NEED TO KNOW
- Michael Douglas has announced a memoir set for release on October 6, centered around his childhood, career, and personal struggles.
- Wife Catherine Zeta-Jones is reportedly at odds with Michael over the book, not wanting any further details of their private life revealed.
- The couple married in 2000, separated in 2013 during his cancer battle and her bipolar struggles, and reconciled the following year.
Michael Douglas is set to drop a bombshell memoir this October that promises a “raw, sweeping” plunge into all his showbiz secrets.
However, not everyone is as excited about the currently untitled tome, which will give fans a historic insight into almost a century of the Douglas dynasty’s legacy.
New Idea can exclusively reveal that Michael’s wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, has “barely slept a wink” since the project began.
“Michael’s famous for foot-in-mouth disease and can be way too candid for Catherine’s liking,” says a family pal.
“She’s worried some of his confessions could reopen old wounds or spill secrets that could strain their already complicated marriage.”
Catherine, 56, has told friends she’ll always support her husband no matter what he wants to do with his career, but this involves her and their children, Dylan and Carys, who are “going to live a lot longer than their dad”.
In a statement regarding the book, Michael explained, “After being asked for many years, I’ve finally decided it’s time to tell my story on my own terms. Not the highlight reel, not the version shaped by headlines or box-office numbers, but the real one. This is about where I came from, what I fought against, and what I chose for myself.”
Co-written with Mike Fleming Jr., the memoir will chart Michael’s escape from his late father Kirk’s towering shadow, his six-decade career, activism, and victories like surviving stage-four cancer.
It’s also a chance to tell his side of the bad stories. There’s the addiction that nearly wrecked his first marriage to Diandra Luker and career, his son Cameron’s meth-fuelled prison nightmare, and his almost-affair with co-stars like Kathleen Turner.
It wasn’t until Michael fell in love with Catherine that, against all odds and doubters over their 25-year age gap, he would finally find solace.
“Michael’s always guarded their marriage fiercely, especially after their 2013 separation during his cancer fight and her bipolar struggles,” adds the pal.
“They reconciled in 2014, but there’s no doubt this book has Catherine on edge.”
“She knows he went through hell dealing with her episodes, but she doesn’t want her mental health problems editorialised into a book. Michael’s never had a bad word to say about her, but he does have a bad habit of oversharing sometimes. It drives Catherine crazy.”
Michael’s infamous 2013 interview with The Guardian, in which he blamed his tongue cancer on HPV from too much oral sex, left her “embarrassed”, says the source.
“He’s also got a dark past, some of which Catherine doesn’t want to know about, like his cocaine and alcohol issues in the ’90s,” adds the source.
“She also won’t want him spilling any bedroom secrets or, even worse, cosy memories with his exes.”
Friends say Catherine’s hoping to see the final draft before it goes to press, but there’s only so much she can do.
“She has to trust he’s not going to humiliate her and the kids,” adds the pal.
“She admits she’d have preferred this book not be happening at all, but she can’t say no to an 81-year-old man with a legacy like Michael’s.
“He’s been jotting down notes for this book long before he met her, and he’s not kidding when he says he’s got a lot of stories to tell.”
