EXCLUSIVE: Jane Fonda's Heartbreak Exposed — Inside Ted Turner's 'Secret Romance' With French Artist That 'Destroyed' His Marriage to the Hollywood Icon
Ted Turner and Jane Fonda were happily married. Until they weren't.
May 6 2026, Published 3:20 p.m. ET
It's hard to think of Ted Turner without picturing Jane Fonda by his side. While the cable television innovator, who passed away Wednesday, May 6, at age 87, was married three times, RadarOnline.com can report the Oscar-winning actress was likely the love of his life.
Until he reportedly cheated on her with a French artist.
Ted Turner's Former French Flame
The couple was married for a decade.
Fonda, 88, and Turner were married from 1991 to 2001, but the actress became suspicious of her husband's fidelity almost immediately. She was said to be especially jealous of Turner's former flame, French artist Frederique D'Arragon.
"Jane got fed up with hearing that Ted was seeing a variety of girlfriends," a source claimed. "Most notably, old flame Frederique.
"Ted's frequent visits to New York, where Frederique lives, got under Jane's skin."
Another insider added: "Ted told Jane he and Frederique were nothing more than friends. Yet he always talked about Frederique – and to Jane, he seemed smitten with her."
Jane Fonda 'Watching What Hillary Clinton Went Through'
Fonda refused to be a victim in their marriage.
When her marriage was first headed for serious trouble, a deeply concerned Fonda tried to clear the air with her husband. But the billionaire media mogul repeatedly dodged questions about D'Arragon, and Fonda began to lose hope the marriage would ever get better.
"She watched what Hillary Clinton went through with Bill and told herself she never wanted to endure that kind of public humiliation," the insider revealed. "But when she brought up their marriage, Ted started talking about the Atlanta Braves, CNN or some deal he was making."
A distraught Fonda confided to the insider: "I can't get a satisfactory answer from him about the future of our marriage. He does what he wants, when he wants.
"I don't know if there's room for two people in a marriage to Ted Turner."
The Last Straw
The marriage imploded in 2000.
Fonda's bubbling tension finally boiled over in 2000, at the wedding rehearsal dinner for Turner's then 31-year-old son Beau.
Turner, who had battled alcohol addiction in the past, had a bit too much bubbly before giving a speech.
"Just before the entrée was served, he stood up to make a toast and immediately fell face-first into his soup," one guest recalled.
Wine glasses went flying everywhere, and Fonda and a bodyguard immediately jumped up to help, eventually carrying Turner out of the party.
"That incident was the final straw that broke the marriage's back," the insider confessed. "Jane had been hoping that Ted would undergo a miraculous change. But after picking him up out of the soup, she decided it was over."
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Turner died on May 6
Turner's death was announced on Wednesday. A cause was not immediately shared, but the CNN founder revealed he had Lewy body dementia, a progressive brain disorder, just before his 80th birthday in 2018.
Despite the breakup, Fonda and Turner remained close friends, keeping in touch and attending each other’s charity events.
"Just because people get divorced doesn’t mean they stop loving each other," Fonda previously said. "It may be hard for two people to live together, but I can’t ever forget the reasons that made me fall in love with him."
