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The abuse and addiction allegations associated with Bill Murray’s divorce were not attributed to his first wife, Margaret Kelly. They appeared in his second wife Jennifer Butler’s 2008 divorce filing. Retrospective reporting says Murray and Kelly divorced in 1996 after his affair with Butler, but no verified account from Kelly herself is established here.
Margaret Kelly was Murray’s first wife
The Independent reported that Murray married Margaret Kelly in 1981 and that they had two sons. The profile says they divorced in 1996, 15 years after marrying, following Murray’s affair with costume designer Jennifer Butler. That is retrospective reporting, not a first-person account from Kelly. The Independent’s 2014 profile identifies Butler as the woman who later became Murray’s second wife.
The 2008 allegations came from Jennifer Butler
On May 12, 2008, Jennifer Butler Murray filed for divorce in Charleston County. The Associated Press reported that her complaint alleged physical abuse and marijuana and alcohol addiction, among other claims. It also described allegations of frequent abandonment and a specific assault; the complaint did not specify instances of the alleged substance use. These were claims in a divorce filing, not findings established by the cited reporting. The Associated Press report published by the Los Angeles Times and The Smoking Gun’s account, which reproduces material from the complaint, attribute them to Butler.
The distinction matters: the 2008 filing concerned Murray’s second marriage, not his divorce from Kelly in 1996. The available reporting does not establish that Kelly made the abuse or addiction allegations.
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Murray’s attorney responded to the 2008 filing
In an Associated Press report published May 29, 2008, Murray’s attorney, John McDougall, declined to comment on the allegations. He said, “He is deeply saddened by the breakup of his marriage,” and added, “He and his wife made loving parents and they are committed to the best interests of their children.” Those remarks addressed the breakup and the couple’s children; they do not resolve the allegations.
What is reported about the allegations’ later withdrawal
A 2014 Irish Independent account says Butler later withdrew the allegations. The primary withdrawal record and its legal effect are not established in the cited coverage, so the account should be treated as a retrospective report rather than proof of a particular court outcome. The Irish Independent’s 2014 profile also distinguishes Butler from Kelly.
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What remains unknown about Kelly’s perspective
The cited sources do not provide a verified statement from Kelly about her marriage, the divorce, or the affair. They support a limited account of the first marriage’s dates and the reported reason for its end, not a reconstruction of Kelly’s private experience or a claim that she made the later allegations.
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