Former Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem’s marriage had been dogged by highly publicized controversies
Former US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem has filed for divorce from her husband of 34 years, Bryon Noem, according to court filings seen by multiple outlets.
The former DHS chief, dubbed ‘ICE Barbie’ online over her glamorous appearance while overseeing US President Donald Trump’s controversial immigration crackdown, filed the divorce papers on Monday in Hamlin County in her home state of South Dakota, citing “irreconcilable differences.”
“Kristi Noem has filed for the dissolution of her marriage to Bryon Noem. She has great faith in the South Dakota judicial system and will reserve any further comments for the legal process,” her attorney told People magazine on Tuesday.
The couple married in 1992 and have three adult children – two daughters and a son.
Bryon Noem reportedly acknowledged receiving the divorce papers on April 8, two days after his wife’s legal team signed the complaint.
Shortly before that, reports emerged that he led a double life as a cross-dressing ‘bimbofication’ fetishist – a subculture centered on exaggerated hyper-feminine, Barbie-like aesthetics. The Daily Mail reported in March that Noem had posted multiple pictures of himself in exaggerated forms of drag online during his wife’s roughly 14-month tenure as DHS secretary. He also reportedly spent at least $25,000 on acquaintances from bimbofication forums.
His online activity could have posed a potential blackmail risk for his wife, national security experts cited by the Daily Mail said.
Just weeks before, Trump had fired Noem as DHS secretary over several mounting controversies. He later appointed her to a diplomatic role focused on security cooperation in the Americas.
Her dismissal came a day after Noem was questioned in Congress about an alleged affair with Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski – claims she dismissed as “tabloid garbage.”
Both controversies erupted at a particularly sensitive time for Noem and the DHS, with the department facing public criticism and intense congressional scrutiny following the fatal shootings of US citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents during Trump’s immigration crackdown.
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