Sophia Bush wants to erase the one short marriage she shared with One Tree Hill costar Chad Michael Murray.
The 23-year-old actress is seeking to annul her five-month marriage to Murray, 24, according to papers filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court. Bush cited "fraud" as the reason for wanting to clear the relationship from the books.
Although magazine reports claimed Murray cheated on Bush, those who followed Renée Zellweger's split from country rocker Kenny Chesney have learned that "fraud" does not necessarily connote heinous deception. Zellweger cited it as the reason for her split and wound up having to issue a statement clarifying that "fraud" was simply a legal term and did not mean he had actually cheated or misled her. Coincidentally, Zellweger and Chesney were also married for five months, which is practically Guinness record time compared to Britney Spears, who annulled her first marriage, to childhood chum Jason Alexander, after a whopping 48 hours.
Annulments are rare in California, and Bush will have to prove her case to the court. State law reads that a fraudulent marriage means that "the consent of either party was obtained by fraud."
As with most celeb splits, the couple will likely have the case brokered by a private judge to keep the particulars away from the public.
Bush and Murray's match made on the WB began three years. While Bush's One Tree Hill character, naughty cheerleader Brooke, pined for Murray's serious high school athlete, Luke, the actors hit it off behind the scenes and became engaged in July 2004, after less than a year of dating. Murray popped the question in Australia, where he was filming House of Wax.
The couple married in a beachside ceremony last April, but by September, with the gossip reports buzzing, they parted ways…and still had to share kissing scenes on One Tree Hill, which is now in its third season. Ouch.
"Sophia went into the marriage believing in the sanctity of marriage," a friend told People magazine in October, "and Chad simply did not share that vision."
Double ouch.
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