For the fourth consecutive year, Kenny Chesney has won “Entertainer of the Year” at Sunday’s 43rd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards—beating out another country superstar Keith Urban.
This was the first year that fans selected the award, which received a mixed reaction from Chesney.
“This one is really extra special because long before I had a hit record, the fans always came to the shows. I want to thank you guys for voting and for being there for me,” said the singer.
Other winners include Carrie Underwood for “Top Female Vocalist,” Brooks& Dunn for “Top Vocal Duo” while Garth Brooks accepted the first Crystal Milestone Award—honoring sales topping 128 million—making him the biggest-selling solo artist of all time.
Jay Leno, Dick Clark and Billy Joel all appeared via satellite to congratulate Brooks.
Paperwork ending Renee Zellweger and Kenny Chesney’s short marriage was filed Tuesday in Los Angeles.
According to papers obtained by TV show Extra, “the judgement of nullity is entered … the parties are declared to be single persons.”
The actress and country singer married in May, but Zellweger filed for annulment just four months later, citing the marriage was a fraud. This was “not a reflection of Kenny’s character,” she said in a statement.
Renne Zellweger split from husband Kenny Chesney because he didn’t want children, Britain’s The Sun reports.
“She’s an old-fashioned girl and wanted to start a family as soon as the wedding dress was in the wardrobe,” one source told the paper. “She thought Kenny felt the same way, but it didn’t take her long to realise the dream was over.”
An anonymous friend of Renee’s backed the statement.
“Her biological clock is ticking loudly. She is desperate to have children,” the friend said. “Renee’s understanding was that Kenny wanted a family too. It was Kenny who got cold feet.”
andPOP previously reported the actress had filed for an annulment after just four months of marriage to the country singer. Zellweger cited fraud as the reason for termination.
“The usual fraud in American law is when the wife claims the husband said they were going to have children and now he won’t,” celebrity divorce laywer Raoul Felder tells The Sun.
Zellweger’s spokesman would only say: “The miscommunication of the objective of their marriage at the start is the only reason for this annulment.”
Renee Zellweger has cited fraud as the reason for annulling her four month marriage to country star Kenny Chesney.
The actress filed the court papers in California – where the only grounds for annulment are if one of the spouses was under age, already married, of unsound mind, physically incapacitated or had committed “fraud” to obtain marital consent.
Zellweger released a statement saying the term was “simply legal language and not a reflection of Kenny’s character”.
Zellweger also said she hopes the media will allow her and Chesney “to experience this transition as privately as possible”.
A source among Zellweger’s friends says she and Chesney were unable to reconcile the fact that she wanted him to live with her in Connecticut, but he preferred splitting his time between Nashville and his Caribbean home.
Zellweger’s fraud allegation is “very unusual for a high-profile case,” celebrity divorce attorney John Mayoue told E! Online.
“Fraud is a very high standard,” Mayoue says. “For a court to accept this for fraud, it’s going to have to be a very egregious situation.”
After just five months of marriage, country star Kenny Chesney and actress Renee Zellweger have announced they will annul their marriage.
Chesney’s publicist confirmed the details Thursday afternoon.
Another source close to Chesney said he received news of the annulment Wednesday while in Nashville. Zellweger, meanwhile, initiated the proceedings while in New York, CMT.com reports.
The couple married May 9 on St. John island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where he owns a house. It was the first marriage for both.
The two met at the Concert of Hope tsunami relief effort on January 15 and had a quiet courtship out of the media spotlight.
The day after the wedding, Chesney told CMT News, “I am incredibly happy. I may well be the luckiest man alive … to be so in love with someone who is so perfect for me. It’s just hard to imagine that I’m not going to wake up.”
