NEW YORK--Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who rose to national prominence in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and his third wife, Judith, are divorcing, the New York Post quoted him on Wednesday as saying.
After a 15-year marriage, Judith Giuliani, 63, filed a contested divorce proceeding in state Supreme Court in Manhattan, indicating an expected fight over their assets, including properties in New York and Palm Beach, Florida, the Post reported.
"It is with great sadness I can confirm that Judith and I are divorcing," the 73-year-old former mayor told the newspaper. "We hope to do this as amicably as possible, and hope that people will respect the privacy of our children at this time."
He added in the statement: “In these divorce situations, you cannot place blame, it is 50/50, there are problems on both sides."
Neither the couple nor their representatives could be reached for immediate comment. A search of online court records did not immediately show that the two had filed for divorce.
Giuliani and his second wife, Donna Hanover, a television journalist, have two adult children, Andrew and Caroline. His first marriage to Regina Peruggi, his second cousin, was annulled after 14 years.
Giuliani became involved with the then-Judith Nathan in 1999, while estranged from Hanover, New York media reported at the time. He announced his intention to divorce Hanover in a 2000 news conference that was reported to have blindsided her and was widely criticized in local media.
Judith Giuliani, a registered nurse, and her previous husband, Bruce Nathan, have an adult daughter, Whitney. Her first marriage to Jeffrey Ross ended in divorce in 1979.
Giuliani became the city's first Republican mayor in 20 years when he defeated David Dinkins, New York's first black mayor, in 1993. He was serving his second term at City Hall when suicide hijackers crashed two jetliners into the World Trade Center in 2001. He ran unsuccessfully for U.S. president in 2008.
