American actor-director Mel Gibson and his partner Rosalind Ross have separated after nine years together, a representative from Gibson’s legal team told Reuters on Dec 30.
The representative confirmed a joint statement provided exclusively to People magazine on Dec 30 that the couple had split about a year ago, but chose not to announce the news publicly until now.
Gibson, 69, and Ross, 35, said they planned to continue co-parenting their eight-year-old son.
“Although it’s sad to end this chapter in our lives, we are blessed with a beautiful son and will continue to be the best parents possible,” they wrote in the statement.
The couple met through mutual friends in 2014 and soon began dating, but never married.
Gibson has seven children, aged 26 to 45, with former dental nurse Robyn Moore, 69, his wife from 1980 to 2011.
He also has a 16-year-old daughter with Russia-born pianist and songwriter Oksana Grigorieva, 55, with whom he parted ways in 2010.
Gibson is best known for acting in films such as the post-apocalyptic series Mad Max (1979 to 1985) and buddy cop series Lethal Weapon (1987 to 1998).
He is also renowned for directing films such as historical war drama Braveheart (1995), which won Best Picture and Best Director Oscars, biblical drama The Passion Of The Christ (2004) and war drama Hacksaw Ridge (2016), which earned him a Best Director Oscar nomination.
Ross is a former equestrian vaulter who made her directorial debut with the biographical drama film Father Stu (2022), starring American actor Mark Wahlberg. – Reuters
