Just three months ago, Sylvester Stallone and model Jennifer Flavin celebrated their 25th anniversary. By the time August 15 rolled around, Flavin had filed for divorce from the Rocky actor. The couple met in 1988 at a Beverly Hills restaurant when Flavin was a 19-year-old visiting Hollywood and Stallone was a 41-year-old double divorcé. They eventually married on May 17, 1997, and share three daughters. Rumors of the split first emerged on August 23 after Stallone revealed a huge new biceps tattoo of his late dog Butkus, who appeared in the first two Rocky films, covering an earlier tattoo of Flavin’s face. At the time, the actor’s publicist, Michelle Bega, told the Daily Mail that he had intended only to refresh the tat of his wife, but the artist botched the job, forcing Stallone to the Butkus coverup. The publicist noted that the Stallone family is currently filming a reality show for Paramount+, in an indication that all was well. But shortly after the tattoo cover-up, it was uncovered that Stallone and Flavin’s marriage was indeed rocky.
Flavin, who filed a petition “for dissolution of marriage and other relief†at a Palm Beach County, Florida, courthouse, said she and Stallone are “amicably and privately addressing these personal issues,†in a statement to People on August 25. “While we will no longer be married, I will always cherish the more than 30-year relationship that we shared, and I know we are both committed to our beautiful daughters,†she stated. “I ask for privacy for our family as we amicably move forward.†Later reports suggested that their relationship did end over a dog — just not the dog tattoo! Apparently, Sly wanted to get a Rottweiler for protection, but Flavin wasn’t down with a new dog. The disagreement had the domino effect of unearthing deep-seated issues that led to the filing, or so the reports said. In a statement to TMZ, Stallone denied that he and Flavin had broken up over the dog question (though it had caused problems). “We did not end the relationship on such a trivial argument,†he said. “We just went in different directions.â€
There was trouble behind Stallone and Flavin’s happy-go-lucky Instagram posts before the filing, sources told People. They “are very different people, age-wise and in temperament,†according to a Hollywood source who knows the couple. “What was once exciting and challenging is now routine and irritating.†In the divorce filing, Flavin mentioned that “disagreements on little things add up after so many years together.†So the dog was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. Woof.