Actress Geena Davis and craniofacial surgeon Reza Jarrahy have been embroiled in a contentious legal war for more than a year now: After Reza filed for divorce in May 2018 and asked for spousal support and a property split, Geena hit back claiming that their 2001 marriage was never legal and that, therefore, she owes him nothing.
Now details of a deposition she gave in their ongoing lawsuit have emerged, and TMZ — which claims to have seen the depo — reports that Geena not only admitted that she and Reza always intended to be married but that she lied to Oprah Winfrey about her marriage during an appearance on the media mogul's famed talk show years ago.
"We intended to become married well before I was pregnant [with our three children] … we did not discuss having a false marriage … we intended to become married — to be really married, yes, we did intend that," Geena said in the deposition, according to TMZ.
Geena also said in her deposition that she, as TMZ writes, hired caterers for her 2001 marriage celebration with Reeza, hired a wedding planner to bring her vision to life and had a Catholic priest get involved in the ceremony, during which she and the doctor exchanged vows and rings.
TMZ reports that when Reza's attorney questioned Gena about an interview she gave to Oprah in which she talked about being married, the actress admitted that she presented her marriage to Reza as the real deal. "You bragged about your marriage to Reza and what a great husband he was, correct?" Reza's attorney asked Geena in the depo, according to TMZ. Geena responded that she hadn't watched the interview and couldn't specifically recall what she'd said, but that she believed the lawyer's recounting was correct. "You lied to Oprah?" the attorney asked. "Yes," Geena responded, TMZ reports.
The couple's legal battle made headlines after Geena claimed in court docs that their marriage license was never properly filed in New York, so under state law, they were never legally married. She also maintains that both knew it wasn't legal and that despite having a ceremony, they continued to file separate tax returns, keep separate bank accounts and use separate credit cards during their lengthy relationship.