“The Da Vinci Code” author Dan Brown is finding himself the central figure in a story every bit as wild as the ones he’s written.
In this story, which comes in the form of a lawsuit filed by his ex-wife Blythe Brown, the author stands accused of conducting a series of “sordid, extra-marital affairs.” Calling the final several years of their marriage a “proverbial life of lies,” Blythe alleges that Dan “secretly siphoned” a ton of money toward these affairs.
As such, she is suing the man she was married to for 21 years, until they filed for divorce last December, for misrepresenting their combined wealth — possibly to hide the expense of these extramarital dalliances — in a sworn affidavit he signed as part of their divorce agreement.
Dan quickly denied the allegations, telling the Boston Globe that he is “stunned” by these “false claims.” He further says that the affidavit was both fair and truthful, per the paper.
“I swore to the truthfulness of what was contained on that list, and I stand by that financial statement today,” Dan said. “We were very fortunate that we equally were blessed with very substantial assets with which to move forward after that.”
While he hasn’t denied the affairs, Dan is adamant that he was honest about the couple’s wealth and is going so far as to seek to unseal confidential financial statements from their divorce to prove his claims.
“I have continually tried to absorb the shocking truth withheld during our divorce that Dan had been leading a double life for years during our marriage, all while coming home to me,” Blythe told the Boston Globe in a statement.
Professing her trust and love for him through much of their marriage, Blythe continued, “I don’t recognize the man that Dan has become. It is time to reveal his deceit and betrayal. After so much pain, it is time for truth. It is time to right these wrongs.”
Blythe says in her suit that Dan first spoke of separation in 2018 and she subsequently moved out in August of that year. She further alleges that her husband “persuaded” her that she knew the full and complete extent of their wealth at the time of their divorce.
But, according to the filing, “Dan had, for a number of years, secretly siphoned funds from their marital assets, at least in part to finance his activities with his mistresses, including… a young horse trainer who lived in Holland.”
Blythe says that she had brought this woman to the U.S. in 2013 to train a horse the couple owned and she subsequently learned he had started an affair with her the following year while the trainer recuperated from a shoulder injury in their home.
According to the suit, Dan spent lavish amounts of money on this trainer, buying her things like a new car, a horse transport, a $345,000 horse and even renovating her apartment in Holland. All of this, obviously, would reduce the couple’s estate, which would have an impact on any divorce settlements.
When confronted by his then-wife, Blythe said in the lawsuit that Dan admitted to this affair, as wll as another on with a hairdresser, and told her of his dalliance with the horse trainer that it “has and will continue.”
Further into her lawsuit, Blythe additionally claims substantial involvement in Dan’s blockbuster success as a novelist, that began with his fourth book “The Da Vinci Code,” which would go on to sell more than 80 million copies and be made into a blockbuster film series starring Tom Hanks as the book’s Robert Langdon.
According to Blythe, she served as “lead researcher” and said that she and her ex-husband developed the “storylines and plot twists” of his novels together.
Brown agreed as much in regards to “The Da Vinci Code,” per the Globe, in a 2017 interview with The Daily Mail wherein he conceded key plot ideas as hers and said, “I probably wouldn’t have written without her. She’s a great researcher.”
Blythe claims that Dan also lied to her about upcoming projects involving Robert Langdon, saying he had nothing coming down the line when he in fact had signed a deal with NBCUniversal to develop a “Langdon” television series.
Saying the Langdon novels were “created together,” Blythe’s lawsuit said, “Dan stands to make millions from these projects, which is undoubtedly why he hid them from Blythe.”
The crux of the suit is that Blythe alleges she agreed to a quiet divorce from her husband only to subsequently find out that he had been lying to her for years about extramarital affairs and the state of their financial estate.
