Hollywood A-lister Gwyneth Paltrow announced Tuesday that she and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, her husband of 11 years, were splitting up.

"It is with hearts full of sadness that we have decided to separate," Paltrow said in a statement posted on her website, Goop.com. The website crashed soon after the news was announced.

"We have been working hard for well over a year, some of it together, some of it separated, to see what might have been possible between us, and we have come to the conclusion that while we love each other very much we will remain separate."

Paltrow, who co-stars in the successful "Iron Man" movies, won a Best Actress Oscar in 1999 for her role in "Shakespeare in Love."

"We are, however, and always will be a family," Paltrow said. "We are parents first and foremost, to two incredibly wonderful children and we ask for their and our space and privacy to be respected at this difficult time."

AFP