Richard Gere Reveals Why He's Trading the United States for Spain
Richard Gere is one of the many American celebrities to announce plans to leave the country —but he has a good reason why.
During his appearance on 'The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon' on Nov. 20, the Pretty Woman star explained his decision to relocate to Spain.
"My wife is Spanish and she gave me about seven years here," he said, "and so we're going to spend some years in Madrid."
Gere then noted that his two sons, Alexander, 5, and James, 4, whom he shares with his wife Alejandra Silva "are bilingual, so they're going to flourish there." He also has a 24-year-old son named Homer, who he had with his second wife, Carey Lowell. Silva also has an 11-year-old son with ex-husband Govind Friedland.
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While Gere didn't share the exact date of his big move, he confirmed that he'll be celebrating Thanksgiving in Spain.
The decision to settle down in Spain is very important to Gere's spouse. He explained that after the passing of her grandmother, who was "the glue that held everything together," Silva has been ready to follow her late relative's footsteps by taking care of her big family and "is already planning for 35 people for Sunday lunches."
Gere, 75, first revealed his plans to move to Europe back in March in an interview with Vanity Fair España. He told the outlet (translated by Enstarz) that living in Madrid "will be a great adventure" as he "has never lived full-time outside of the United States." He shared that it would also be "marvelous for Alejandra to be closer to her family, to her lifelong friends and her culture."
"She was very generous in giving me six years living in my world, so I think that it's fair that I'll at least spend six years living in hers," the actor continued. "In any case, I love Spain and I think the lifestyle there is fabulous." 'PEOPLE' magazine reported on Nov. 4 that Gere recently sold his Connecticut home for $10.75 million.
Gere isn't the only one trading Hollywood for Europe. Eva Longoria recently announced that she has been splitting her time between Mexico and Spain, escaping "this dystopian country" amid Donald Trump's presidential election win. Ellen DeGeneres and wife Portia de Rossi also reportedly decided to purchase a property in England to escape Trump's second run as president, and America Ferrera is also said to have plans to relocate to the UK.
Gere's announcement came directly after flipping off Savannah Guthrie during a live segment on the 'TODAY' show.
The gesture comes just a day after Cher caused a stir by dropping an F-bomb on the same program.
After a clip from Gere's new show, 'The Agency,' aired on the morning show, the camera returned to the studio, revealing Gere with his middle finger raised toward Guthrie. The Philadelphia native caught the 52-year-old anchor off guard, prompting her to quickly cover his hand with papers and ask, "What did you just do?"
Gere, who publicly endorsed Kamala Harris in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, casually responded, "Sorry, but that's what I did in the piece." Guthrie playfully reprimanded him, saying, "You just did an obscene gesture on this family morning show," and added, "I'm bleeping you. You know, Cher was on here doing an F-bomb yesterday, so I don't know what's happened."
He explained that he was demonstrating part of a scene from 'The Agency' that wasn't shown in the clip aired by 'TODAY.'
"We cut that part out," Guthrie clarified. Gere replied, "I could see that, but it didn't make any sense without that."
