According to several tabloids, a relationship between Phillipe and the Australian actress Abbie Cornish is the reason for the split of the celebrity couple, which was announced yesterday.
Phillipe and Cornish are rumoured to have become intimate during the filming of Stop Loss in Texas.
Witherspoon has reportedly discovered secret messages on Phillipe’s Blackberry.
In a communication released yesterday from a spokesperson for the 24 year-old Australian actress, Cornish denies the stories, saying that their relationship was purely platonic and that the two were simply co-stars.
Witherspoon, 30, and Phillipe, 32, met on the birthday of the actress in 1997. They were married in 1999, and have two children, Ava, 7, and Deacon, 3.