On Friday, March 24, the surprising news that Reese Witherspoon and her husband of nearly 12 years had officially separated hit the news cycle. Although the announcement likely shocked many of their fans, insiders say the split has been a long time coming. One source said the separation is partly due to Jim Toth's "midlife crisis," and none of their friends are surprised.
An insider shared details of how Reese and Jim managed their distance for some time.
Reese and Jim's breakup might have been surprising to fans but not to their inner circle, according to the US Sun.
Talking to an insider that the news outlet calls "a friend and colleague who has worked with the couple over the last decade," their split has been coming since 2021 after some significant personal changes that took place quickly.
The insider also said their split was just a matter of time.
"This process of uncoupling really began in late 2021 when it became clear to everybody who knew both of them that they were itching for life apart from each other, even though they were both celebrating the massive success of the Hello Sunshine sale to Candle Media and the hundreds of millions of dollars they personally realized from the deal," the insider said, according to the Sun.
"That money was rocket fuel to them, but it sent them in different directions, and pretty quickly after that deal closed, the only real common ground they had was the raising of their son, Tennessee."
The insider friend explained that a lot of changes over the past few years has led to this for Jim.
According to the source, over the past few years, Jim has changed a lot, and that's played a significant factor in their decision to split.
"Jim is the one who has changed massively just in the last few years," the family friend said. "Jim just isn't the guy Reese married and had a son with anymore."
With some pretty big career changes, Jim just wasn't the same person in many ways, the insider shared.
"His personality, his attitude and his whole take on life really changed when he got out of the agency business and decided he was tired of that stuffy world and being in the service business in general."
The source continued, "Call it a midlife crisis if you want but that's when the tattoos, the chunky, weird jewelry, and dressing like somebody half his age really took hold."
Following the successful sale of some of their businesses and some misses in Jim's career, they needed to reevaluate what they wanted.
"It led to the company's sale and for a real gut check moment for him and Reese — they now had more money than either of them could ever figure out what to do with, and it was time to reassess," the insider revealed.
"This divorce is the result of that process, but Reese has handled co-parenting before, quite successfully in fact, and shouldn't have any problem handling that again with [their 10-year-old son,] Tennessee."
The source concluded, "Jim will still be in her life. But he's taking the millions he personally made in the Hello Sunshine deal and he's striking out for greener pastures."
Even though the source also said Jim has "wanted this for a long time," they're still committed to co-parenting their son.
