Michelle Branch and Patrick Carney to pause divorce proceedings

Michelle Branch and Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney have agreed to suspend divorce proceedings for at least six months.

Last month, Branch confirmed the pair had separated after three years of marriage. Shortly afterwards, it was reported that Branch had filed for divorce from Carney, citing “irreconcilable differences”.

Now, as Rolling Stone reports, a court order signed on Tuesday (Wednesday 13) by a Tennessee judge states that divorce proceedings are “suspended without prejudice” for the six-month period.

“During the period of suspension the parties may participate in counseling services to effectuate reconciliation and/or may resume living together as husband and wife,” the court order continues.

“Their acts and conduct in doing so shall not be determined condonation of any prior misconduct and all acts or actions by the parties prior to the entry of this order shall remain and constitute grounds for divorce.”

As Rolling Stone points out, to win divorce proceedings, Tennessee law requires spouses cite grounds such as adultery, abandonment or uncontested irreconcilable differences.

It was reported on August 11 that Branch and Carney had separated. “To say that I am totally devastated doesn’t even come close to describing how I feel for myself and for my family,” Branch said in a statement at the time.

“The rug has been completely pulled from underneath me and now I must figure out how to move forward. With such small children, I ask for privacy and kindness.”

At the time, multiple outlets reported that Branch had posted and later deleted a tweet in which she accused Carney of infidelity.

Branch was arrested on charges of domestic assault the day before she commenced divorce proceedings, telling police officers called to their Nashville home that she had slapped Carney in the face “one or two times”. Two weeks later, the case was dismissed at the request of the state.

Branch and Carney met at a Grammys party in 2015, and began dating while working together on Branch’s 2017 album ‘Hopeless Romantic’, which Carney co-wrote and co-produced. They were married in April of 2019, and have two children – a son born in 2018 and a daughter born in February of this year.