At her first appearance after the split with Antonio Banderas, Melanie Griffith erased the tattoo dedicated to her ex. When she appeared at the Taormina film festival, in Sicily, she was seen to have concealed the heart tattoo, probably with thick make-up, with just a smudge where Banderas’ name was and leaving only the outline. She was also noticed to have removed her wedding band.
The 56-year-old actress had been married to Banderas for eighteen years, and the couple have a 17-year old daughter, Stella. The attorney handling the divorce case is Laura Wasser, and the couple are applying for joint legal custody, with ‘irreconcilable differences’ given as the reason for their separation. However, Melanie hopes to get sole physical custody of their daughter, plus child support. Neither is short of cash, since their joint assets top $50 million, so money is unlikely to be an issue in their settlement.
Melanie, daughter of Tippi Hendren who starred in Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds’ and ‘Marnie,’ met Antonio while making the movie Two Much in 1995, and their marriage was regarded as one of the strongest in Hollywood until the past year, when cracks began to show and rumors began to spread. The couple have made a statement suggesting their split is amicable and that they still ‘honor and respect each other.’
At the recent film festival, Melanie was seen laughing and joking in the company of her friend from Desperate Housewives, Eva Longoria. Both stars were dressed up to the nines: Eva in a dramatic scarlet strapless fishtail gown and Melanie, making no attempt to conceal the remains of the tattoo, in a striking sleeveless mini-dress with a leopard face on the top and images of the same animal roaring on the skirt. Overall a positive statement, you might say, suggesting that Melanie is determined to make the best of the situation.
Photo credit : StarMagazine.co.uk
