Shania Twain doesn't hate ex-husband Robert John Lange for affair: 'It's his mistake'
Shania Twain is sharing her reflections on forgiveness.
On Tuesday's episode of the "Great Company with Jamie Laing" podcast, the "Man! I Feel Like A Woman!" singer said she doesn't hate her ex-husband Robert "Mutt" Lange for having an affair with her friend Marie-Anne Thiébaud, leading to the end of their marriage.
"Do I hate my ex-husband for making a mistake? No," she said. "It's his mistake, not my mistake. (It's) sad for him that he made such a grave mistake that he has to live with. … That's not my weight."
Twain, 58, discussed her divorce on the podcast when she was asked for her advice on offering forgiveness. After noting "how difficult it can be to let go," she said that forgiveness is "not about forgetting, necessarily," but about "understanding" the other person.
"That might mean that they're wrong," she said. "Maybe you believe forever that whatever they did was wrong."
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The Grammy-winner added, "It's very hard to hate, or not be able to forgive, somebody that you believe is a human being that deserves empathy and understanding, and I think we all do."
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Twain was married to Lange, a record producer, from 1993 until they separated in 2008. She has said that the marriage ended after she learned her husband was having an affair with Thiébaud, her good friend.
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Twain and Lange's divorce was finalized in 2010. Together they share a son, Eja. Since 2011, Twain has been married to Frédéric Thiébaud, Marie-Anne's ex-husband. She said on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in 2011 that she learned of the affair through Frédéric.
In an interview with People magazine in 2022, Twain called it a "a very low period" in her life but that she no longer harbors resentment toward her ex-husband.
"I found peace a long time ago, and maybe peace is forgiveness, you know?" Twain told People. "I'm able to have more appreciation for him again, not for what happened in our marriage but for all that he contributed to such a great part of my career and my life. We have a beautiful child from it. The resentment is gone."