The News, Publicity, Money and Ratings Behind the Larry King Divorce

By PopEater Staff Posted Apr 20th 2010 05:17PM

What in the world is happening with Larry King and his wife Shawn? First, both individually filed for divorce from one another. Then, in the wake of the filings, allegations of infidelity and nasty spats on both sides emerged in the press. A week after the dust had settled, the two have "postponed" their divorce from going any further, in the hopes of working things out. Kudos for that effort, but do both have a good deal to gain financially should they stay together?

Monetarily speaking, King is in a vulnerable position, and it has nothing to do with the fact that this would be his eighth divorce. King, whose estimated fortune is upwards of $150 million, did not have a pre-nup when he married Shawn Southwick, a move that could put a world of hurt on his bank account. So, for that reason, many are speculating that King may want to reconsider and reconcile.

"Larry insisted that Shawn turned him down on a pre-nup -- a decision he now regrets," an insider close to the King situation told PopEater's Rob Shuter. "He is worth over $144 million and will do whatever he can to protect his money, even if that means remaining married."

Without a pre-nup, King later signed a post-nup (yes, that's an actual term), however, according to TMZ, it wasn't so much to protect his bank flow, but to show his commitment to his wife. In the post-nup, King agreed that Southwick was entitled to half of his entire fortune, and even signed over three houses to her.

TMZ reports that King's attorney, Dennis Wasser, claims his client signed the legal agreement because of "undue influence," and that Southwick "strong-armed" him into it.

The ever-changing and confusing details of the King split seem to have everyone wondering what is going on. The Insider is even asking their readers if they think the divorce is one big publicity stunt.

Publicity stunt or not, one thing is for sure: King hasn't been killing in the ratings lately. And, perhaps it should be mentioned that the divorce announcement came just two weeks after a report that King's ratings had dropped 44 percent in the first quarter of 2010. (In all fairness to King, CNN's ratings have been tanking overall. Anderson Cooper lost 50 percent of the coveted 25-to-54 demo.)

However, according to TVbythenumbers.com, which tallies daily ratings for the cable news networks, CNN has seen a significant post-divorce bump in the ratings. CNN jumped from 563,000 viewers to 736,000 viewers in the primetime hours between April 14 (the day King filed his divorce papers) and April 15. On April 16, CNN sustained a rating of 731,000 primetime viewers.

Tags: larry king

Comments

(69)

Tuesday 20 April

By sergio

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when a young women marrie a man 25 years older the women wants money and fame,there is no love involved.

By lisa green

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you are wrong, some people do marry for money but others marry purely for love some for both!

Wednesday 21 April

By rbs3647

A WOMAN THAT MARRIES MAN FOR HIS MONEY........EARNS IT!

it was wrong for what he did,but when you remove your wedding ring,that means green light.

By Blue Kentucky Girl

Trench in, Shawn. He's old and has a history of heart problems.

By rggirt

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Larry King is a horn dog who cannot control his sick libido. Men at his age are fearful of impending impotence and try to squeeze out every last drop of pleasure before its too late. Shawn is tired of wham bang thank you m'am. Larry is desperate for another and she hates it. There's your split.

By hd

PENDING Impotence ... C'mon SUPER VIAGRA couldnt get that 900 year old FOSSIL up.

By Dorie

Sick libido?? Think about how many women wish thier husband had that?(not the straying part) At least he's still trying & enjoying sex..so he's old...he will go out w/ a simle, & why not?

By margie

SHE MARRIED HIM FOR HIS MONEY,WHAT ELSE WOULD ANY ONE WANT HIM FOR? HE JUST DOESN'T LOOK THE TYPE TO BE MARRIED TO A PRETTY GIRL LIKE SHAWN. HE IS OLD ENOUGH FOR HER GRAND-DAD. AND MAYBE HE IS TO OLD FOR WHAM BAM, THANK YOU MAAM. MONEY PLAYS A BIG PART IN THAT SEPERATION DON'T THEY HAVE CHILDREN? WELL HOLLYWOOD HAS ALWAYS BEEN LIKE THAT. TOO BAD.

By marjorie

AS IN ALL These stories, WHO CARES. IS HE GOING TO TAKE IT WITH HIM TO THE GRAVE. HE SHOULD GIFT IT TO THOSE HE WANTS TO HAVE IT AND WATCH AND ENJOY THEM WITH IT. BUT FOR NOW, THEIR
MARRIAGE PROBLEMS ARE NOT THE BUSINESS OF ANY ONE ELSE>

By Rich Kaplan

When someone marrys someone else who has been married and divorced 7 times before...they are an IDIOT.

they sure are!

Which one??

By shempbat

Not if they are a douchebag goldigger!

By Emmaline

These celebrity marriages are just pathetic shams, a desecration of true marriage vows. Larry's had, what is it, eight wives including Shawn? None of the marriages could have been based on his extreme good looks, or his faithfulness, or his honesty. So what did eight women see in Elderlarry King? His fame and money. Because that is all he has to offer. And now he's old. And half sick. So hang in there, Shawn. Wait him out. You should get something for being his caregiver.

By Darryl

Typical BS response from the opposite sex. Marry for money because she ain't got nothin going on.....heck, her refusing to sign a pre-nup was the red flare going off!

Hopefully the kid is his!

By cindy

Reply to Darryl. You did not understand the article. Larry insisted on her not signing the pre nup...she did not refuse to sign it.

By twelvnrow

This is to Cindy who replied to Daryl. It says He has insisted that SHE turned him down to sign the pre-nup not that HE insisted she NOT sign it. That means he has been saying all along that basically she refused to sign one and that he regrets not making her do so.

By Gadfly

Having spent a day, a few years back, hosting King prior to his appearance at an event he only impressed me as being a dirty old man with a mind and mouth to match. When he left for his appearance, I went home to take a shower. Shawn deserves every penny she can get for every minute of her gold digging efforts.

By Dr. D.

Poor Larry- he needs the ratings of being stud guy. Without pills, in mid-70's-- he can't do much; without a bag over his head, she can't stomach much. Don't they know this? Does he really think anyone thinks he is a stud? Does anyone think she didn't vomit having sex with him?
They both look like fossils. Who cares, except for the kids. It is such a publicity scam.

Is his contract up? Do his ratings need a boost? Nothing better than attempting to have sex with the sister, who looks exactly like your wife.

Sorry, Larry, the sister did NOT HAVE SEX WITH YOU. You are way too old, labile, wizened, etc. for anyone to have sex with you without some sort of payoff. This is just a ratings hope.

God, can't these people get over themselves?

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