David Coverdale's Ex-Wife, Tawny Kitaen, Was O.J. Simpson's Secret Mistress? Why The Marriage Ended

David Coverdale, the legendary frontman of Whitesnake, officially announced his retirement on Thursday, November 13, 2025, bidding farewell to his glorious rock career. The 74-year-old singer-songwriter, who also led Deep Purple from 1973 to 1976, has dominated the British rock and roll industry for more than five decades. Now that he has hung up his mic for good, fans across generations are celebrating his legacy with a bittersweet mix of nostalgia and admiration. 

As we revisit Coverdale’s legendary career, the focus has once again shifted to his brief marriage to the late actress Tawny Kitaen, one that barely lasted two years. Despite its short lifespan, it became one of the most talked-about unions of the MTV era. And what shocked the world even more was that years after the divorce, the Bachelor Party star’s name got involved in the infamous O.J. Simpson case.

Inside David Coverdale and Tawny Kitaen’s short-lived marriage

Coverdale and Kitaen married in February 1989, after dating for a few years, and officially parted ways two years later, in April 1991. But even in such a limited time, the duo turned heads, with Tawny playing a pivotal role in securing David’s iconic rock-and-roll career. It was Coverdale’s legendary Whitesnake era, and Kitaen’s appearances in the band’s timeless music videos.

Throughout the time they dated and were married, David and Tawny had become a tabloid power couple, the MTV icon appearing in Whitesnake music videos, including the 1987 version of Here We Go Again, Still of the Night, and Is This Love, and later in Fool for Your Loving (1989 version) and The Deeper the Love (1990). The '80s video vixen's sensational presence in the videos, sometimes dancing or doing cartwheels on the hoods of luxury cars, played a vital role in Whitesnake’s commercial success. 

David himself once spoke about her role in commercialising Whitesnake during the MTV era. Speaking to Talkin’ Rock With Meltdown podcast after the actress’s death, he said Kitaen was “synonymous with Whitesnake, with MTV [and an] iconic, amazing beauty who brought so much attention to my music.”

What caused David and Tawny’s divorce, according to the singer

When Coverdale and Kitaen’s marriage ended within just a little over two years, it was a shocking moment for the British rock community. The reason for their divorce was largely attributed to the rising pressures of fame, incompatibility, and personal struggles that surfaced soon after the marriage. 

Speaking about the split himself, Coverdale described the marriage as a mismatch driven by clashing lifestyles and their demanding careers. In an interview from 1997, the Perfect Strangers singer revealed:

“We had enormous success in the '80s… it was kind of a glam time, with the big hair and the over-flamboyant clothes, to the point where it started to look like an overly decorated Christmas tree, and we were starting to sound like it, too. I married an American actress who wanted better expression, who was a 36-hour-a-day attention needer, and my business was 26-27 hours a day. So I was just trying to keep people happy by going along with everything, and that’s impossible.”

Though Kitaen rarely discussed her divorce, she once admitted that her sudden fame and taste for luxury gave her a sense of “absolute power” that ultimately corrupted her. She claimed she was spending about USD 75,000 a month, while Coverdale insisted it was closer to USD 35,000 a day and said he had receipts to prove it. After the divorce, Tawny kept their Beverly Hills home, while David held onto his property in Lake Tahoe.

The O.J. Simpson connection

Perhaps the most explosive claim linked to Kitaen’s personal life was her connection to O.J. Simpson while he was still married to Nicole Brown Simpson. It wasn’t until O.J. Simpson’s 1997 civil trial for the ‘wrongful death’ of Nicole Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman, that Kitaen’s name came up and their affair was publicly acknowledged. 

Yes! During the civil wrongful-death case and the related reporting, the ex-footballer admitted to a year-long affair with Kitaen. The latter, however, never testified publicly at Simpson’s criminal trial. With the popular belief that Kitaen may have been aware of the alleged domestic abuse incidents in Nicole’s marriage, whether her testimony as the mistress could have altered the murder case remains largely speculative. 

Did Tawny’s relationship with O.J. cause the divorce?

When reports surfaced that Kitaen had an affair with the infamous football star around the same timeline as her and Coverdale’s divorce, fans couldn’t help but wonder whether it had anything to do with her broken marriage with Coverdale. But the fact is, there’s no definitive public proof that the Simpson relationship was the proximate cause of the split. David himself admitted that their escalating extravagance, combined with the nonstop “circus” of the 1980s heavy metal world, wore him down and eventually pushed the marriage to its breaking point.

What happened to Tawny Kitaen?

Once a sensational actress and an MTV icon, Kitaen’s later years were marked by troubles related to addiction, marital problems, and legal issues, including a 2002 domestic violence case with her ex-husband, Chuck Finley. Insiders even claimed the actress was “haunted” by the guilt of choosing not to expose O.J. Simpson. Kitaen died in May 2021, at age 59, the cause of her death being reported as heart disease-related natural causes.

Coverdale’s retirement has renewed interest in his past, and his brief but unforgettable marriage to Tawny Kitaen remains a defining chapter in Whitesnake’s meteoric rise in rock and roll during the 1980s.

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