"He went home and smashed all his trophies" - Andre Agassi's ex-wife Brooke Shields recalls American's petulant behavior after her 'Friends' cameo
Andre Agassi's ex-wife and American actress Brooke Shields recently recalled the eight-time Grand Slam champion's "irrational" behavior on the night he watched her cameo in an episode of the popular sitcom show, Friends.
Shields played the role of Erika Ford, a character who stalked Joey (played by Matt LeBlanc), in Episode 12 of Season 2 of the show. One of the scenes involved the "crazy" Ford talking about licking Joey's fingers and claiming that they were the hands of a genius.
While Shields loved the scene for the way it solidified Ford as a "nut" in the universe of the show, Agassi, who was in the audience during the taping, did not agree with her opinion. Speaking in an interview with The New Yorker, Shields revealed how the former World No. 1 stormed out after watching the scene, claiming she made "a fool" of him.
"Andre was in the audience supporting me, and he stormed out. He said, “Everybody’s making fun of me. You made a fool of me by that behavior.” I’m, like, “It’s comedy! What is the matter with you?”" Shields said.
Shields later learned that Agassi was addicted to crystal meth at that point in his career, which possibly explained why he acted the way he did. She went on to reveal that Agassi went home and smashed all his trophies that night, much to her surprise.
"I learned later that he was addicted to crystal meth at that point, so that irrational behavior I’m sure had something to do with that," Shields said. "[He went home and] smashed all his trophies. Who wins for that? That’s just—don’t!"
But the 57-year-old dismissed Agassi's actions in hindsight as a mere attempt at "co-opting" her. Shields claimed that he was just being petulant and trying to grab her attention.
"'Co-opted' gives him too much credit. It was petulant behavior. Well, I guess you’re right. It co-opted it for me emotionally, because all of a sudden then my focus went to him," Andre Agassi's ex-wife said.
"In a way, he did me a favor" - Andre Agassi's ex-wife Brooke Shields on Tom Cruise's comments about her postpartum depression
Brooke Shields, who has two daughters with television writer Chris Henchy, did a major campaign back in the 2000s to raise awareness about postpartum depression, drawing from her own experiences. However, fellow Hollywood actor Tom Cruise came out strongly against her at the time, claiming she shouldn't be using meds to deal with the issue.
Reflecting on the matter now, Andre Agassi's ex-wife stated that Cruise, a Scientologist who does not believe in the practice of psychiatry, ended up doing her a favor. Shields claimed that people were looking to understand more about postpartum depression at the time, making them flock to her corner instead and making Cruise look silly.
"In a way, he did me a favor, because people came out and were outraged. And he looked silly. People were wanting to understand postpartum depression more, and to fight for me and fight for education and screening," Shields said. "We got to go to D.C. and change legislation, albeit only in one state. It was, like, “Really? You just barked up the wrong tree.”
Agassi and Shields got married in 1997. Following their divorce in 1999, the American icon married fellow tennis legend Steffi Graf in 2001.