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The 78-year-old actor joked about his well-publicized divorce from Maria Shriver while speaking at journalist Chris Wallace's Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony on Thursday, September 18.
Praising Wallace during the event, Schwarzenegger said, "I've been interviewed by thousands of journalists throughout my life." He then added with a smirk, "I was also married to a journalist. The only difference between Chris and Maria is that Chris never took half my money," drawing laughter from the crowd.
Shriver, 69, is part of the storied Kennedy family and built a successful career as a journalist and author. She and Schwarzenegger were married in April 1986 and share four children: Katherine, 35, Christina, 34, Patrick, 32, and Christopher, 27.
The couple separated in 2011 after news broke that Schwarzenegger had fathered a son, Joseph Baena, 27, with the family's former housekeeper. Their divorce was finalized in 2021, a full decade after their split.
Court filings later revealed that Shriver was entitled to half of Schwarzenegger's earnings during their 25-year marriage, including his pension. In a 2023 interview, the Terminator star took full responsibility for the breakdown of their marriage, saying, "It was my mistake, my failure." Despite the painful split, Schwarzenegger said the two have managed to remain close.
"She and I are really good friends and very close," he explained. "We're proud of how we raised our kids. Even with all the drama, we've always come together for holidays, birthdays, and special occasions."
Shriver opened up about the emotional toll of the scandal in her memoir, I Am Maria, published earlier this year. She recalled being devastated by both the betrayal and the loss of her parents, writing, "I was consumed with grief and wracked with confusion, anger, sadness, and fear. Honestly, it was brutal, and I was terrified." The former couple's children have largely stayed out of the drama, though there have been reports of tension between Schwarzenegger's four kids with Shriver and Baena.
