Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and her husband, Bryon Noem, are reportedly ending their 34-year marriage following reports earlier this year regarding Bryon Noem’s alleged involvement in an online cross-dressing community.
The Daily Mail reported Friday that the couple is divorcing after more than three decades of marriage. The pair share three children.
The report follows the outlet’s March publication of several photographs that it said showed Bryon Noem dressed in women’s clothing while wearing prosthetic breasts. According to the Daily Mail, fetish models claimed they had online relationships with him involving what the report described as “bimbofication.”
On Friday, the outlet published comments from Kristi Noem’s mother, Corinne Arnold, who confirmed that the family had been expecting the divorce.
“It has been difficult, but we knew this was coming, that they were going to get divorced,” Arnold told Daily Mail reporter Shawn Cohen during an interview.
Arnold said Bryon Noem recently moved out of the family’s home in Castlewood, South Dakota. She also said the last time she saw the couple together was during a family birthday celebration in late spring.
“I feel bad, sick that they’re getting a divorce, but what else can you do?” Arnold said.
The Daily Mail also reported allegations that Kristi Noem had been romantically involved with Trump aide Corey Lewandowski. Arnold rejected those claims during her interview.
“Kristi would never do that. That’s not how I brought my kids up,” Arnold told the outlet, calling the allegations “a bunch of crap.”
Earlier this year, representatives for Kristi Noem responded publicly after reports regarding Bryon Noem’s alleged online activities emerged.
Speaking to the New York Post in March, Noem’s representatives said she had been deeply affected by the reports.
“The family was blindsided by this, and they ask for privacy and prayers at the time,” the representatives said.
The reported divorce comes after President Donald Trump reassigned Noem from her role leading the Department of Homeland Security to head a newly created agency within the State Department known as Shield of the Americas.
According to the article, the reassignment followed what it described as a tumultuous tenure at DHS during which two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were killed during ICE operations in Minnesota.
Neither Kristi Noem nor Bryon Noem has publicly commented in the article regarding the reported divorce.
The Daily Mail’s report indicates the marriage is ending after 34 years together, with Arnold describing the development as difficult for the family while expressing sadness over the situation.
The article also notes that Noem’s representatives previously said the family had been caught off guard by the reports involving Bryon Noem and requested privacy as they dealt with the matter.
The reported split marks the latest development following months of public attention surrounding Bryon Noem’s alleged online activities and the scrutiny that followed the publication of the Daily Mail’s reporting earlier this year.
