooklyn, New York, and set sail for her new career in show business.
Despite acting with performers who were more experienced than she was, Milano held her own. Her performance even won her Young Artist and Kids' Choices Awards. And her success followed her into adulthood: She starred in the movie "Commando" with Arnold Schwarzenegger, "Glory Daze" with Ben Affleck, "Fear" with Reese Witherspoon, had a recurring role on "Melrose Place," and finally landed her role as Phoebe Halliwell on "Charmed."
She spent nearly three decades in the entertainment industry without a consistent partner by her side, except for her brief marriage to Cinjun Tate. Little did she know that only a couple of hours from her home state, a young New Jersian was destined to be her husband.
How Alyssa Milano and David Bugliari met
Two East Coasters found each other in Los Angeles, California: David Bugliari, professionally known as Dave Bugliari, was born and raised in New Jersey, only a state away from where his future wife was living.
By the time both of them were in Hollywood, it made sense that they'd run into each other: He was a talent agent, and she was the talent. Deadline reported that Bugliari, along with a host of other agents, left CAA (Creative Artists Agency) and formed their own agency, Range Media Partners, which counts rapper Jack Harlow, Johnny Deep, and Bradley Cooper among its clients, the last of whom is a friend of Bugliari's.
One of the other celebrities Bugliari has befriended is "This Is Us" star Milo Ventimiglia, who was working on the film "Pathology" with Milano while the two were dating. Per an interview with Steve Harvey, Ventimiglia shared how he saw the beginnings of Milano and Bugliari's relationship: "Dave Bugliari [is] a very dear friend of mine and he is also a great agent ... and so he would come to set on the days that I was filming with Alyssa ... She would get excited and he'd get excited to see her." The three developed a friendship strong enough that Milano eventually confided in Ventimiglia about her love for Dave. The actor highly encouraged their love and inspired the name of their first child, their son Milo.
They got hitched quickly
According to her "Hollywood Access" interview (via Us Weekly), Alyssa Milano has had years of heartbreak. So, it makes sense that the 35-year-old would want to tie the knot as soon as possible with her newfound love. Like it reads on Milano's website, "If you believe in something then you should do it ... Don't let anything stand in your way." And she sure followed her own advice. After Milano and Dave Bugliari met in 2007, the lovebirds wasted no time: They went on their first date a month later, became engaged in December of 2008, and married at Bugliari's family estate in New Jersey in August of 2009.
It was reported by People that for the wedding, Milano was decked out in a custom Vera Wang gown with a headpiece and veil by Maria Elena. She walked down the outdoor rose-petalled aisle to John Lennon's song "Imagine" as family and friends watched with love. Milano shared that her wedding was inspired by her Italian family's lifestyle, saying, "[We] still [eat] Sunday dinner together every week. [Bugliari and I] wanted to capture the same feeling with people passing around beautiful bowls of food and talking and laughing."
And not only were they eager to get married, but they were eager to have children. Milano writes in her autobiography, "Sorry Not Sorry," that they got pregnant after their first night of "pulling the goalie" as newlyweds. But the road to parenthood was a bumpy one.
David Bugliari stood by his wife's side through tough times
Alyssa Milano was not always ready to have children and has spoken openly about her choice to have two abortions in her 20s. On her podcast "Sorry Not Sorry," Milano disclosed that both of her abortions took place in 1993. She said she wasn't ready to be a mom but felt torn because of her Catholic upbringing. Unfortunately, years later when she was ready to be a parent, she had miscarriages. In an interview for People's "Me Becoming Mom" podcast, Milano shared that although it was devastating, she said, "It was part of the process."
In her "Sorry Not Sorry," Milano writes that while the couple was comforting each other after their first miscarriage, Dave Bugliari tried to uplift his wife. He said, "We're going to have another baby. A better baby. That baby was a Red Sox fan." Because of her husband, she was able to laugh and push on, and three months later she was pregnant with Milo, who is now 10 years old.
Milano felt that because of her previous abortions, these miscarriages were karmic in nature. In her book, she describes feeling guilty, as if she was being punished. But she learned that guilt was misplaced, and has been able to move forward and have their second child, Elizabella.
Alyssa Milano's birth experience
"The first time I met David's father, I knew what a great dad [Dave] would be," Alyssa Milano wrote in "Sorry Not Sorry." And when she became pregnant, he lived up to those beliefs, as a supportive and well-intentioned partner.
Milano told People during their podcast that she and her husband took several parenting courses prior to having their son, including how to breastfeed and how to breathe during labor. But the classes also made Milano feel pressured to give birth without any medical intervention. She planned to go to the hospital and give birth naturally.
She also disclosed on the podcast that her husband knew the birth plan and took the responsibility of following it very seriously: while she was in labor, Bugliari began to act like a football coach, trying to motivate his wife to have their son how she originally intended. But it's something he came to regret. She told People: "He feels bad still to this day that he pushed so hard for me to not have an epidural and do all of those things that would have made life so much more comfortable." But she does not fault Bugliari for encouraging their original plan. Both of her children ended up having to be C-section babies, leaving her with a scar that she wears as a badge of honor.
Alyssa Milano was mistaken for a surrogate
Alyssa Milano told People's podcast that while giving birth to Milo, she was reminded of being sexually assaulted earlier in her life, saying, "I remembered at one point really not enjoying the fact that lots of people had access to my vagina." That triggering moment mixed with the 18 hours of labor and no epidural made it a particularly uncomfortable birthing experience. But her second time around was a lot lighter.
In an interview on the "Kelly Clarkson Show," Milano shared the goofy birth story of her daughter Elizabella: Five weeks earlier than expected, Milano started having contractions. When she arrived at the hospital with her husband and her best friend Alaa, the doctors offered her two options: They could induce labor that night or wait to see if the contractions would dissipate. Her best friend told the doctors to wait until midnight so that Elizabella could be born on Beyoncé's birthday (which is a very powerful day to say the least).
To make things sillier, when the anesthesiologist came to numb her, he mistook Milano as the surrogate mother to Dave Bugliari and Alaa's baby. All three of them went along with it. After Bella was born, the two men took pictures with her as if they were her dads, which helped Milano laugh and relax. She told Clarkson, "That's a little snapshot into my life. We laugh a lot."
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
Family is their priority
While filming the show "Mistresses," Alyssa Milano left the set in Vancouver, Canada to return home. She told Entertainment Tonight that her decision had everything to do with keeping her family together: "I'm not gonna take my kids away from my husband for four months and move to Vancouver. It just didn't make sense to me." When the interviewer asked if she would ever return to scripted television, she didn't hesitate to say it would have to be the right decision for her family before anything else.
When the COVID-19 quarantine was mandated, the unprecedented circumstance brought Milano and her husband closer together. The two of them had to figure out how to take care of their children during such an uncertain time. In an interview with the BUILD Series, Milano explained that they first tried a more relaxed routine. "I think at this point we do anything that would work for the kids, but it just didn't work for the kids; my kids, they like structure, you know, that they like to know what comes next, so it was important for us to figure out some sort of schedule for them," she said. They worked as a team for their family to figure out what suited their children best.
They keep their marriage and their careers separate
The couple being united during quarantine was also a gift. Although Alyssa Milano makes career sacrifices to be with her family, her work still takes her away from them at times. But she describes in "Sorry Not Sorry" the benefits of spending time apart from husband David Bugliari, writing, "There's something to the adage that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and the distance forced us to communicate more and be creative in that communication. Each time one of us leaves, it's almost like dating again."
Milano credits another part of their marriage's success to distance — the distance between their jobs and their relationship. She told Hollywood Life, "We don't really live in LA, so I think that helps ... We both have the same sort of mentality of what we do, is what we do and has nothing to do with our relationship." Although part of her management team is with Range Media Partners, Milano is represented by talent agents from United Talent Agency.
The couple won a lawsuit against their ex-business manager
In 2017, Alyssa Milano and David Bugliari filed a lawsuit against their ex-managers at Hellie, Hoffer and Company (HHC), alleging that there was fraud, forgery, and negligence during their time together. According to official legal papers, it was alleged that the couple was left "with millions of dollars of debt and their credit in ruins" after their time with the firm.
Milano had HHC as her business manager for 10 years before learning they the company wasn't doing what they were supposed to (via the suit papers). The complainants stated that the firm never kept them abreast of their financial condition, committed forgery on financial documents, and more. All of these failings are said to have led to devastating financial losses and struggles that the couple would have to battle for years unless they won the suit.
Milano and Bugliari wanted the case to go to a jury trial. Instead, after two years of back and forth, the firm decided to settle. According Variety, Milano's attorney William J. Briggs said, "Alyssa Milano and David Bugliari have successfully settled their lawsuit against their business managers. As the case was preparing for trial, the parties reached a confidential settlement for an undisclosed amount. Both Ms. Milano and Mr. Bugliari are very pleased with the terms of the settlement and are satisfied that it has been resolved."
David Bugliari supports his wife's activism
Tarana Burke, an African-American activist and current Senior Director of Girls for Gender Equality, started the Me Too Movement in 2006. Over a decade after Burke lit the flame, Alyssa Milano brought the movement to a whole new generation of survivors. On October 15, 2017, Milano tweeted: "If you've been sexually harassed or assaulted write 'me too' as a reply to this tweet." Overnight, it went viral and turned into the widespread #MeToo.
Milano is a lifelong activist. Since the '80s, Milano has stood up for people living with AIDS, was a founding ambassador for the Global Network of Neglected Tropical Diseases, faked a sex tape to bring awareness to the Syrian civil war, spoken at Women's Marches, and was even arrested during a voting rights demonstration.
Since their marriage, Dave Bugliari has been an avid supporter of his wife's activism. For her 37th birthday, Milano hosted an online fundraiser for Charity: Water, a nonprofit organization that works to provide clean drinking water to developing countries. Her goal was to raise $25,000, and she ended up raising over $75,000 for the cause. Milano has also suggested a national sex strike to protest Georgia's abortion ban.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
How they make their marriage work
During all of her activism, their losses, and their struggles, the couple still manages to laugh. From the start of their marriage, Alyssa Milano and David Bugliari prioritized joy. At their wedding, they had laughter. After their miscarriage, Bugliari helped her laugh. And during the birth of their daughter, he got her laughing too. Milano says that laughter is the most important thing to a successful marriage, telling Entertainment Tonight, "If you can laugh with someone, you can get through anything. It doesn't matter what you're feeling, what hardships you're going through. If you can look at each other and find humor in it, that laughter, I think, binds you for life."
In Milano's "Sorry Not Sorry," she discloses a lot of personal information about her family. In one chapter, appropriately titled "David," she debunks the belief that love means never having to say you're sorry, writing that apologizing is just a part of love. "It means recognizing the things that you fail at, knowing that the person you love sees them too, and trying so hard to be better at them."
Alyssa Milano and David Bugliari are dedicated to putting in the work
It would seem, based on Alyssa Milano and David Bugliari's relationship, that the only way a marriage can last for nearly 14 years is with not only laughter, but with hard work.
The two have had to come up with more creative means of communicating, raising their children, balancing their many horses, chickens, and dogs, and keeping their careers outside of their marriage. "Divorce is not an option for me," Milano told Entertainment Tonight. "It's work and there's no one I'd rather put in the work with."
In "Sorry Not Sorry," Milano reveals that it could have been easy for the two to run from each other in the early days of their relationship. But they stayed with each other through the thick and the thin. She credits faith, love, forgiveness, and patience for keeping their relationship so strong, writing, "We are bound together, a bond that is going to take something stronger and harder than anything we've faced to sever." The family lives together in their Bell Canyon, California home.