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Plainly, the end of Chesney's marriage, not to mention the screaming headlines and speculation that attended Zellweger's filing for annulment Sept. 14, has left scars. "It's been very hurtful to me, her and my family," he says. With the press pouncing on the use of the word "fraud," a legal term, as the grounds for the annulment, "they've done nothing short of calling me gay and her a whore. None of those things are true. I'm pretty firm in my sexuality and my love for women."
Intensely private, Chesney, 37, seems determined to spare Zellweger, 36, further hurtful speculation and refuses to elaborate on exactly why the marriage dissolved. "Renée and I still care about each other," he says, adding that they've gotten together a few times in the past two months to try to sort some things out. "This is not a me-vs.-her scenario. We are trying to figure it out in the classiest way possible."
Zellweger, for her part, remains guarded. "Kenny and I decided not to publicly discuss the details of our relationship because we felt that it would be a compromise of personal integrity," she says in a statement to PEOPLE. "It was sad to see the decision result in his enduring a fairly brutal public beating of damaging speculations about his sexuality and his character. I admire Kenny and am grateful for the strength he demonstrated in choosing to honor our decision despite the difficulties."
