Cydney Bernard: Jodie Foster’s Ex Thrown Into Spotlight After Golden Globes Coming Out Speech

Cydney Bernard was known mainly as a Hollywood producer before this weekend, but, thanks to Jodie Foster’s coming out speech at the Golden Globe awards, she’s now a hot item of conversation in Hollywood.

In Foster’s speech during which she acknowledged for the first time that she is gay, she thanked her ex-lover and co-parent, Bernard. The speech had many audience members in tears and, on Monday, had Hollywood buzzing, many of them trying to find out details about Bernard.

The couple met in 1993 on the set of the film Sommersby where Cydney Bernard served as a production coordinator.

According to The Wrap, Jodie Foster has mentioned Cydney before. In 2007, she accepted an award at the Women in Entertainment breakfast, thanking “my beautiful Cydney, who sticks with me through all the rotten and the bliss.”

Foster reportedly broke off her relationship with Cydney Bernard to pursue a relationship with writer/producer Cindy Mort, The Huffington Post noted. Foster and Mort met on the set of the movie The Brave One in 2006.

Jodie Foster’s coming out speech where she acknowledged Bernard was twinged with humor — she initially announced that she was coming out as a single woman — but represented a very personal moment for the intensely private actress.

Foster said:

“I am not giving a coming out speech tonight, because I already did my coming out about a 1000 years ago back in the Stone Age. In those very quaint days when a fragile young girl would open up to trusted friends and family and coworkers and then gradually, proudly to everyone who knew her, to everyone she actually met. But now, apparently, I’m told that every celebrity is expected to honor the details of their private life with a press conference, a fragrance, and a prime time reality show.”

She later went on to mention her ex, Cydney Bernard, with whom she has two sons together. Though the two broke up in 2008, Foster said they remain friends and spoke of Bernard glowingly:

“There is no way I could stand here without acknowledging one of the deepest loves of my life, my heroic co-parent, my ex-partner in love but righteous soul sister in life, my confessor, ski buddy, consigliere, most beloved, BFF of 20 years Cydney Bernard, thank you Cyd. I am so proud of our modern family, our amazing sons Charlie and Kit who are my reason to breathe, and to evolve, my blood and soul. And boys, in case you didn’t know it, this song, all of this. This song is for you.”

Jodie Foster and Cydney Bernard remain in close contact and share joint custody of their two sons, the Daily Mail reported.