Those of you who caught CBS's "60 Minutes" on Sunday were witness to just such a demonstration from French President Nicolas Sarkozy when he abruptly excused himself from an interview with (the fabulous) Lesley Stahl after she broached the issue of his wife and her recent departure from the world stage.

At the time of the interview, wife Cécilia Sarkozy hadn't been seen since July and rumors abounded over the fate of the presidential marriage. Two weeks later, Sarkozy's office announced it was over.

"If I had to say something about Cécilia, I would certainly not do so here," Sarkozy coldly informed Stahl before stripping off his microphone.

"What was unfair?" Stahl pleaded.

"Au revoir, merci et bon courage (Good-bye, thank-you and good luck)," Sarkozy said on his way out.

This isn't the first time Sarkozy's lost his cool over Cécilia. A French journalist who asked about the marriage at a press conference was denounced straight away for the media's "inelegance" in pursuing the matter.

Still, other than the occasional outburst, there is "no evidence that the end of Cécilia is affecting [Sarkozy's] passion and drive in his work," says Stahl. So, while politicians may not be immune to the stress of divorce, it doesn't seem to be any match for their personal ambition and acute narcissism.

The office of France's new President, Nicolas Sarkozy, yesterday announced his separation from wife Cecilia. The Associated Press took the opportunity to note some other break ups in the history of great men:

In 1996, a judge granted Nelson Mandela a divorce because his wife, Winnie, had been unfaithful. The South African president had separated from her in 1992 after she was convicted and fined in her bodyguards' kidnapping of four kids.

Andreas Papandreou, Greece's late prime minister, left his wife in the late 80s, when he was about 70, after having an affair with a 35-year-old flight attendant. He later divorced his wife and married the flight attendant, Dimitra Liani.

Argentinian president Carlos Menem locked his wife, Zulema Yoma de Menem, out of the presidential residence in 1990 after she knocked his policies one too many times. On one occasion while he was out, she invited journalists over for a barbecue to roast him and his leadership. She later filed for divorce, accusing Menem of adultery. Menem married former Miss Universe Cecilia Bolocco of Chile in 2001, but announced this May that they had separated — after photographs were published of her sunbathing topless with an Italian friend in Miami.

Our favorite, though, is the story of Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori, who cut off water and power to the quarters of his wife, Susana Higuchi, and stripped her of the title of first lady in 1994 after she accused him of tolerating widespread corruption in his administration. He said she was disloyal, as well as "unstable and easily influenced" by his political foes.

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The women's already spent her career laying bare the breathtaking heights and crushing lows of love. More recently, the singer/poet's been on tour promoting her third album, "The Real Thing: Words and Sounds, Volume 3" — which she began just as her 13-year-marriage ended — along with her heart-wrenching role in Tyler Perry's new movie, "Why Did I Get Married."

"That's what I do," she tells the Associated Press. "I share the light and the dark and everything in between."

To pull off her role as an emotionally afflicted wife in Perry's new film, Scott referred to her own failed marriage. "That was her stuff coming out," Perry says of Scott's performance. "She brought everything that she had experienced in life to that role."

What position does this Nobel Prize winner take on her ex? "He's a good person," Scott says of Lyzell Williams." He's very kindhearted in a lot of ways, and he should never be vilified by anyone because they didn't live in our house."

But, in her work and her personal life, Scott says she's now free to grow and get back in touch with the real Jill Scott. "I've stepped more into my original me than I have been in a long time — just coming from underwater," she says. "I didn't even know I wasn't breathing, but I'm breathing again."

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Imagine Macy's doing a fall ad campaign based on broken marriages. Never, you say?

Well, that's exactly what Debenhams, the British department store chain, is doing with the "Separated and Successful" Club — a 21st Century First Wives Club of well-known women, carrying the message that any hardship can be overcome with confidence, a steadfast support system, and a spankin' new wardrobe.

The SAS Club is made up of some famous British ladies who've
conquered divorce — and looked fabulous doing it — like TV personalities Coleen Nolan and Trisha Goddard, along with author and journalist Bel Mooney, and divorce coach Kirsten Gronning.

It wasn't until her break from actor Shane Ritchie — and an endorsement deal with Debenhams — that Nolan truly discovered the rejuvenating power of shopping.

"It's really hard getting over divorce, especially when a partner has been unfaithful, as this can really knock your confidence — you think that other men won't fancy you," she says. "A new hair cut and a couple of glam outfits is a real confidence booster that will set you on the right
track."

So, on one hand you have a retailer trying to sell some "glam outfits." But, on the other you have a big name brand — in the U.K., at least — using the issue of divorce to convey a message of strength and the potential for positive change. Pretty impressive.

Maybe not as impressive as the Dove brand spending tens of millions of dollars stateside to promote a broader definition of beauty for women of all shapes, sizes, and generations. But, we'd say it's just as groundbreaking and just as ballsy.

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Yep, Britney Spears — America's candy-coated sweetheart — has hit an (old) Elvis low at the tender age of 26. And to that we say? Super!

The girl was clearly engaged in a dogged day-to-day media campaign to ruin any credibility she had left with fans, family, friends, and, most important of all, her destiny-deciding judge. Her part conscious/part unconscious young woman on-the-verge display was a painfully off-key, glaringly obvious cry for help.

Any why not? The marriage is toast, the career is in the later stages of decomposition, Britney's brain — judging by all outward appearances — is cooked. And now, Commissioner Scott Gordon has ordered Britney to surrender her two sons, ages one and two, to ex-husband and consummate father-figure, Kevin "Pass that Shit" Federline.

With this latest development, we are now firmly encamped with that kid under the yellow bed sheets on YouTube. Enough! Leave Britney alone!

Get the girl some help and let this be the end of her nightmare, because the next stage in this highly-illogical man-made disaster follows far too closely on the red stiletto heels of Marilyn Monroe.

Take our favorite kvetcher, Larry David, who friends insist has never been happier. His wife, environmental crusader Laurie, left him this summer — after 14 years of marriage — for the contractor who worked on the couple's Martha's Vineyard estate.

"Since she left, he is a different man," sources tell The New York Post. "He is so happy. It's like a weight has been lifted off of his shoulders."

It must be the weight of saving the world. After all, Laurie's impassioned activism inspired her to produce Al Gore's Oscar-winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth." As anyone will tell you, misanthropy and philanthropy just don't mix.

Still, the "Curb Your Enthusiasm" star has his grumpy image to uphold. "I defy anyone to produce any evidence that the word happy has ever crossed my lips," he tells The Post. "I am not now, nor have I ever been, ‘happy.'" We know, Larry. We know.

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As we dished yesterday, British heiress Stephanie Allen is in the process of divorcing Tony because he and The Lohan allegedly got too close at the Cirque Lodge clinic in Utah last month.

This week, Stephanie — whose family makes billions making McDonald's boxes — filed an affidavit claiming the "defendant's conduct with another woman" has lead to the union being "irretrievably broken."

But, Lohan's people are screaming bull. "It's unfortunate Stephanie Allen is blaming the demise of her marriage on Lindsay," her rep told US magazine. "Stephanie needs to look at her marriage to determine the reason why things went wrong because it has nothing to do with Lindsay. Lindsay and Tony are friends and that's all. They are supporting one another through a similar experience. This is a friendship based on trust and mutual support and nothing else."

Officially, Tony is denying the rumors. "We're great friends. We share a common affliction, and we just talk about life sometimes."

Off the record, though, one report has the Tony bragging about the celebrity conquest in typical rock star fashion. "C'mon, it's Lindsay Lohan. Hell, yes! Wouldn't you?"

For the record, we have to point out how pandering handlers contribute to their celebrity client's addictions and general bad behavior. The solution? Get rid of the enabling reps, and let Stephanie and Lohan — uh — "talk" it out.

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Charlie Sheen is seriously paying for his sins of the ‘80s at the hand of ex Denise Richards. Now the out-of-work actress is trying to take away Sheen's overnight privileges with the couple's two daughters, and airing some foul-smelling laundry to do it.

According to court papers filed by Richards this week and obtained by Access Hollywood, Sheen is still exhibiting "inappropriate behavior... and conduct," including "his attraction to underage women and his sexual explicitness on the Internet, including revealing his private parts."

Richards' criticism extends to Sheen's new fiancée, Brooke Mueller, who, according to Richards, drummed up press for her marriage with Sheen at the expense of the children. In the filing, Richards claims Sheen and Mueller told her they "did it for the press... he wanted to get the cover of People and Us magazine."

Richards even managed to bring her nanny into the action. In a declaration included in the court filing, the nanny, Diana Alvarez claims she witnessed Sheen hitting the family dogs, and threatening to hit the couple's daughter Sam. Alvarez also alleges Sheen "yells... and routinely curses" in front of the children, and "completely ignores" the youngest daughter Lola.

Just so we're on the same page, last month Richards was lambasting Sheen for his lack of discretion because of statements he made in the press. This is just more proof that basic principals of reason go entirely out the door during a nasty divorce. There is no way we've heard the last from Richards on this one, as the out-of-work actor has plenty of time on her hands to make life miserable for Sheen.

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These are just a few things that — if we were advising Britney Spears — we might suggest to distract the world from her recent "comeback" at the MTV Video Music Awards.

Sadly, though, the queen of pop, as in the sound something makes when it explodes, collapses, or "snaps," has decided to refocus her attention — and the media circus that follows her every move — on K-Fed. Terrific.

Out of the blue, Spears has called for a meeting with her grub-like ex to bring some closure to their divorce and custody settlement.

She wants to "put an end to this public debacle," a source close to Spears is telling People magazine.

Good luck with that.

True to form, the Fed is reportedly holding out for more cash. "Kevin [has] refused," the source tells People. "He needs more money so he's determined to win this."

Spears already pays Federline $20,000 a month in spousal support, but the aspiring pimp is reportedly broke as a result of 'business expenses,' according to court documents filed in August.

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That's why it's so hard to now learn — after nearly a year of silence - how Witherspoon was so completely overwhelmed by her split from fellow actor Ryan Phillippe.

"Right around Christmastime I was sitting in a parking lot and I felt like I just couldn't get out of the car," she says in the October issue of Elle magazine. "And I thought, OK, half of the parking lot has dealt with [a breakup]."

"There's this moment in Walk the Line where June Carter says, 'I was never aware of how much I was seen.' I was very aware of how much I was seen. It was this moment of self-discovery and loss of identity and who was stepping out of the car — you know?"

It's easy to recommend wearing divorce like a loose garment, but the impracticality of that exercise only hits home when we hear of someone as strong as Witherspoon wilting under the pressure.

On top of all the lawyers, the fighting and the bitterness, there's that realization that divorce has become part of your identity — ingrained in your being. Sure, Witherspoon literally had the world watching on, but divorce, as her experience shows, can overwhelm even the best of us.