Geena Davis Claimed 17-Year Marriage to 'Ridiculously Young' Man Who Did Not Need Fixing Was Not Legal

Hollywood starlet Geena Davis has had a rollercoaster ride when it comes to romance. After four failed marriages, Davis admitted that she got involved with some of her former spouses because she wanted to fix them but later realized that she was the one with issues.

Veteran star Geena Davis had a successful acting career with stints in "Beetlejuice," as Barbara and Dottie Henson in "A League of Their Own," and "Thelma & Louis," where she played Thelma.

As much as the award-winning actress thrived in her career, she did not have the same experiences in her romantic relationships.

Davis was previously married four times, and her first three marriages did not last longer than five years. She met her first husband, Richard Emmolo, in December 1977 while working at Taylor Ann. The couple started cohabiting in January 1978.

Emmolo and Davis wed in March 1981 and divorced in June 1984. The Academy Award nominee later remarried and tied the knot with Jeff Goldblum in November 1987. However, they divorced in 1991.

Davis walked down the aisle for the third time when she married Renny Harlin in September 1993, but they later divorced in June 1998. She did not have kids with any of her three former spouses.

Davis' last marriage was to her fourth husband, Dr. Reza Jarrahy, whom she wed in September 2001, but they divorced in December 2021. Surprisingly, Davis later claimed they were never legally married. The former couple welcomed three children together.

After being married so many times, the Massachusetts native later realized why none of her early marriages worked out.

DAVIS DATED MEN SHE BELIEVED NEEDED FIXING

In her past love life, Davis revealed she found herself attracted to men whom she thought she would be able to "fix" and transform into ideal partners:

"I was always in the type of relationship where everything was about the other person. I'd find my worth through sacrificing everything for his sake."

After doing some introspection, she discovered that all those feelings were actually about herself because the men she dated had self-confidence and did not need to be reassured. Davis said they did not need any fixing because they were not the ones damaged, but she was.

As time went on, the Golden Globe Award nominee finally overcame her insecurities and dealt with her internal issues. The change also influenced how she perceived the men she became attracted to.

That was when her fourth husband, Jarrahy, came along, whom she said was unlike any other men she had been with. Davis joked that she would probably laugh hard at the situation if she were to date men similar to those from her past.

DAVIS AND JARRAHY HAD A 15-YEAR AGE GAP

Davis met Jarrahy at a party, and together, they pursued an unlikely romance seeing that they had a 15-year age gap. She was 42, and he was 27 at the time.

The activist admitted in an interview with GoodHouseKeeping in March 2006 that the age difference between them bothered her:

"A relationship with him seemed a little far-fetched. I remember thinking, ‘This guy is cute and ridiculously young.’"

Davis then candidly revealed that in the beginning, she approached her connection with the doctor as something that could be only for fun. She did not think ahead about a possible serious relationship.

However, as they spent more time together, she realized that their age gap did not feature in how they interacted with each other, adding it did not feel like they were from different generations.

Dr. Jarrahy is a Cosmetic Reconstructive Pediatric Plastic Surgeon, a Global Health Advocate, and a Humanitarian. He also described himself as a Flawed Do-Gooder on his Instagram bio.

Though Davis was not hesitant about saying 'I do' for the fourth time, she did warn him about marrying her as she had done it three times before:

"It was exciting to know I was marrying someone who I can be cranky or selfish in front of, and he doesn't run screaming from the room or judge me for it."

Davis said she was not nervous about walking down the aisle again because she felt like she had made some changes that were "real and permanent" and had discovered a new way of life.

The couple got hitched in a private ceremony in New York at the Hamptons on September 1, 2001. The newlyweds later released a statement wherein they enthusiastically mentioned how thrilled they were about starting a chapter together, saying:

"We are very happy, and we look forward to spending the rest of our lives together."

Within their union, Jarrahy and Davis welcomed a daughter named Alizeh in April 2002. Two years later, they had twin sons, Kaiis and Kian, in May 2004.

DAVIS & JARRAHY DIVORCED AFTER 17 YEARS OF MARRIAGE

It seems as though married life is not for Davis, as 17 years after she and Jarrahy wed, he filed for divorce in May 2018, citing irreconcilable differences, per Us Weekly. The pair had been separated since November 2017.

The surgeon asked for spousal support and joint legal and physical custody of the couple's three children in the filing. In addition, Jarrahy asked for Davis to be denied spousal support.

Surprisingly, Davis later claimed they were never legally married.

She filed a supplemental document in September 2018 wherein she provided clarity on their case despite him filing for divorce earlier that year.

The mother of three revealed that she and Jarrahy never obtained a marriage license or paid license fees to get one, which made it "impossible for them to follow the 24-hour waiting period" before their ceremony.

Via People, New York, and California laws state that all couples who want to marry must obtain a marriage license and wait 24 hours before legally marrying.

As a resort, Davis claimed she and Jarrahy "affirmatively decided not to obtain a marriage license" in either state because they "never intended to marry."

She asked a judge to dismiss her former husband's divorce filing because they willingly and voluntarily chose to have marriage-like nuptials while knowing it would not be legally binding.

Further in the supplement, the former model claimed that she and Jarrahy checked "single" on tax returns and did not own property as a couple, so they handled their finances separately. They never had joint checking, savings, or retirement accounts.

Additionally, Davis included a letter signed by Jarrahy in 2012 wherein he admitted that he previously filed his tax returns in 2009 as a single individual because he was unmarried:

"Ms. Davis and I cohabitate and co-parent our three children but are not officially wed."

The divorce proceedings went ahead, and they finalized it in December 2021. Per People, the former couple agreed they would not disclose the details of their divorce to the public. They also changed their twins' last names from Davis-Jarrahy to just Jarrahy.