Nicole Kidman's Divorce Photos

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Part of a series on Reaction Images. [View Related Entries]

About

Nicole Kidman's Divorce Photos, also known as Nicole Kidman Divorcing Tom Cruise Photo, refers to a reaction meme that shows actress Nicole Kidman spreading her arms and smiling in the sun, dressed in a sheer patterned pink shirt and green pants. The image is often shared with the caption, "Nicole Kidman pictured leaving her lawyer's office after finalizing her divorce from Tom Cruise in 2001." The caption can be traced back to a 2012 Daily Mail article, although Kidman herself has said that the photos were actually from a film set and unrelated to her divorce. The reaction image is often used in a manner similar to Drew Barrymore In The Rain, used to depict joy, relief and freedom.

Origin

The images of Nicole Kidman smiling with her arms wide open in the sun were reportedly taken on August 8th, 2001, the day she finalized her divorce from actor Tom Cruise. The earliest accessible record describing the images of Kidman smiling in the sun as photos of her "leaving her attorney's office after finalizing her divorce" is a July 1st, 2012, Daily Mail^[1] article about Tom Cruise's subsequent divorce from actress Katie Holmes.

However, the earliest notable post also describing the image as her being pictured after finalizing her divorce is a September 28th, 2017, post to Reddit's /r/pics,^[2] where it gathered over 7,000 upvotes in seven years.

Spread

On November 8th, 2018, Twitter^[3] / X user @wholemik reposted the images with the caption, "live every day like you're 2001 nicole kidman leaving her lawyer's office after divorcing tom cruise," gathering over 55,000 likes in six years.

On August 8th, 2019, X^[4] user @kirbymazrachi reposted the images, writing, "this is nicole kidman leaving her lawyer's office after signing the papers to divorce tom cruise exactly 18 years ago, an iconic moment in history" and gathering over 130,000 likes in five years.

On August 29th, 2021, X^[5] user @GraceSpelman posted a picture from a "divorce party" held by @LizMaupin, where she dressed up in Kidman's outfit to celebrate her divorce.

On July 7th, 2024, X^[6] user @sentient_dorito reposted a collage of the photos, writing, "just got offered a $300 rent DECREASE for my renewal 😭" and gathering over 60,000 likes in five months.

Nicole Kidman Corrects Context of Photo

On November 18th, 2024, Nicole Kidman did an interview with GQ,^[7] titled "Nicole Kidman still feels it all," during which she was asked about the photos used in the meme, among other GIFs and memes related to her. Correcting the presumed context surrounding the "divorce" images and reaction meme, Kidman said:

In this moment, I say, it is impossible not to think of a particular Nicole Kidman meme (of which there are many): she’s probably in her early 30s, and she’s standing on the pavement in a pink top, basking in the sunlight, her eyes closed, her arms out, her mouth open as if she’s letting out a deep sigh of relief. Does she know the one I’m talking about?

“Yes,” she says. “That was not me; that was from a film, that wasn’t real life. I know that image!”

The story that goes with this meme whenever it circulates is that Kidman had just left her lawyer’s office after the dissolution of her first marriage. “That’s not true,” she laughs.