It seemed like a fairy-tale romance, but the marriage between movie star Natalie Portman and ballet instructor Benjamin Millepied appears to be on the rocks, amid rumors Millepied has been intimately involved with 25-year-old Camille Étienne.

Recommended Videos

French media outlet Voici broke the story, and an exclusive source close to Portman told People magazine that, “[The affair] was short-lived and it is over.” The same source went on to say that, “he knows he made an enormous mistake and he is doing all he can to get Natalie to forgive him…”

Portman and Millepied met on the set of the 2009 psychological horror Black Swan, where Portman played a young ballet star. Milliepied was the choreographer of the complex dance maneuvers necessary for the role. They were engaged and expecting their first child within a year. The couple married in 2011 with the ceremony taking place on the idyllic Californian shoreline.

Millepied’s alleged mistress Étienne works as an activist for climate change and social justice. She is well-known in her native country of France and regularly appears on TV shows to talk about environmental issues. In late May, 2023, she was photographed entering Millepied’s Paris office, with Millepied close behind.

Portman and her husband have two children together, Aleph (born 2011), and a daughter named Amalia (born 2017). The People source commented: “Natalie is incredibly private and has no intention of playing this out in the media. Her biggest priority is protecting her children and their privacy.”