Nicolas and Cécilia Sarkozy

French voters have long shrugged off presidential extramarital affairs, but this year saw the first divorce of a French president while in office — a president whose wife and son were the centerpiece of his public image. In 2005, Cécilia left Nicolas for another man; in 2006 she returned, and the couple maintained an image that helped Nicolas get elected in May. Nevertheless, afterward, Cécilia rarely attended public events. By October the announcement of the end of the Sarkozys' troubled 11-year marriage was widely expected. Now that they are divorced, Nicolas will embark on a true experiment in statesmanship — dating. (Xinhua/AFP File Photo)


Sumner Redstone and David Geffen

After Redstone's Viacom purchased Geffen's Dreamworks Studios in 2006 for $1.6 billion, there should have been peace in moguldom. Dreamworks, the studio founded by Geffen, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg, delivered a string of hits — Dreamgirls, Blades of Glory, Transformers —and Viacom's Paramount Pictures ably marketed and distributed them. But Dreamworks execs, reportedly experiencing sellers' remorse, felt Paramount was taking credit for their successes. High-net-worth backbiting ensued. Things really got ugly when a Viacom exec told investors that losing Spielberg would be "completely immaterial" to his corporation. It may sound mild, but in Hollywood this is tantamount to calling Mother Teresa a little bit loose. (Agencies)