Natalie Portman Ditches Ring After Benjamin Millepied Affair Rumors

Natalie Portman stepped out for a day in Sydney without her wedding ring — or her husband — on their 11th anniversary.

Portman, 42, was photographed arriving at the Angel City Equity Summit — an event for her National Women’s Soccer League team, Angel City FC — at the Sydney Opera House on Friday, August 4. She was seen walking with her hands in her pockets while sporting a grey blazer, white button-up shirt, jeans and black flats. She completed the look with black sunglasses, a black crossbody bag and statement earrings.

Portman’s wedding ring was noticeably missing from her left hand when out of her pockets.

The outing comes two months after Portman’s husband, Benjamin Millepied, was accused of cheating on his wife, with whom he shares son Aleph, 12, and daughter Amalia, 6. (The couple tied the knot on August 4, 2012.)

A source exclusively told Us Weekly in June that Portman felt “humiliated” by the allegations, noting, “Natalie believes Benjamin’s affair was a brief and stupid liaison that means nothing to him.”

A second insider, meanwhile, told Us that Portman was unsure whether she and Millepied would be able to make things work amid the scandal. “Right now, they are talking and working on it together for the sake of their children,” the source shared, adding that Millepied, 46, had “regrets” about his actions.

That same month, Portman flashed her ring during a solo outing at the 2023 French Open while watching Coco Gauff and Iga Świątek’s match on June 7. In addition to her sparkler, Portman rocked a floral lavender mini dress, which she accessorized with black sunglasses, a black purse and a Christian Dior star hat.

Portman and Millepied met on the set of the 2009 Darren Aronofsky film Black Swan, for which Portman scored the Oscar for Best Actress for her role as ballerina Nina Sayers.

“I think I was in, like, dreamland. So, it was pretty … it seemed pretty fun the whole time,” she recalled of working with Millepied in a June 2018 interview with Sirius XM’s Town Hall. “It was, like, I really got to know him and then that is when it seemed, ‘Oh, right, this is the person.’”

Portman and Millepied tied the knot one year after welcoming their son in June 2011. They became a family of four in February 2017 with the birth of their daughter.

Earlier this year, Millepied gave Us exclusive insight into how he and Portman balance their relationship and respective careers while promoting his directorial debut, Carmen. “Well, [Natalie and I] share what we’re working on, but we’re like two artists with different ambitions and interests,” he said in April. “But of course we share what’s going on, and I’m sending her a new script that I finished.”

Millepied went on to explain that working on Black Swan with his wife helped him prepare to get behind the camera. “Just being on set and seeing directors work with [Natalie] and other actors was very helpful, for sure. Seeing just how every director has a different way to achieve interesting performances,” he shared. “I think … the toughest part of the journey was really understanding why I was so attracted to making film as an artist … then now as a director and working on the script and then working with actors.”