LeAnn Rimes recalls intense backlash she faced for Eddie Cibrian affair: ‘I was a target'
The 'Can't Fight the Moonlight' singer, 42, looked back on 'all of the craziness' that she and Cibrian, 52, dealt with when they cheated on their respective former spouses over 15 years ago.
'I realized very quickly that there are a lot of women who've been hurt,' Rimes said in a new interview with Flow Space. 'Like, I've been on both sides of that coin — I've been cheated on, too, so I know that feeling.'
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10 LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian attend MusiCares Person of the Year in 2020.
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'But so many women don't know what to do with that anger,' Rimes continued. 'I was a target that was just easily projected upon. And once I realized that, things got a lot easier.'
Rimes and Cibrian started up their affair in 2008 while they were filming the Lifetime movie 'Northern Lights.'
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10 LeAnne Rimes on the cover of Flow Space.
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10 Eddie Cibrian and LeAnn Rimes in a selfie.
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At the time, Rimes was married to actor Dean Sheremet, while Cibrian was married to 'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' alum Brandi Glanville.
Rimes explained in the interview that over time, she learned how to handle the backlash to her and Cibrian's relationship.
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10 LeAnn Rimes, Dean Sheremet at the 'Spider-Man' premiere in 2002.
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'Instead of taking it so personally, it's like, look: This is not all my pain to carry. I know what I'm responsible for in the situation and making amends for that,' she stated.
'But you know, the world's pain is not mine to carry,' the 'Masked Singer' winner added, 'and I think that really got thrown at me for a long time.'
10 Eddie Cibrian and Brandi Glanville arrive at the ABC TCA party in 2005.
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10 LeAnn Rimes with Eddie Cibrian and his sons Jake and Mason at the 'Lion King' premiere in 2019.
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Rimes – who married Cibrian in April 2011 and became a stepmom to his and Glanville's sons Mason, 22, and Jake, 18 — also recognized how much she's changed since the scandal.
'I think I've gone from survival to thriving to — if there is a level up from thriving — to truly living,' she said. 'I think that's where I'm headed.'
10 LeAnn Rimes in an Instagram photo.
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Cibrian initially denied that he and Rimes had an affair in 2009. Later that year, the 'CSI: Miami' actor and Rimes split from their respective spouses and went public as a couple.
In 2010, Rimes told PEOPLE that her affair was 'one of the most selfish things that I could possibly do, in hurting someone else.'
10 LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian.
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'I take responsibility for everything I've done. I hate that people got hurt, but I don't regret the outcome,' the 'Blue' singer added.
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Glanville, for her part, was furious over her husband's affair and even once threatened to 'murder' Rimes.
'One time, before they were married, I walked up to a soccer game and Jake, who was 2, was sitting in her lap,' Glanville wrote in a 2021 op-ed for The Sun. 'I had this rage in my body. I really wanted to kill her.'
10 Brandi Glanville, Eddie Cibrian arrive at the Us Weekly and Rolling Stone Oscar Party in 2006.
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10 LeAnn Rimes, Eddie Cibrian participate in the Academy of Country Music Chairman's Ride in Las Vegas in 2010.
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'I walked over to her, grabbed Jake and I looked at her and said: 'I will f—ing murder you,' the Bravo alum continued, adding that she 'was so mad at Eddie for blowing up our life together.'
However, Glanville has since made amends with her ex-husband and his wife. She's even spent holidays with the couple over the years.
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