Media Couple’s New York Times Wedding Announcement Stirs Controversy

by Nisha Chittal | 3:29 pm, December 19th, 2010

» 23 comments

Wedding Announcements! Probably not the first thing most people read in the New York Times. But one particular wedding announcement in the Times is turning a lot of heads today — and catching a lot of snark on Twitter. And here’s why: the couple in question were both married with children already when they met, and both eventually left their spouses to be with each other. And now, their entire how-we-met story is on display in a very public Times wedding announcement.

Carol Anne Riddell and John Partilla met in 2006 in a pre-kindergarten classroom. They both had children attending the same Upper West Side school. They also both had spouses.

Part “Brady Bunch” and part “The Scarlet Letter,” their story has played out as fodder for neighborhood gossip. But from their perspective, the drama was as unlikely as it was unstoppable.

Ms. Riddell was a reporter and anchor on WNBC television in New York and a mother of two. A glamorous, petite woman with a strong handshake and stronger opinions, she is not the type to be easily dazzled, yet she was struck by Mr. Partilla’s exuberance.

“He bounds into a room,” said Ms. Riddell, who was 40 when they met. “He doesn’t walk in, he explodes in.”

Mr. Partilla, then a 42-year-old triathlete and a president of media sales at Time Warner, recognized a kindred dynamo. “She’s such a force,” he said. “She rocks back and forth on her feet as if she can’t contain her energy as she’s talking to you.”

The connection was immediate, but platonic. In fact, as they became friends so did their spouses. There were dinners, Christmas parties and even family vacations together.

And later on:

They did jump. Both officially separated from their spouses by late 2008, though they waited until July 2009 before moving in together.

“I didn’t believe in the word soul mate before, but now I do,” said Mr. Partilla, who is 46 and in January is to become a chief operating officer of Dentsu, a Japanese advertising agency.

They finalized their divorces this year. “I will always feel terribly about the pain I caused my ex-husband,” said Ms. Riddell, 44 and working freelance. “It was not what I ever would have wished on him.” Or on her children.

“My kids are going to look at me and know that I am flawed and not perfect, but also deeply in love,” she said. “We’re going to have a big, noisy, rich life, with more love and more people in it.”

The response has been furious, with many people questioning why the New York Times would publish such an unusual and scandalous wedding announcement. The Village Voice asks: “Why would you sign up for this? Why would you apply to air your family business? WHY ARE YOU SO DAMN PROUD OF YOURSELVES?” Adrian Chen at Gawker rounded up some Twitter reactions, including radio host John Moe who pronounces it “the saddest story in the New York Times today.”

One has to pity their five children, who will some day be able to read about all of this online as well.

carol ann riddell, john partilla, New York Times, vows, wedding announcement

Atticus Draco

Media Couple’s New York Times Wedding Announcement Stirs Controversy

lol,,, the NEW NORMAL

When’s their reality show airing?!?
tatboy

I’m glad they’re so proud of emotionally raping there children… way to go.
jjay7381

Whatever people want to do with their own lives is their problem. If they’re happy, I’m happy. They’re grown adults and they’ll deal with whatever gets thrown at them. You choose to put it out there, deal with what you get back. But, I personally don’t really care. Kids get over stuff. I know I did growing up.
timzank

Anybody want to bet on which way they lean politically? The New York Times would NEVER have run with this as a “positive” wedding announcement had they been conservatives.
Atticus Draco

jjay7381 said:
But, I personally don’t really care. Kids get over stuff. I know I did growing up.

LMAO,, i beg to differ JJ
Atticus Draco

timzank said:
Anybody want to bet on which way they lean politically? The New York Times would NEVER have run with this as a “positive” wedding announcement had they been conservatives.

LOL
the whole time i was reading it,, i was sayin’
“WHAT A BUNCH OF f’in LIBERALS”
“That aint gonna be a “Brady Bunch” thing happening there!!!”
NOPE!
They’re dreamin’ if that’s the case
Atticus Draco

;
LOL
Them kids are a bunch of JJ’s in the making
“There’s nuthin’ wrong with me!”
ChrisNH

These two people represent the amoebas of society. First, they’re both media hacks. Second, they have such a haughty, elite way about them. Happily, they’re both ‘Type A’ people and what will eventually happen is that they’ll beat each other to a pulp either literally or figuratively. THAT’s the piece I’ll be pleased to read in the NYT. There are enough people out there who wish them ill will that it’ll clearly evolve that way.
Big Eddie

They both will have to watch each other carefully from now on . Trust ain’t gonna do it here . Their poor kids .
TinaFromTampa

timzank said:
Anybody want to bet on which way they lean politically? The New York Times would NEVER have run with this as a “positive” wedding announcement had they been conservatives.

You’re right. I don’t think they even mentioned Brit and Megyn.
http://www.squidoo.com/lauriebethsgrotto Laurie Beth

Down with puritanical jackasses who still think it’s better for the kids to stay in a loveless marriage. People get divorced. Get over it. Best wishes to the happy couple.
Magister

Will they be spending their honeymoon on the Appalachian Trail?
njoy-d-ride

Hey, Laurie Beth, loveless marriages are sad, but the kids love both of their parents, and are permanently scared by things like this. Too bad we don’t have “heaven on earth”
OxyCon

Gee, I bet the New York Times’ motive didn’t have anything to do with diminishing traditional marriage so that they can jam their gay marriage agenda up everyone’s a$$.
FoxieNews

I’m a conservative, so is my man. We met while still married and became fast friends. We were both in totally dead end lifeless marriages of convenience (and mine was riddled w/ abuse by my ex too)… I was staying for the kids, he was staying for the pets and familiarity… but when we met, sparks flew and we “woke each other up” as never before. The things we have in common go so deep that we know we’re meant to be together. We both left our spouses last year and although it was very hard at first, we now live together and are making our plans for the future. I’d like to note that we were not actually “together” until after we were legally separated. My kids, who used to despise him, now adore him and are much happier now that they see their mom is much happier. Staying in a marriage for the kids is the easy way but not the right thing to do. I’d rather my kids see us divorce and move on to be with people we are happy with, than stay together and be miserable. It’s been hard, our love life and divorces played out in public (twitter/facebook) and I know people thought the worst of us, but people should not judge others in this situation because they have no earthly idea how miserable those stuck in unhappy marriages are. I’m so blessed to have met my very best friend, my soul mate, even though the timing was wrong. As he and I used to say to each other before we were able to be together “we are perfect for each other, we’re just not in the perfect circumstances”. God bless the broken road that led me to where I am right now. Well, there’s my two cents~ my best wishes to the couple!!!!!! <3
http://www.facebook.com/people/Sean-Peake/619341000 Sean Peake

In this age of Narcissism, it is not surprising.
Alz

tatboy said:
I’m glad they’re so proud of emotionally raping there children… way to go.

Yes, such selfish people. The math shows it:

(glamorous + smart + wealthy + powerful) * wrong = wrong

To FoxieNews, everyone’s situation is different, but it seems that the New Yorker’s described are pretty selfish people.
ertdfg

What do you know about your wife? That she’s willing to cheat on a marriage for her own personal gain.

What do you know about your husband? That he’s willing to cheat on a marriage for his own personal gain.

Well how can this relationship go wrong? Two non-trustworthy self-absorbed narcissists who should be tied together for eternity… to avoid anyone else accidentally having a relationship with them.
tatboy

ertdfg said:
What do you know about your wife? That she’s willing to cheat on a marriage for her own personal gain. What do you know about your husband? That he’s willing to cheat on a marriage for his own personal gain. Well how can this relationship go wrong? Two non-trustworthy self-absorbed narcissists who should be tied together for eternity… to avoid anyone else accidentally having a relationship with them.

BOOM!!!
Georgia999

Talk about narcism

FoxieNews said:
I’m a conservative, so is my man. We met while still married and became fast friends. We were both in totally dead end lifeless marriages of convenience (and mine was riddled w/ abuse by my ex too)… I was staying for the kids, he was staying for the pets and familiarity… but when we met, sparks flew and we “woke each other up” as never before. The things we have in common go so deep that we know we’re meant to be together. We both left our spouses last year and although it was very hard at first, we now live together and are making our plans for the future. I’d like to note that we were not actually “together” until after we were legally separated. My kids, who used to despise him, now adore him and are much happier now that they see their mom is much happier. Staying in a marriage for the kids is the easy way but not the right thing to do. I’d rather my kids see us divorce and move on to be with people we are happy with, than stay together and be miserable. It’s been hard, our love life and divorces played out in public (twitter/facebook) and I know people thought the worst of us, but people should not judge others in this situation because they have no earthly idea how miserable those stuck in unhappy marriages are. I’m so blessed to have met my very best friend, my soul mate, even though the timing was wrong. As he and I used to say to each other before we were able to be together “we are perfect for each other, we’re just not in the perfect circumstances”. God bless the broken road that led me to where I am right now. Well, there’s my two cents~ my best wishes to the couple!!!!!! <3

Best of luck to you and your soul mate ! You give another perspective on a vey unhappy situation.
http://www.squidoo.com/lauriebethsgrotto Laurie Beth

FoxieNews, you’re a brave lady. Thank you for sharing your story.

No, we don’t have heaven on Earth…so we have to make the best of the hand we’re dealt. These people are clearly doing their best to make that happen, and I’m happy to wish them well even if everyone else seems to relish in doing the opposite.
irishgirl

This is life, this happens all of the time. Sometimes you meet the right person at the wrong time. I know this all too well, my ending wasn’t happy, in fact, it was ultimately awful. That being said, I believe once I met this person there was nothing that was going to stop what happened. If these people are happy, if the kids are happy(which most are when their parents are happy) then wonderful. God Bless them. As for telling their story, I think they’re brave. Truth is always best. One of my favorite sayings is “It is what it is…maybe it isn’t as it should be…but it is what it is.”
old fashioned and proud of it

Nothing like rubbing it in your ex-spouse’s faces that your marriage failed. These people make me sick. Just shows how normal divorce is today. Very sad that they are publicizing this. I thought the New York Times only published news that’s fit to print. Seems they have lowered their standards a bit!