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.

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.

Resolution seems to have finally arrived for golfer Greg Norman and his wife of 25-years, Laura.

The two — who've been slogging through a nasty $500 million divorce — signed divorce papers this week in a Florida court, and agreed to divide their vast business empire.

While the terms of the deal remain sealed, Laura stands to receive the proceeds from the sale of their $21-million Jupiter Island mansion in Florida, along with a share of Norman's $500-million fortune.

Last we heard from these two, their camps were battling over arguably defamatory accusations that Norman had cut off Laura from her home and credit cards.

Some minor matters are yet to be resolved — like who's responsible for the tax liability on their private jet — but the ex-pair seem ready to put the whole mess behind them. Press reports noted both Norman and Laura appeared emotionally shaken in court. With the heat of the battle over, it looks like these two are beaten and bruised.

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Next to his wife of 38 years, Romney's wholesome, Norman Rockwell-esque image stands in stark contrast to that of Giuliani, who suffered a very public divorce from second wife, Donna Hanover a few years ago, while still involved with his twice divorced wife Judi.

Still, only 9% of Americans say a divorce would make them less likely to vote for a presidential candidate, according to a Pew Research poll cited by the Monitor. Ronald Reagan, considered a god by most conservatives, was a divorced man. And the percentage who claim "old-fashioned values about family and marriage" has declined, dropping over the past two decades from 87% to 76%.

Like Hollywood, Washington is a funny place where the reflection of our social mores is often contorted as if by a funhouse mirror. And Giuliani's high-paid contortionists are no doubt doing their best to keep voters focused on issues other than personal history. Not to say there's anything un-American about divorce. But, you have to ask: Without Giuliani's personal history and skeletons, would Americans have been introduced to Barack Obama, let alone considered electing him to the highest office in the land?

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"It's unfair when one person's career is taking off and the other is really suffering," the 36-year-old actor told AMC's "Shootout" in an interview that aired Sunday. What happens... it's not that they're jealous of each other; it's that the person you share your life with isn't in the mood to support," Hawke says. "You want to have a pity party for yourself, but they're off to the Golden Globes and you don't want to go because everyone is going to think you are jealous."

Hawke and Thurman, 37, were married in 1998. By 2004, Thurman's acting career was in full-swing; she starred as the master assassin in Quentin Tarantino's blockbuster film "Kill Bill" Volumes 1 and 2. At the time, Hawke had peripheral roles in indie flicks like "Before Sunset."

"Joanne Woodward," Hawk told "Shootout," "put her career on the back burner for that marriage [to Paul Newman] to last."

We're confused, Ethan. Are you supposed to be Joanne Woodward or Paul Newman in that equation?

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Rather than, or perhaps in addition to, a vacation in Maui after a split, consider points on the globe that offer healthy doses of perspective. That's what Simpson did. To better understand personal experiences with suffering and salvation, the singer told the magazine, "People out there need to go to Third World countries and sit with children for a little bit."

Only after her own travels, did Simpson come to realize how her highly publicized divorce from husband Nick Lachey could be overcome. The 27-year-old singer, whose marriage to the former 98 Degrees pop prince officially ended in 2006, achieved her new outlook on life during a recent charity trip to Kenya.

For those of you allergic to tetanus shots, Simpson also recommends the healing power of therapy and journaling.

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