Natalie Portman Opens Up About Life After Benjamin Millipied Divorce

Natalie Portman found love in an unexpected place after her split.

In fact, the Black Swan star shared when she met Rihanna for the first time amid her divorce from Benjamin Millepied, the interaction was exactly what she needed.

“I think every woman going through a divorce should get to have Rihanna say to her that she’s a bad b—h,” Natalie told Jimmy Fallon during a July 15 appearance on The Tonight Show. “It was—it was exactly what I needed.”

And after Jimmy played the clip of the “Umbrella” singer and Natalie meeting for the first time—during which Rihanna told Natalie she’s “one of the hottest b—hes in Hollywood forever” and that she doesn’t normally get excited about meeting people but that Natalie was an exception—the May December actress jokingly brushed away a tear.

“It was,” she said, “a formative moment in my life.”

Natalie’s reference to her divorce marks her first public comment on the matter since she and Benjamin—with whom she shares son Aleph, 12, and daughter Amalia, 7—finalized their divorce in March after more than a decade of marriage.

photosNatalie Portman Through the Years

The confirmation of their divorce also came over a year after multiple outlets reported that Benjamin—whom Natalie met on the set of Black Swan—had engaged in an affair, though Natalie only ever addressed the rumor by telling Vanity Fair in February, "It's terrible, and I have no desire to contribute to it."

Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images

But while Natalie had remained otherwise tight-lipped about her divorce prior to her late-night appearance, when it came to ringing in her 43rd birthday in June, the Academy Award winner did provide some insight into the community behind her.

"This year, on my birthday," she began her June 9 Instagram post, which featured a carousel of images from around the world, "I want to celebrate my gratitude for my friends who lift me up again and again."

And part of that friendship magic involves a high level of normalcy.

"I lead a very non-Hollywood life in L.A.," Natalie explained to Vanity Fair. "I have some friends who are in the entertainment industry, but many friends who are not, and we don't do industry things when we hang out. We're not going to Hollywood parties, we're having dinners at home in the backyard."

For a look back at Natalie and Benjamin’s romance, keep reading.