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Melanie Griffith has great relationships with her exes and two out of three of her exes are great people. She was married to Don Johnson twice, for a brief time in 1976 (she was quite young when they got together), then again from 1989 to 1996. Everyone knows about her relationship with hottie Antonio Banderas, who still gushes about her to the press and whom she divorced in 2015 after nine years of marriage. She was with Steven Bauer before she got back with Don, that guy is shady but Melanie says she has a good friendship with him as well. Melanie has since said that there’s no need for marriage (which may be true if you’re wealthy, but it definitely benefits people tax and insurance-wise), which is understandable after her three marriages. Closer Magazine has details about a new interview Don did (it’s behind a paywall) in which he explained his reasoning for getting along with Melanie, and I think with the mother of another one of his children. Given how close Melanie is with all her exes, I think she made it easy for him too. Don has five children from three different women: three with his current partner of 20 years, Kelley Phleger, actor Jesse Johnson, 36, with ex girlfriend Patti D’Arbanville, and of course daughter Dakota Johnson, 30, with Melanie.
Here are those quotes and Closer also has details from older interviews with Melanie and Antonio that I wanted to include.
“It’s pretty simple: when you love your children and want to share your life with them, it’s foolish to denigrate or have any animosity with their mother,” [Don Johnson], 69, explained to Stellar magazine. “Children model you more than they listen to you.”
Melanie has also been open about the good relationship she has with all of her spouses. “All of my husbands, my three husbands — I love them all so much, and we’re all very close,” she once gushed to InStyle. during an interview. Having a good bond seems to be a running theme in this family, because even [Antonio Banderas], 59, has nothing but good [things to say] about his ex-wife.
“Melanie is not my wife anymore, but I think she is my best friend,” Antonio once told People. “I love her and will love her until the day I die. She’s my family.” While the former couple had daughter Stella together, [Antonio] also helped raised Dakota and Melanie’s other child, Alexander.
This is sound reasoning. Antonio is nicer about it, he seems to be a more feeling person in general, while Don is kind of practical. It also takes two people who are mature, thoughtful and willing to work on their relationship as coparents. You can have all the good intentions but if one party is holding a grudge or doesn’t want to talk to the other one it won’t work. As for Don’s quotes, imagine if Brad Pitt took this attitude toward Angelina Jolie. We wouldn’t be getting all these BS sniping stories about her in the press and I’m sure he would have saved hundreds of thousands in legal fees.
photos credit: Getty
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