Abbie Cornish Photos Surge in Popularity

Who is Abbie Cornish? What does Abbie Cornish look like? And is Abbie Cornish the reason Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe are getting a divorce?

Those are the questions the world is asking today, on the heels of Monday's announcement that Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe, a Hollywood golden couple for 7 years and parents of two children, are separating.

Though blogs have been abuzz with alleged public arguments between Reese and Ryan as of late, news of an impending divorce still came as a shock to many who have long rooted for the Cruel Intentions duo, and have many asking if Ryan's recent co-star, Australian actress Abbie Cornish, is involved.

Blogcritics alleges that Ryan Phillippe and Abbie Cornish, who co-star together in an upcoming movie called Stop-Loss, were seen canoodling in an Austin, Texas, eatery on the final day of their film shoot. Ironically, the plot of Stop-Loss casts Ryan as a soldier who comes home to Texas from a stint in the Iraq war, but then refuses to honor his commitment and return to battle.

"Ryan did not go out of his way to hide the fact that he was having a fling with his co-star Abbie Cornish," reported Katrina Szish from Us Weekly. "Besides the fact they were spotted making out in a sushi restaurant together, she was spotted many times leaving his loft apartment."

Abbie Cornish's publicists, however, flatly deny the U.S. reports that Abbie had any involvement in the Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe's shocking break up. The articles are false, Cornish's people say, that claimtheir client was the real reason why Witherspoon hired Robert Kaufman - the same divorce lawyer who represented other Hollywood stars such as Jennifer Aniston, Roseanne and Lisa Marie Presley - and spoke with him about obtaining a divorce from Ryan Phillippe.

Publications claim that Reese, 30, discovered BlackBerry e-mail communications between Ryan, 32, and Cornish, 24, while Witherspoon accompanied Phillippe in New York a mere two weeks ago to his screening of the movie Flags of Our Fathers.
According to MSNBC, Reese and Ryan "fought bitterly at the after party."

Szish has told 'Access Hollywood' that Reese found pictures of Ryan and Abbie together and confronted Ryan straightaway, who then admitted to having an affair. Szish said that Ryan confessed that "all of the rumors were true and said let's just end this now."

But the up and coming Aussie actress, who stars against Russell Crowe in the romantic comedy A Good Year - hitting movie screens next week - and the sex drama Candy with Heath Leader, opening November 17th, insists the reports are false.

"It's not true. They are co-stars and that is it," Abbie Cornish's publicist wrote in a statement released yesterday.

Publicists for Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe had no further comments.