Sienna Miller Said Her Pregnancy Being Leaked In 2005 Meant She Was Unable To “Think Clearly About Making A Decision” That She Has To “Live With Every Single Day”
In 2005 — after Jude Law was exposed for cheating with his kids’ nanny — reports correctly claimed that 23-year-old Sienna was pregnant. She said that reporters discovered she was in the early stages of pregnancy by illegally obtaining her medical records from her doctor.
As she takes on the role of a woman who discovers that her husband has had an affair in the new Netflix drama, Anatomy of a Scandal, Sienna Miller is reflecting on her own turbulent life in the spotlight.
In a new wide-ranging interview with the Guardian, the 40-year-old actor opened up about the trauma of having her pregnancy leaked by the press when she was just 23 years old.
If you know much about Sienna, you’ll know that 2005 was an especially difficult time for her.
In July of that year, her then-fiancé, actor Jude Law, was publicly exposed for cheating on her with his kids’ nanny, after excerpts from the nanny’s diary documenting the affair were shared with the world.
Weeks later, while Sienna was still grappling with the public humiliation of her split from Jude, Page Six reported that it was "looking more and more likely" that the young actor was pregnant, citing inside sources.
Sienna — who at this time was performing on stage seven days a week in the West End theater production of Shakespeare’s As You Like It — was in fact in the early stages of pregnancy. However, it seems that it was never confirmed if the pregnancy was with Jude.
Sienna ultimately decided to end the pregnancy, but she has since revealed that the invasion of her privacy “took away” her ability to properly think about that decision.
Reflecting on this time period in her interview with the Guardian, Sienna said that the leak of her pregnancy amid the emotional turmoil of Jude’s cheating scandal was “hell.”
“Appearing in public when you’re extremely heartbroken. Trying not to break. All the while being mocked and ridiculed,” she said. “Hell, honestly.”
Despite the fact that the reports were first published by Page Six in the US, the news of Sienna’s pregnancy was first discovered by UK tabloid the Sun.
In December of last year — over 16 years after the leak — Sienna reached a private settlement with the Sun, who she believes illegally sought medical records from her doctor to find out about the pregnancy.
At the time of the hearing last year, Sienna said she hoped to take the tabloid to trial, but admitted that it would not be financially viable, accepting an undisclosed settlement instead.
Despite this, the actor maintains that the Sun was guilty of "blagging" her medical information by pretending to be one of her representatives.
Recalling the discovery that her pregnancy had been leaked before she’d been able to properly discuss the matter with her friends and relatives, Sienna claimed that an unusual phone call from her doctor led her to believe that her medical records had been tampered with.
“My doctor phoned and said, ‘We sent the documents you asked for.’ And I said, ‘I didn’t ask for any documents,’” she said.
She also recalled that at the time of the leak, only three of her close friends knew about the pregnancy — adding that before the realization that the news had supposedly been illegally obtained, she was initially concerned that one of her friends had betrayed her trust.
“I mean, there’s no fucking way they could’ve known that from someone [I knew] — literally my three best friends were the only ones who knew,” she said. “I realized pretty soon that [the Sun] was blagging medical records.”
And as she has on more than one occasion in the years since her pregnancy was leaked, Sienna went on to speak candidly about how the high-profile breach of her privacy robbed her of the space and time to think properly about her next steps.
She said that the “anxiety” of the leak, combined with the heartbreak of her split from Jude, deprived her ability to think “clearly” about ending the pregnancy.
“The anxiety it induced. At the time, it removed any ability I had to think clearly about making a decision. I was in an absolute panic, and already dealing with a huge amount of pain,” she said.
In a speech given outside of the high court after accepting the settlement last year, Sienna echoed this sentiment, revealing that by leaking her pregnancy, Page Six and the Sun forced her to make decisions “about [her] own body that [she has] to live with every single day.”
Speaking now, she accused the “vicious” media outlets of capitalizing off of Jude’s public cheating scandal, saying: “There’s a weak link in human psychology, which is the part that makes us slow down on a motorway and look at an accident. That’s what tabloids exploit.”
However, it seems she doesn’t feel the need to blame the individual reporters, but rather the environment in which they worked.
“It was a collegial environment, where that’s what they were doing, and it was probably exciting,” Sienna said. “I understand if you just detach from the fact that there’s a human being [at the other end of it], you can get sucked into a way of behaving that you are really not proud of, ultimately. And I think that a lot of people look back on it and probably feel pretty disgusted at what they did.”
Even after reaching a settlement with Sienna, the Sun maintains that it did not use unlawful means to learn of her pregnancy. The settlement was met on the basis that there would be no admission of illegal activity at the tabloid.
Reflecting on whether she is now able to seek closure, Sienna said that, while she is able to appreciate the fond memories of her 20s, it’ll be a long time before she ever finds peace with what happened.
“It was at the same time as really falling in love, and having magical times,” she said. "I look back on that decade with mostly fond memories. I can really dissociate my life from that person — put it in a box where it feels like somebody else."
She added: “It was such an enormous part of my life. And it’s still being bashed out.”
