LeAnn Rimes Opens Up on Fierce Backlash After Eddie Cibrian Affair
Here’s the lowdown on why LeAnn Rimes felt like a punching bag of public outrage. In a revealing chat with People Magazine published June 2024, the 40-year-old country-pop star revisited the storm of hate she weathered after her affair with actor Eddie Cibrian went public in July 2009. Rimes admits she was “a target” from day one, with anonymous threats, scathing headlines and relentless social-media vitriol that at times made her question her own career path.
Let’s unpack this without overdoing it: Rimes met Cibrian on the set of the Lifetime film Northern Lights in early 2009. Both were happily married—she to musician Dean Sheremet, he to Real Housewives alum Brandi Glanville—yet sparks flew. When People broke the news on July 12, 2009, tabloids swooped in. “It felt like everything I’d done until then didn’t matter,” Rimes told Entertainment Tonight in a June 2024 feature. “Suddenly I was defined by my worst moment.”
Public records show Rimes filed for divorce in November 2009, shortly after Cibrian did the same. But the fallout wasn’t contained to court filings. She received hate mail that ranged from name-calling to explicit threats. According to an interview in Us Weekly, she even had security concerns that forced her to beef up home protection. “I was seven months pregnant with my son, and every notification ping sent a jolt through me,” she admitted in People. Instead of celebrating new beginnings, she found herself ducking hostile comments at shows and canceling fan events to dodge confrontation.
Despite earning two Grammy Awards and selling millions of albums by that point, she says the affair coverage nearly derailed her momentum. She paused her touring schedule in 2010, citing emotional exhaustion, and took a social-media hiatus that lasted nearly a year. “I was more afraid of my phone than anything,” Rimes confessed to ETonline. It took therapy, family support and time away from the spotlight to rebuild her confidence—and her brand.
Fast-forward to today, and Rimes is embracing her journey with wry humor. She’s dropped two new singles and kicked off a summer residency in Nashville, all while reflecting on the resilience she forged amid the chaos. Sources from Billboard confirm her latest track has already charted in the Top 40 Country Singles. Fans have been rallying behind her, with hashtags like #TeamLeAnn trending as she leans into transparency about her mental health battles.
If you thought the affair saga was ancient history, think again. Rimes’s candid look back shows how one headline can shape a life—and how she’s learned to reclaim her narrative. Keep an eye on her upcoming memoir due next spring; it promises deeper insights into how a small-town Texan found her way through the darkest spotlight imaginable. Anyway, that’s the rundown. Do with it what you will.
Sources: Celebrity Storm and People Magazine, Entertainment Tonight, Us Weekly, Billboard
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed
