Just days after news broke that Nicole Kidman has officially filed for divorce from Keith Urban, new details surrounding the couple’s prenuptial agreement have surfaced, revealing a surprising clause that could significantly impact the financial outcome for the country music star. According to reports, the agreement includes a sobriety clause, referred to as the “cocaine clause”— that entitles Urban to $600,000 for every year of their marriage, on the condition that he remained sober. Given the couple’s 18-year union, this could amount to a staggering $11 million payout for the “Somebody Like You” singer, who has reportedly maintained his sobriety since entering rehab in 2006.
Urban has been candid about his battle with substance abuse over the years. In April 2024, while honouring Kidman at the 49th AFI Life Achievement Award Gala, he opened up about how his addiction nearly cost them everything early in their marriage. “We got married in June 2006 and barely four months into our marriage, my addictions that I’d done really nothing about, blew our marriage to smithereens,” he said. “And I went into the Betty Ford Center for three months. Four months into a marriage, I’m in rehab for three months.”
“I had no idea what was going to happen to us. And if you want to see what love in action really looks like, give that a whirl,” he continued. “Nic pushed through every negative voice, I’m sure even some of her own and she chose love. And here we are tonight, 18 years later.” Kidman, seated in the audience with their daughters Sunday Rose, and Faith Margaret, was visibly emotional during the tribute. Urban praised his wife further, saying, “That’s the thing about Nic, she loves life. I’ve actually never met anyone who has such a passion for being alive. She knows the importance of expressing feelings, as well. I wasn’t raised like this at all, so our girls are very lucky to be learning from you, baby. I’m learning too.”
Urban has often credited Kidman with playing a pivotal role in his recovery. In a 2016 interview with Rolling Stone, he revealed she once staged an intervention to help him get clean. “I was very, very blessed to have Nic call an intervention,” he said, noting the support of his close friends helped ease the process. “When I married Nicole, I wasn’t in any recovery program of any sort. I wasn’t in AA. I didn’t have a sponsor. I didn’t have anything. Meeting Nic and falling in love with Nic and starting a relationship with Nic became, I realize now in hindsight, my sobriety. That was how I was able to keep it together.”
Speaking to the Australian edition of Rolling Stone in 2021, Urban reflected further: “I caused the implosion of my fresh marriage. It survived, but it’s a miracle it did. I was spiritually awoken with her. I use the expression ‘I was born into her,’ and that’s how I feel. And for the first time in my life, I could shake off the shackles of addiction.” Urban’s battle with addiction began years before his marriage. He first entered rehab in Nashville in 1998, and later sought treatment again at the Betty Ford Center shortly after marrying Kidman in 2006.
Meanwhile, Kidman recently wrapped production on the sequel to Practical Magic alongside Sandra Bullock. Urban, for his part, has been on tour since May promoting his 11th studio album, High.
