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She might be way more famous than him, but you’ve probably seen Brooke Shields’ husband Chris Henchy’s work on screen as a successful writer and producer in Hollywood. He would be her second husband. Shields had been with tennis champion Andre Agassi since 1993; they married in 1997 and split in 1999.
From her own account, it sounds like it was a tumultuous relationship. Reflecting on her guest stint on Friends, Shields said her role as one of Joey’s (Matt le Blanc) love interests in the 1996 episode “The One After the Superbowl, Part 1” resulted in Agassi storming out of the studio audience.
In an interview with The New Yorker published in March 26, 2023, she recalled: “Andre was in the audience supporting me, and he stormed out. “It was petulant behavior,” she said. “It co-opted it for me emotionally, because all of a sudden then my focus went to him… [He went home and] smashed all his trophies. Who wins for that? That’s just—don’t!” Agassi and Shields were married for two years and split. Shields and Henchy would meet that same year.
Chris Henchy: 2001 to present
From L: Rowan Francis Henchy, Brooke Shields and Chris Henchy. Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images
Brooke Shields’ husband, Chris Henchy, is a successful Hollywood writer and producer, best known for his work on the office sitcom Spin City and Entourage. In fact, Shields and Henchy met while on the Warner Bros. lot in Los Angeles thanks to her new bulldog, Darla.
In her 2005 memoir, Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression, Shields shared the story of their first meeting. “To this day I believe that I fell in love with Chris the day we met, in 1999, but I would never tell him that!” she wrote. “I had just gotten an American bulldog, Darla, and I brought her to meet friends of mine in the gym on the Warner Bros. lot. While there, the dog wandered off, and Chris brought her back. He was writing for a show filmed on the lot and loved dogs. We chatted and he made me laugh.”
Over the next few weeks, they would encounter each other again and they’d “started spending time together and became friends,” she recalled. “I was struck by how thoughtful and funny he was.” Because of her recent separation from Agassi, she noted in her memoir that she didn’t to rush into a relationship, but she “had to admit that there was something between us that I could no longer ignore and we started dating.” Cute.
They were married in 2000 while on vacation in Mexico in 2000. Her publicist confirmed at the time: “He took her away for the weekend and asked her on Saturday night. I don’t really know any of the details, but she did say ‘yes.’” According to New York City jeweler Stephen Russell who publicly shared information about her ring, he described it as: “an antique cushion-cut diamond ring set in platinum and diamond mounting,” per People.
A year later, Shields and Henchy were wed in Palm Springs in front of 75 guests. According to People, she wore a strapless Vera Wang gown, and she stood on a red carpet of rose petals. After Henchy read his vows, Shields said: “Mine are a little longer.” Among her many pledges was to always laugh at her husband’s jokes, “even if I’ve heard them before.”
Henchy and Shields have two daughters, Rowan born in 2003 and Grier born in 2006. As an extremely supportive mom, Shields often opens up about parenting in interviews. “Even though I’ve always wanted to have kids, it’s really not easy. Sometimes loving that much, it’s just a pain in the ass,” she told the Dear Chelsea podcast. “I’m surprised at how much freedom emotionally I give my kids. I never thought that talking to them about sex … because my mother never talked to me about anything. You just were told, ‘Don’t do it, you’ll burn in hell,’ and then I became sort of known for being a virgin. We talk about everything together and I have no judgment and I’m shocked at myself. I mean, we talk about it all and I didn’t think that I’d be comfortable with it on that level.”
Andre Agassi: 1993 to 1999
Brooke Shields, Andre Agassi. Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc
Brooke Shields’ ex Andre Agassi is a retired tennis champion and former world Number 1. As mentioned, he and Shields started dating in 1993 and by 1997 they were married. Over their two-year marriage, things were definitely rocky. In her 2014 memoir, There Was a Little Girl: The Real Story of My Mother and Me, Shields detailed landing the role of Erika in Friends, a woman who becomes obsessed with Joey (Matt le Blanc). “In the scene, I’m supposed to lick Joey’s fingers, because they’re the hands of a genius, and I want to devour them, and I’m a nut,” she later explained in an interview with The New Yorker. “He was cute — he was, like, ‘I’ve washed my hands and they’re all clean.’ I was, like, ‘I had a mint!’”
Agassi, watching on from the studio audience, stormed out in a rage. “He said, ‘Everybody’s making fun of me. You made a fool of me by that behavior.’ I’m, like, ‘It’s comedy! What is the matter with you?’” Shields said. “I learned later that he was addicted to crystal meth at that point so that irrational behavior I’m sure had something to do with that.” Agassi wrote about his methamphetamine use in his 2009 autobiography.
Image: Getty Images
When Brooke Shields welcomed her newborn daughter, Rowan Francis, into the world, something unexpected followed–a crippling depression. Now, for the first time ever, in Down Came the Rain, Brooke talks about the trials, tribulations, and finally the triumphs that occurred before, during, and after the birth of her daughter. In this compelling memoir, she talks candidly about her experience with postpartum depression after the birth of her daughter, and provides millions of women with an inspiring example of recovery.
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