Affair Rumors That Have Plagued Bruce Springsteen Throughout His Marriages

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Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa's rock 'n' roll romance is a love story that even Shakespeare couldn't write. From sharing the stage to sharing children, Scialfa and Springsteen have an intricate history, with some turbulent moments. But before the pair married in 1991, "The Boss" was first married to Julianne Phillips, an actor and model who is 11 years his junior. Phillips garnered a great deal of media attention from her marriage to Springsteen, with their wedding becoming so much of a spectacle that they tied the knot days before the planned ceremony. 

The happy couple's honeymoon phase didn't last forever. Phillips filed for divorce in 1988, citing "irreconcilable differences," but the public has never believed that's the whole story. Scialfa might have been his second wife, but rumors suggest she was his first love all along, and he couldn't give her up despite being married to Phillips. But as they say, once a (rumored) cheater, always a (rumored) cheater. Affair speculations not only consumed Springsteen's marriage to Phillips, but years after exchanging vows with Scialfa, the "Born to Run" musician was in headlines again for more alleged extramarital scandals.

Patti Scialfa first joined the E Street Band in 1984 as a friend of Bruce Springsteen, who asked her to perform vocals and guitar on the "Born in the U.S.A." tour. Their friendship apparently didn't blossom into something more until Scialfa was back on the road with the E Street Band for the 1988 "Tunnel of Love Express" tour, but by that time, Springsteen was years into his marriage with Julianne Phillips. It became increasingly obvious that the romantic tension between Springsteen and Scialfa on stage was teetering on palpable. A May 3, 1988 performance of "You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)" gave a glimpse into their magnetism, from the choreography to Springsteen's improv (squeezing a sponge of water down his pants while intimately locking eyes with Scialfa). 

The press started catching their fondness for each other, too. Headlines suggested Scialfa was the musician's new girl, while paparazzi snapped photos of the pair snuggling on a chair and even of them standing in their underwear on a balcony in Rome. Springsteen's publicist confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that he and Phillips had separated in June 1988, before the official divorce proceedings. Decades later, the rock legend finally came clean about what went down with Scialfa. 

In his 2016 memoir, "Born to Run," Bruce Springsteen described how, as he drifted apart from Julianne Phillips, he started seeing the spark in his relationship with Patti Scialfa, who he noted was closer in age to him. "It was a September night," he began, presumably describing the months before the "Tunnel of Love Express" tour. "After 17 years of sporadically bumping into each other, then two [years] of working side by side, somewhat flirtatiously, there came a moment when I looked at Patti and saw something different." According to Springsteen, he confessed his feelings to his wife, but knew it would still be messy and painful. "I dealt with mine and Julie's separation abysmally," Springsteen said, noting that it was his idea to keep their split private, which is what created the affair rumors during his 1988 tour. "My poor handling of this is something I regret to this day."

Phillips has stayed silent on the matter of her divorce. During a press tour for her 1989 movie "Skin Deep," the reporters were advised not to ask about her split from Springsteen, as she was legally unable to answer, though it was also a principle of privacy. "I have set rules," she said (via The Morning Call). "My private life is my private life and I hold it very dear to me. I know the public wants to know about things, but that's my private life."

Even with a tumultuous start, Patti Scialfa and Bruce Springsteen made it through with their relationship relatively unscathed — that is, until the early 2000s. Reports of a post-9/11 affair came out in 2006. The press was pushing headlines that suggested he and Scialfa had split due to a newfound relationship with the widow of a 9/11 victim after meeting her during a televised benefit concert, per The Independant. "Bruce and Patti are separated but everyone has been sworn to secrecy," a source close to the couple told the outlet. It was speculated that Springsteen was spending more time traipsing around the NYC tri-state area with the mystery woman than with his own family back in New Jersey. 

The rumors of infidelity eventually got back to Springsteen, who addressed them head-on. "Patti and I have been together for 18 years — the best 18 years of my life," Springsteen wrote in a statement on his website (via the Boston Herald). "We have built a beautiful family we love and want to protect, and our commitment to one another remains as strong as the day we were married." It was a statement he has used more than once to address affair rumors. 

Bruce Springsteen clearly had a type: redheads. Aside from Patti Scialfa, Julianne Phillips, and his supposed 2001 mistress — Springsteen was also rumored to have had relations with another ginger-haired woman. A 2009 divorce filing, obtained by the New York Post, described how a New Jersey housewife began a series of extramarital rendezvous with the "Dancing in the Dark" hitmaker. According to the court documents filed by her husband, Ann Kelly met Springsteen at a local gym in her New Jersey hometown. That's where Arthur Kelly says his wife and the rocker began flirting, even claiming Springsteen told Anne she had the "nicest a**." He even alleged that at one point, Anne told him that her and Springsteen's relationship got to an "inappropriate" level.

Ann retaliated, claiming that Arthur made up the affair because "he and his attorney felt there could be 'big money' in this ... because, true or not, the celebrity would want this to 'go away,' " per People. It was true that she and Bruce Springsteen attended the same gym, but Anne said that was all they knew of each other. According to the Daily News, when asked about his name being the center of another cheating scandal, a rep of Springsteen said, "Bruce stands by his Aug. 28, 2006, statement."

In all the whispers of adultery, Patti Scialfa never called it quits with Bruce Springsteen. She understood that fame meant getting your name dragged through the mud now and then. Scialfa herself knew a thing or two about bad publicity. In 1993, Scialfa told the Los Angeles Times that because of her own affair rumors with Springsteen, their early relationship was pierced by judging eyes. "Bruce and I had gotten together; it was a very turbulent time," she said, noting that they worked hard to stay together. Thus, when rumors plagued the couple once again, they were prepared for battle.

Some of Scialfa's lyrics tell a different story, however. Her song "Play Around," off her 2007 album "Play It As It Lays," includes telling lyrics, like: "You've got all the toys/That money can buy/But still you come to me like a little boy/So unsatisfied." Either the musician was drawing the song's mood from a past relationship — or nothing at all — or she was alluding to her marital turmoil. But what we know about Scialfa is that she's tough, so a little rumor can't shake her. It was something her husband admired. Struggling with bouts of depression in his 60s, Bruce told CBS's "Sunday Morning" that Scialfa's stability was an asset, saying, "Her strength and the love she had was very important."